Many people are already skeptical of journalists and the work we do. Errors don't help our case.

That's why the AJC stresses accuracy and works hard to set the record straight when errors of fact appear in print and online. Our practice is to correct factual errors on ajc.com as quickly as possible. Print corrections appear on Page 2 of the daily newspaper.

ANGELA TUCK PUBLIC EDITOR • E-mail Tuck Recent columns: Hip-hop, rap, R&B are a huge part of the ATL scene  Edwards affair was a tough call for mainstream media  Offshore-drilling story was beached by an iffy photo choice  A big metro area, and we'll continue to cover it all  Watchdog reporting central to the AJC's mission

Last year, the AJC published 809 corrections in the print edition, compared with 985 in 2006 and 1,032 in 2005. There were fewer corrections published last year, but that doesn't mean we made fewer mistakes. It's more likely that we didn't catch as many.

Any good journalist cringes at the thought of making a mistake. The AJC keeps a database of corrections so that we can track the sources of errors, where they appear in the newspaper and how they happen. Accuracy in reporting, headline writing and other areas is stressed in training sessions and in individual conversations with staff.

Among last year's published corrections, 342 errors were made by reporters, 102 were the result of bad information provided by sources, 93 were made by copy editors, 55 were made by story editors and 37 by wire services. Copy editors, who also write photo captions and headlines, are the last line of defense against errors. They often work on tight deadlines, so they don't catch every mistake. On the other hand, they prevent dozens of errors each day.

Though errors can be a source of embarrassment, it's better to correct them than ignore them.

When we make a mistake, readers rightly expect us to acknowledge the error. Other news organizations and Web site editors are not as transparent. To get an idea of how much misinformation is out there, check out Snopes.com, a Web site devoted to debunking urban legends.

Accuracy is essential to our credibility. Each mistake we make chips away at the public's confidence in the newspaper.

Journalists at the AJC are expected to check and recheck their work. Line editors and copy editors check for style, grammar, clarity and other potential problems. We don't run corrections on typos or grammatical errors, but we do make our staff aware of them.

I regularly hear from readers imploring us to sweat the details.

"I'm still at a loss as to why your editors continue to allow the use of the grammatically incorrect 'went missing,' wrote Ray Prior of Newnan. "It was used over and over again recently in describing the tragic disappearance of the hiker in North Georgia. Why not write '... was reported missing,' or 'disappeared,' or 'vanished' "?

The phrase "went missing" is used with increasing frequency in media reports. But Prior and other readers correctly point out that a newspaper should promote proper grammar and word usage.

Craig Silverman, a Canadian freelance journalist, runs regrettheerror.com, a Web site devoted to media mistakes. Some of the gaffes highlighted on Silverman's Web site are funny if you're not the subject or the person responsible. This, from the Independent Saturday magazine in the United Kingdom, is Silverman's correction of the year for 2007:

"Following the portrait of Tony and Cherie Blair published on 21 April in the Independent Saturday magazine, Ms. Blair's representatives have told us that she was friendly with but never had a relationship with Carole Caplin of the type suggested in the article. They want to make it clear, which we are happy to do, that Ms. Blair 'has never shared a shower with Ms. Caplin, was not introduced to spirit guides or primal wrestling by Ms. Caplin (or anyone else), and did not have her diary masterminded by Ms. Caplin.' "

To be sure, the AJC has had its share of embarrassing mistakes. In a front-page article last July, we referred to the Nobel Peace Prize as the Nobel Peach Prize. We've accidentally rerun news items that happened a year earlier. Several stories have ended in midsentence when a staffer didn't notice that the story was too long for the space allotted.

Clearly, some mistakes are more harmful than others. Misspelling a name, running the wrong photograph or failing to accurately and fairly report a story can cause major problems for sources and readers who depend on us to get it right the first time around.

Feel free to contact me, or any other member of the news staff, to report an error.