Memphis City Schools Beat Blog

When we make a mistake at The Commercial Appeal, we admit it. And this morning, we had a serious error.

Because of an editing error, our story this morning about the rape dance controversy at Mitchell High incorrectly listed the name of Hamilton High in the headline.

Below is the text of an apology given to Hamilton High Principal Ike White and the administration of Memphis City Schools.

Mr. White,

On behalf of the staff of The Commercial Appeal, I sincerely apologize to the faculty, staff, students and parents of Hamilton High School for pain caused by our paper's error.

Your school was incorrectly placed in the headline this morning of a story about an incident that took place at another school.

We take any error, especially one of this magnitude, seriously and strive to provide readers with accurate information each day.

Our consistency in doing so is why The Commercial Appeal has long been an integral and well-respected member of the Greater Memphis community.

Our staff immediately corrected the error on commercialappeal.com once we became aware of the error and will ensure that a correction is printed in Friday's editions of The Commercial Appeal.

Again, we apologize for this error that has created much turmoil in the Hamilton community today, and pledge to double our efforts to make sure all information that appears in our editions is accurate and fair to all stakeholders involved.

UPDATE: I have heard from nearly three dozen readers by phone or e-mail on this issue today and I thank all of you for calling.  Not only are you serious about reading your local newspaper, but you also care about the content deeply.