A North Carolina newspaper just purchased by
investor extraordinaire Warren Buffett trumpeted the news with a big front-page headline — and misspelled the billionaire’s name.
“Buffet media buys paper,’’ read the headline in the Greensboro News & Record. His last name is correctly spelled B-u-f-f-e-t-t.
The embarrassing gaffe was pointed out by Jim Romenesko on his influential journalism website
jimromenesko.com.
“Ouch!’’ Romenesko wrote.
Luckily, the name is only misspelled once, with later references to Buffett in the subhead and body of the story being spelled the right way.
The newspaper’s executive editor, Jeff Gauger, quickly penned a groveling apology.
“Mr. Buffett, I’m sorry. I wish I could blame the error on a computer problem … Alas, no. Our Buffett error was a human failure. Worse, a multiple human failure,’’ Gauger wrote. “A copy editor wrote the headline. Four additional copy editors or designers touched the story file or the page before publication. ‘Buffet’ zipped through."
“A dumb, dumb, dumb error. Embarrassing. A buffet involves food. The new owner is Buffett. Believe me, our team damned well knows that now,’’ Gauger groveled.
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