Community Corner

Washington Post Not Smarter Than a Fifth Grader

In an oversized letter to "Book World," a fifth grade class at Burning Tree Elementary politely pointed out an error to the venerable newspaper.

The Washington Post has received what's being called an "adorable" correction letter -- even by grizzled, ink-stained editor standards.

An oversized note from a Bethesda fifth grade class was addressed to Dennis Drabelle, a contributing editor for The Post’s Book World, reported Poynter, a go-to site for all things media.

In April, Drabelle penned a roundup of Titanic books, writing that the famed ship struck an iceberg on April 15, 1912, according to Poynter. But Mrs. Reed’s fifth-grade class at politely pointed out that the Titanic actually struck the iceberg on April 14, 1912, and sank the following day.

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“Based on our research, the Titanic hit the iceberg shortly before midnight on April 14, 1912,” read the letter, in neat -- and large – handwriting.

“Isn’t that letter adorable?” Ron Charles, a Post editor who tweeted a photo of Drabelle with the letter, told Poynter. ”Most of the correction letters begin with some kind of irate statement, ‘Isn’t anyone reading the paper over there?’ This was a nice change of pace.”

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Ron, one of Bethesda Patch's Twitter followers, was nice enough to share the photo.

Besides sparking some media interest, the letter and photos of Mrs. Reed’s class may also be reproduced in Kids Post, the children’s section of the paper, according to the report.


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