Friday, April 30, 2010

Thornwaite

Oh, have mercy! 24H Vancouver had trouble with this woman's name back in February, and two months later - in yesterday's "MLA charged" - they still can't get it straight. In fact, this time they've come up with a third possible spelling of Jane's last name. In both February's post and in this post, the problem is in the photo caption (though in February's post the problem is also in the headline). The correct spelling is Thornthwaite, folks. Once again, here's the proof.

a $500 fine for drivers who blows above a 0.08

I've said it before and now I'm saying it again: There ought to be a fine for "professional" writers who consistently make errors. Like, say, a $500 fine. The error here - in "Drinking drivers beware" in 24H Vancouver on April 28, 2010 - is the S at the end of blow. A driver blows, but drivers blow.

The application - developed out of L.A., allows users to see

24H Vancouver spits in consistent punctuation's face in "Predator stalks teen with mobile application" on April 28, 2010. It's gotta be either two em-dashes or two commas - not one of each - sandwiching developed out of L.A.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Pop Shoppe spokesperon

There's an S missing from spokesperson in "Everything old is new again" in today's 24H Vancouver. The paper is given away for free, not sold, so I suppose that's one reason why no one at 24H Vancouver cares.

Monday, April 26, 2010

when leading up your success. Rather then getting write to the success; Remember, each response should be no more then 1-2 minutes

Screw you. That is essentially what 24H Vancouver is saying to its readers by continually publishing error-riddled articles. In this article - "Think of your successes before the job interview" in today's 24H Vancouver - that first sentence above has me confused. What does when leading up your success mean? If to is put between up and your, does it then make sense? It's not the first, second, or even third time I've seen this writer write then when it should be than. Writing write when it should be right, however, is a brand-new trick. There is no intended pun in site, uhh, I mean sight.

Remember, each article should be proofread no less than once. Preferably by someone who has the ability to catch these ridiculous errors. Writing then for than twice in one article is nothing new for this writer - he recently did it thrice in one article.

rather be out here in the rain that in Toronto with snow up my ass

While this quote - from "Run, run as fast as you can to help save the planet" in 24H Vancouver on April 26, 2010 - is attributed to David Suzuki, I doubt he said it. Not because I don't think he'd say up my ass, but because I think he'd correctly say than in Toronto.

B.. Environment Ministry

I'm going to guess that this sentence - "Diesel spill spoils river" in 24H Vancouver on April 26, 2010 - has a C missing, from what should be B.C. Environment Ministry. A newspaper should inform its readers and not make them guess.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

targetted; never replaying the loans

This article - "Elderly B.C. fraudster sentenced to 8 years" on CBC News online on April 22, 2010 - is fairly short but has two obvious errors. First, targetted is not a word. It's targeted. A simple spell check would have caught that.

Then, if Slobbe was replaying the loans, wouldn't that make it worse? After all, she would've swindled her victims out of twice as much money. So it's a good thing she didn't replay the loans. Or maybe the writer meant repaying the loans. In that case, a simple spell check won't do, and some good ol' fashioned proofreading is called for. I'd suggest that for all your articles, CBC. Click an image to enlarge it.

Ryan Kessler; Somethings have happened in the last month or so I've I've rebounded well to them.

This article - "Bieksa: It's who wants it more" on 24H Vancouver online on April 21, 2010 - has a few things wrong. First, Ryan's last name is Kesler, with one S. The writer gets it wrong not once,

but twice. Then a quote attributed to Roberto Luongo:

Somethings should be separated into two words. My best guess for I've I've rebounded is that the first I've should be and. Three days later the article remains the same. I think someone needs to do more proofreading. I'm looking at you, Terry Jones. Or should I say Terry Jonnes? Click an image to enlarge it.

with good behavoir

Changing behavior to behavoir - in "Big Ben hit with six-game NFL ban" on Yahoo! Canada News on April 21, 2010 - is a result of bad spelling. The error remains there today, three days later.

Atlanta Rraves

The Atlanta Braves got misspelled on ESPN Streak for the Cash on April 21, 2010. Click the image to enlarge it.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Pellitier; Pelltier

I don't know how to spell Pat's last name, but if I was the writer of this article - "Body found" in today's 24H Vancouver - I'd find out before publishing rather than use two different spellings.

as more woman come forward

Woman should be women in "More accuse Seagal of sexual advances" in today's 24H Vancouver.

to try and get away

The phrase to try and get away - seen here in "Shots fired in West Vancouver police chase" on CBC News online on April 20, 2010 - is wrong. It's the sort of thing you see/hear in casual writing/speech, but a major news company should know better. The correct way to write it, and say it, is to try to get away. Click the image to enlarge it.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

His learned to play the piano; We was such a wonderful son, but we're hearing for all these people

After reading this article - "Drummer left a big impression on people" in 24H Vancouver on April 20, 2010 - I'm left with a couple of questions: Does the article's writer how to spell? Does the article's writer proofread his work? If the answer to both is no, then that would explain his instead of he. But that's not all.

We was such a wonderful son? How is that not caught by the writer himself, or a proofreader, or an editor? But that's not all. I assume we're hearing for all these people should be we're hearing from all these people. Yes, I know that if I assume it makes an ass out of u and me, but I think we both know who the ass of this post is.

