The New York Times has evolved its approach to correcting errors over time. Originally, corrections were brief sentences tucked inside the newspaper, but the paper began digging deeper into lapses starting in the 1980s. Executive editor Abe Rosenthal introduced the 'editors' note' in 1985 to address fairness and perspective issues, writing one himself about a story on Mortimer Zuckerman.

By 1987, under Max Frankel, the paper published a 1,200-word correction about Lt. Col. Oliver L. North on the front page.

This shift reflected growing public skepticism post-Watergate and Vietnam. In 2003, Allan M. Siegal became the first standards editor, and a public editor position was created following a reporter's fabricated stories.

The Iraq war coverage, which was overly credulous about weapons of mass destruction, further prompted procedural changes. The public editor role ended in 2017, but a seven-editor standards team was formed in 2020 to oversee ethics and content standards.