The Gotcha! Gang

It's a curious very thing - everybody, but everybody, loves to hate the TOI.
And no one more so than the Gotcha! Gang. It's an exclusive club, membership only by the proven ability to nail the TOI whenever we goof up, for any mistake, real or perceived. And the name, well, that's what the legendary language maven William Safire gave to the legions of readers of his column 'On Language' in the New York Times.
They would read his columns more closely than their bank statements and zero in on his slip-ups like heat-seeking missiles and roast him.
But, ever gracious, he acknowledged their barbs, saying they kept him on his toes and ensured the quality of his writing was the highest. But, as anyone, but anyone, with the slightest acquaintance of how the news business works will acknowledge, errors are as integral as ham to a ham sandwich. This is not to condone or excuse, or god forbid, even tolerate mistakes going into print. It's just that it's a reality and even the best have erred. The difference in what you do once that happens.
That's running ahead of the story. Which is that over the years, we've had a dedicated set of readers who have revelled in taking their red pencil to the paper and highlighting our worst errors. We remember Mr Davidson, the man with the Scottish burr and unerring eye for a crossword error. Like any passionate crossword solver, his blood pressure rose with the slightest mistake in his beloved puzzle. And, he'd call in his reprimand without fail. Over the years, we've built in systems which ensure such mistakes don't happen. So, if you solve the TOI crossword without raging at a mistake, you, and we, know who ensured that.
Over these years, many readers have written or called without fail whenever we've erred - be it in language, facts or even photographs.
Christine Krishnasami and Odette Katrak are two names which top the list on the language front. Their standards are high, and they expect nothing less from the TOI. Their emails to the editor have been scathing, and the scourge of our copy editors and reporters. Others point out errors in facts, dates and names, and their vigil is daunting in its intensity. As recently as last week, when we erred on a photograph, the reader feedback was immediate and humbling.
These sentinels are so much a part of TOI all these years. It's they who are very particular in expecting the best, and letting us know when they don't get it. It's been our endeavour to not just acknowledge their feedback but take suitable action to ensure these errors don't happen again. The mailbox is open, so keep the emails coming. ��� TNN
t25@timesgroup.com