New York Times Accidentally Tells 8 Million Readers Their Subscriptions Are Canceled

Millions of people who had given their email addresses to The New York Times were incorrectly told Wednesday morning that they had canceled their subscriptions. The accidental email to 8 million readers caused confusion, leaving subscribers scrambling to see what was wrong with their accounts while befuddling those who didn’t subscribe. After initially declaring the email was a spam attack, the paper copped to the fact that an employee sent the email and apologized for the accident in a second mass email.

The paper reported no information was compromised.

The apology message read:

Dear New York Times Reader,

You may have received an e-mail today from The New York Times with the subject line “Important information regarding your subscription.”

This e-mail was sent by us in error. Please disregard the message. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.

Sincerely,

The New York Times

Compounding an error with a falsehood is never a wise move, but at least the Times jumped on the problem and set the record straight before the embarrassment grew larger.

The Times E-Mails Millions by Mistake to Say Subscriptions Were Canceled [The New York Times]

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