What PR pros should do when the media get it wrong

The mistakes were embarrassing for the cable networks and chipped away at their credibility, but they weren’t harmful to the Supreme Court. Quickly, both networks corrected their reporting and moved on. (CNN apologized for the gaffe; Fox News was defiant.)

But what happens when shoddy reporting does harm to a person or individual? Mitt Romney, for instance, claims that a recent story in The Washington Post about his tenure at Bain Capital is incorrect. The story revealed that Bain helped fuel the outsourcing trend in the ’90s—something the Obama Campaign has seized upon in attack ads, referring to Romney as the “outsourcer in chief.”

Romney’s campaign met with Post editors last week to ask for a retraction. The paper refused the request. Post Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli said he’s “confident in its reporting.”