1/6/03 transcription error

Vea Culpa, Corrections editor
Monday, 6 January 2003 Rob Rosenberger's columns from 1/6/03 to 1/14/03 quoted Vesselin Bontchev (FRISK) in an audio transcript where he warned a cyber-attack "may be sufficient to take down all economies." Dr. Bontchev claims he said "whole economies." Rosenberger believes he innocently misinterpreted Bontchev's European accent. He added emphasis to the word "all" based on the inflection he perceived in Bontchev's voice, but he now feels Bontchev added no emphasis to the word "whole." Vmyths stands corrected. Rosenberger insists he didn't need to consult with Bontchev or anyone else before publishing the transcript. His reasoning follows:

Historians have always reserved the right to publish remarks uttered in a public forum without first consulting the speakers. Indeed, "live C-SPAN coverage" would not exist if this right did not exist. I followed well-established norms. I sincerely apologize to Vesselin Bontchev for my transcription error. I failed to interpret his European accent correctly. This correction didn't alter my opinions, but I will revise each of my columns so they correctly quote the transcript.

Rosenberger published multiple columns before the erroneous phrase came to light. Vmyths will publish an updated edition for each one, and they will include a link to this page in the "related links" section. The written transcript will include a link to this page at the point of error. A link to this page will appear before any other items in our next newsletter.