New shows in the works from “Idol” creator Fuller

The 2007 finale was seen by more than 33 million viewers, according to Nielsen, and more than 74 million people voted for winner Jordin Sparks. (In comparison, President George Bush got 62 million votes in the 2004 election, according to the Office of the Federal Register.)

Your story contains a glaring error that misleads readers into believing that more Americans voted for American Idol’s Jordin Sparks in last season’s finale than voted for President Bush. This is flatly wrong. Idol claims 74 million VOTES, not PEOPLE who voted. This is irresponsible reporting at its worst. 

Karl

Is it really necessary to inject that Sparks apparently outvoted George Bush in the number of millions of votes? Can they even be compared? On the one hand, you have registered voters who can only vote once in the presidential election. On the other hand, you have millions of teeny boppers who stay up all night pressing the redial button. They are hardly apples to apples comparison, and frankly, what a lousy editorial decision.

Donna F.

This was not from a Reuters story, but was indeed in a Billboard story that moved as part of a Reuters news product. Several readers questioned the comparison, and they were right. We corrected the story to make clear the figure was for votes, not voters, and we removed the Bush reference: GBU Editor.

REUTERS photo by Fred Prouser