SOUTHERN EXPOSURE: I'LL ADMIT THAT THIS CLARK KENT IS NO SUPERMAN

When I first got into journalism I felt invincible. I thought I could go all night without sleep, write 20 stories in a week and never make a mistake.

The last two months have convinced me without a doubt that I am no Superman. I started making some mistakes in my articles. Most of them were plain mental errors like confusing names or places, but they were there.

Even the smallest error destroys the fabric of a story. I take a lot of pride in my work, and it's difficult when something as small as a typo makes something worthless that I've worked all day, or all week on.

Last week I made a big error that was caused by a little oversight. I misread the name on a federal indictment. Instead of the story saying William G. Evans was indicted, it gave the name of another man. One letter -- an incorrect initial -- turned a good, informative story into a mess.

Before I go on I would like to apologize to that man. I know that even though you are innocent of any involvement with this story you are going to be associated with it. You've been dragged into it, and that's not right.

It wouldn't have been quite as bad had I said the man was in a fender-bender or had protested a road proposal at the city council meeting instead of William G Evans. But I had to say that this totally innocent man was looking at a possible 40 years in federal prison and a $1 million.

A reporter's mistakes are not like everyone else's: They carry a lot of weight. I mess up one initial, one letter, and suddenly an innocent man is staring at his name in the newspaper next to the words indictment, grand jury and arson. That would make me jump out of my skin.

I can't explain away the mistake. It's impossible. I can say the error came at the end of a long day in which I had been pursuing three complicated stories. Two of those stories didn't get done until days later and the third I messed up.

It couldn't have been spelled out any plainer for me: Settle down, stop trying to do so much and concentrate on getting through one story at a time without mistakes.

A rather blunt associate of mine spelled out her view of the situation without pulling any punches. She said she could understand how I as a person could make a mistake, but reporters aren't supposed to do that. She said that I am always "walking around like some big-shot reporter, and then you go off and make a mistake. You had me fooled."

I can't see how people can separate reporters out of the human race. I know it's essential for reporters to get the facts straight. As a fellow reporter said: "Getting the information right is basic. You could be a great writer, but if you can't get the facts right then you're a crappy reporter."

I don't think I'm a crappy reporter and I don't think I've been "walking around" trying to fool people into thinking I'm anything more than just what I am -- a person trying to do a difficult job.

Journalists judge themselves and their peers by how accurate they are. So now that I've hit rock bottom the only thing I can do is find some way of making this episode positive.

It will force me to concentrate on becoming a better reporter in the future instead of just a better writer.

The only thing that can be gained from this is to learn from it. To do anything else would be foolish. As one of my favorite pastors said just recently in an interview, "The Bible says a fool despises instruction."

David Angier is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.