The New York Times recently investigated the internet phenomenon known as Rickrolling—the fun-for-all-ages game of tricking people into clicking on a link that takes them to a Youtube clip of unlikely pop star Rick Astley singing his greatest hit, "Never Gonna Give You Up"—but they didn't do a very thorough job, considering that they were unable to track down Mr. Astley himself for comment (the LA Times found Rick and ran a lengthy, entertaining interview). They were also duped by a hoax clip of a "prankster" interrupting a college basketball game dressed as Astley and lip-synching the song. That performance, it turns out, happened before four different games, none of them the one the Times identified, and was not a halftime prank. And so, today, the Grey Lady runs a Rickrolling correction:

An article on Monday about a popular Internet video prank known as rickrolling referred incorrectly to its use during a March 8 women's basketball game at Eastern Washington University, based on information provided by Pawl Fisher, a student; Davin Perry, who shoots game videos for the university; and Dave Cook, its sports information director. The stunt, which involves a person lip-synching the 1980s hit song "Never Gonna Give You Up" while dressed as the British singer Rick Astley, was performed before the start of four separate basketball games, and the pranksters distilled the performances into a YouTube video. The March 8 game, between Eastern Washington and Montana State, was not interrupted by a performance. (Go to Article)

This is nearly as embarrassing as when the Times was forced to reveal in a lengthy editor's note that star reporter Judy Miller's investigation into whether or not it was a trap was heavily influenced by deceptive off-the-record quotes from the Bush administration's Supreme Commander of the Coalition of the Willing Fleet, Admiral Ackbar.

Corrections [NYT]