Tolerating Hubris at the New York Times

            While I am in the tilting at windows and then giving up mood (see entry on how Instagram will not help eliminate an impostor: http://telefrieden.blogspot.com/2020/07/what-do-facebook-and-outdoor-swimming.html), let us consider my multi-decade experience notifying the New York Times of unquestionable publishing errors.

            For some unknown reason, my bucket list includes persuading the Times to acknowledge a publication error about which I informed them.  I have identified five errors, most recently a report on a United Kingdom government Covid-19 employment subsidy reported as being paid in Euros, not Pounds.  See  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/12/business/the-week-in-business-what-a-biden-economy-could-look-like.html and scroll down to Looking to Britain.

            Other reported errors include:

The use of interbank exchange rates minus 2% for estimating tourist costs while traveling abroad by numerous article in the Sunday Travel section;

A report in the March 1, 2020 Sketchbook that the MEV-1 satellite repair vehicle will latch onto the Intelsat 901 bird for a few day and not the anticipated five years; see https://www.northropgrumman.com/space/space-logistics-services/mission-extension-vehicle/; https://spacenews.com/northrop-grummans-mev-1-servicer-docks-with-intelsat-satellite/;  https://spacenews.com/northrop-grummans-mev-1-servicer-docks-with-intelsat-satellite/;

The failure to update national average gas prices to reflect a 30+ cent drop during the severe economic downturn as the pandemic took effect; and

The failure to update the sea water temperature chart in the weather section (a March, 2020 trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina had temps in the 60s not 50s as reported).

            The Times never acknowledged any of the mistakes.  I did have one instance where staffer, with righteous indignation, reported the use of the “official” interbank rate as discounted 2%.  I tried to explain that private travelers never get a bank rate, much less a further 2% reduction.  But of course what would I possible know that this guy did not already know?  Some time later, the Times stopped reporting the actual exchange rate used to estimate a tourist costs. 

            Over the years I have reduced by Times bucket list goal from a published op-ed, to an official correction prompted by my notification.  This small dose of humble pie reminds me of a life lesson: Lower your expectations.  Lower them a second time and be pleasantly surprised that things turn out better than anticipated.

            Good advice.

The New York Times Errs in Coverage of Satellite Life Extension

Every once in a while, I spot an error in The New York Times and dutifully report it.  I have never received confirmation, much less a correction, even when I detected woefully wrong foreign currency conversions in the Travel section.  I did get a snarky email suggesting that I could not possibly have grounds to dispute the Times’ use of the inter-bank rate plus 2%.  Call me crazy, but travelers typically receive conversion well below the inter-bank rate.  The 2% figure should have been a reduction.

Recently, the Times reporters have not done an adequate job learning and explaining how the Intelsat 901 satellite will achieve a usable life extension from the Northrop Grumman MEV-1.  While future repair satellites will replenish so-called station keeping fuel inside the tanks of the satellite targeted for repair, the current MEV-1 latches onto the satellite and stays there for five years.

As explained by the manufacturer of MEV-1 (Northrop Grumman):

"MEV is designed to dock to geostationary satellites whose fuel is nearly depleted. Once connected to its client satellite, MEV uses its own thrusters and fuel supply to extend the satellite’s lifetime. When the customer no longer desires MEV’s service, the spacecraft will undock and move on to the next client satellite." See https://www.northropgrumman.com/space/space-logistics-services/mission-extension-vehicle/

The Sketchbook on page 3 of the Sunday March 1, 2020 edition incorrectly reported that the satellites will "part" in a month.  

If the Times reporters had done their homework more thoroughly, they might have come across accounts in Space News: "MEV-1 will remain attached to Intelsat-901 and use its own thrusters to keep the satellite properly oriented in orbit." See: https://spacenews.com/northrop-grummans-mev-1-servicer-docks-with-intelsat-satellite/: 

The MEV-1 takes over the functions of pointing the Intelsat satellite correctly down to earth and also that the MEV-1 will use its thrusters to keep the Intelsat satellite in the proper orbital parking place:

"The next day Northrop Grumman moved MEV-1 next to Intelsat-901 and docked with the satellite using a capture mechanism that went “through the throat” of Intelsat-901’s apogee engine, Anderson said." (also from Space News: https://spacenews.com/northrop-grummans-mev-1-servicer-docks-with-intelsat-satellite/.

I am pretty sure I will not hear from a real person acknowledging and correcting mistakes in this newspaper of record.   What could I possibly know better than the Times reporters?