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Bug #273 
George was neurotic but he was NOT Jerry Seinfeld's "neighbor"
This bug appeared in a news report published by San Jose Mercury News on Apr 26, 2010 by Associated Press.
View the original news report.
Bug Type: Simple Factual Error
LINE IN QUESTION: Alexander played neurotic neighbor George Costanza on "Seinfeld".
In fact, although George was neurotic, he did not live in Jerry's building. In most of the series George lived in Queens with his parents (the subject of many storylines).
Response
mykt43 has not contacted San Jose Mercury News
Discussion Leave a comment
This report was published on several Bay Area media sites; since it is from the Associated Press, we are in the process of contacting them for a response.
Despite multiple attempts since April 28th to reach editorial staff at the Associated Press, to date I have not received a response.
I learned through a reporter friend who works for AP that the organization essentially has a decentralized system for corrections; the reporter and/or editor on a specific story apparently is responsible for handling a correction, if one is determined to be necessary. Since the story cited in this bug report was datelined Los Angeles, I emailed and called the news editor in the AP's Los Angeles bureau. I also tried following up by email with the LA bureau chief:
http://www.ap.org/california/contact_ca.htm
It's an interesting problem, then, isn't it? The reporter or editor is responsible for the correction. But the story, in this case, has no byline. And if you contact the bureau, as we did, and you don't get a response? It's not clear what the next recourse is. But we'll keep at it!
After some additional follow-up, on Saturday I got an email reply from Steve Loeper, the West Coast Entertainment Editor for the AP. He said that AP will research the matter and post their response here on MediaBugs, as well as take any necessary action on the wires. Stay tuned.
AP editor Steve Loeper emailed with a response today:
"On May 21, the AP filed the following correction in this matter on its California and national wires:
"LOS ANGELES (AP) _ In an April 27 story about authorities deciding not to cite actor Jason Alexander in a car-bicycle collision, The Associated Press incorrectly described Alexander's role in TV's 'Seinfeld.' He played a friend of Jerry Seinfeld, not his neighbor."