WNYC Corrections Policy

A note to our readers and listeners about fact checking, accuracy and corrections:

Our goal is to provide our listeners and readers at WNYC the highest-quality independent, fact-based news and information about the New York City metro region.


Making sure we are giving our listeners and readers the best local journalism is our top priority. That includes selecting stories based on what our community needs to know to be informed and engaged, and providing information that enables individuals to make decisions that benefit themselves, their families and their communities.

Our newsroom takes several steps to ensure what we publish and broadcast is timely, accurate, clear, thorough, fair and relevant. Here are some of the ways we make sure of it:

  • To craft a single story, journalists with combined decades of experience use official reports, interviews, data, and other sources to verify our information is accurate.
  • Our audio reports and written stories are reviewed by a minimum of three journalists and by as many as six or seven editors. The journalists involved are making sure the stories are accurate, fair and provide context for people who may not know much about the topic. This process also helps to ensure different perspectives are included and that we aren’t causing any unnecessary harm. 
  • Reporters and producers often check several sources to verify a single fact. Most stories have a handful of sources to make sure we are representing all sides. Even if we don’t use the quotes of someone we interviewed, that information is still used to craft each story.
  • When practical, we provide links within text stories so readers can see where we obtained the information. As much as it is possible, we describe and cite our sources and avoid using unnamed sources except in rare circumstances.

However, despite our diligent efforts to make sure everything published by our newsroom is timely, accurate, clear, thorough, fair and relevant, we occasionally make mistakes. When we do, we will correct them. Your trust in our journalism is paramount, and we know owning up to when we get things wrong is important to keeping that trust.

Here’s how we correct our mistakes:

  • Errors or misleading information in text articles will be corrected in the story and a statement about the error will be affixed to the original story. 
  • Corrections to factual errors in audio stories that affect our audience’s understanding of an issue will be made in the next newscast when possible or on a subsequent day at a similar time. 
  • If we make an error on social media, we will correct the post or occasionally delete it, but only after publishing the correct information.

If you believe you’ve heard or read something that does not meet our standards or that you believe needs to be corrected, please contact our Listener Services department at corrections@nypublicradio.org.