If newspapers were comprehensive with corrections
So, if newspapers are fanatically devoted to being correct with everything you do, and if they want to be absolutely sure that incorrect information is corrected as soon as possible, how come we don’t see something like this every day:
Correction
Incorrect and misleading information appeared on Page Two of yesterday’s paper. Although the forecast called for a high of 7 C, the actual high temperature turned out to be 3 C, and the sky was overcast instead of partly cloudy.
This compounds last week’s error, which called for yesterday’s high to be 21 C. A recent cold front wiped out all the forecasts from Wednesday through Saturday, along with plans for a staff picnic. We regret the error.
Actually, I would love to see tracking of how accurate weather forecasts are. I know people have studied this in the past, but I’d like to see weather sites archive and promote their accuracy. It should be relatively easy in a database-driven world.
Related: Under the rubric of “People in glass houses” and also “schadenfreude” I kind of enjoy visiting Regret The Error, a website devoted to chronicling the very best of newspaper and magazine corrections.
In the “Ideas” drawer is a story titled “False Prophets”, about a bunch of weather forecasters. I envision them out at the bar, trying to decide whether they should let the stock-market analysts into the group, or make them form their own club.
[Fixed typo]
I think that is a great idea!
http://www.ForecastAdvisor.com is similar, in that it you can see the accuracy of weather forecasts from different providers (Accuweather, TWC, etc.), but it’s not day-to-day.