I think its disgusting

I think it's funny that in a relatively short article - "Richmond School Board cuts 94 jobs" on CBC News online on April 20, 2010 - about education budget cuts there's an apostrophe missing from its.

Larry B.* from Boulder, Colo. says that; and that he been the subject

This article - "Nine habits that trigger road rage" on MSN Autos on April 20, 2010 - is error-free except for this one two-fer sentence. Colo. needs a comma after it, and has needs to be inserted between he and been. Click the image to enlarge it.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Boxing champ held in Venezuala

This was on the Yahoo! Canada homepage on April 18, 2010. I know that Venezuela is in South America, but I've never heard of Venezuala. Have you? Click the image to enlarge it.

Keanu Reeve

After Sandra Bullock is done crying on Keanu's shoulder maybe she can offer up her shoulder to Keanu. He might need it after the writer of this article - "“Razzies” rub salt in Sandra Bullock’s wounds" on MSN Entertainment on April 19, 2010 - left off the S at the end of his last name. Click the image to enlarge it.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

fans at BC Place; the Kings had tied the scored.

Oh, CBC, how you make me laugh. Because if I didn't laugh, I'd cry endlessly over how inept you are. Take this one sentence from this one article - "Canucks squander strong Game 2 start" on CBC Sports online on April 17, 2010 - for example. BC Place has a FieldTurf surface that replicates real grass, while GM Place has an ice surface that is nothing like real grass. Which one do you think is the home of the Vancouver Canucks? Here's a hint: the Canucks play ice hockey. Also, post-comma it should be the Kings had tied the score, partly due to no D.

This article, unlike many others, actually has the writer's name attached. I wonder if that means the errors will be corrected soon, unlike the anonymous articles. However, the article has apparently been updated since I captured the errors, and both errors remain as of now. Click the image to enlarge it.

[It's now 2 p.m. PDT on April 19th, and scored has been corrected to score. BC Place remains!]

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Brady admited

These errors are in an article - "Amazing Race (Turner's time to dance with the stars is over)" in yesterday's 24H Vancouver - that is part of a weekly column that recaps the week in the realm reality television. It seems there is at least one error every week, and often in the Amazing Race recap. This time it's an AR two-fer! The racer's name is Brandy and the word is admitted, not admited. The quote is ironic, no?

gobble up Daniel Sedin's blast

The writer of this article - "Samuelsson, Luongo Canucks' OT heroes" on CBC Sports online on April 16, 2010 - got the Sedin twins confused. While it's a common mistake when the players are out of their uniforms, it's a remarkable mistake when they are in their uniforms, what with their numbers and first initials on the backs of their respective jerseys. There's even a video at the start of the article in which you can see (and hear!) that it's Henrik Sedin who got stopped on the 2-on-1. Click the image to enlarge it.

Susan Hayes; proposal that that would have

This misspelling of Susan's last name - in "Lawyer defends Cambie project" in yesterday's 24H Vancouver - is not the first time her name has been identically mangled in the same paper (see here and here). Also,

later in the article there is an extra word that that shouldn't be present.

Diane Watts

Another misspelled name courtesy the folks at 24H Vancouver. This one - it's Dianne, not Diane - is from "Surrey probe" on April 16, 2010.

Rita Yueng

The stepdaughter's name is actually Rita Yeung. From "Kembo back tracks on alleged confession" in 24H Vancouver on April 15, 2010.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Is it Canucks playof fever

While whoever was responsible for the front-page weather box in 24H Vancouver on April 14, 2010, would probably like to blame Canucks playoff fever for the misspelling of playoff, there are errors made in the weather box, and the rest of the paper, all year.

stiffer penalties for people abuse or desert animals.

The writer of this article - "Abandoned beagle case heartbreaking: advocate" on CBC News online on April 14, 2010 - forgot a word. After people and before abuse should be who. Are there any penalties for writers for the errors found in myriad online articles from established media outlets? Why do so many online articles not have names attached? There must be a correlation there, right? If there's no name attached, then there's no responsibility for what gets produced. Two days after this article was posted, the missing word is still MIA.

PoCo council votes to raise speed limit; council OK's plan to reduce speed

The above is from "In The Now" in The Now on April 14, 2010. Seems reasonable, right? Let's see what information the page-eight article contains:

Oh...? The article's headline has me confused. Is the city planning to "raise" or "reduce" the speed limit? Now I *have* to read the article to know for sure. (The answer: reduce.)

Norweigian cruise

I'm amused that the headline above - from The Now on April 14, 2010 - has a misspelling of Norwegian, while the photo caption has it right.

got to a car chase; the suspect and the stabbing victim both new each other

If these two men got to a car chase, shouldn't the police - and the article "Suspect sought in Surrey stabbing and car chase" on CBC News online on April 14, 2010 - be more concerned about those who were actually involved in the car chase?

And, um, they both new each other? Do your writers know how to spell? Click an image to enlarge it.

Jim Carrey Tweets Support For Tiger Woods, Claims Elin...

One of these things is not like the others. Why does every word in the bottom item - from the Yahoo! Canada homepage on April 14, 2010 - begin with a capital letter?

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Thousands pay respects to Poland's president, wife; Brazen attack by militants leave 12 dead

On the Yahoo! Canada homepage today the first news item bears repeating and the second (third?) has a case of subject/verb disagreement. The subject is attack, not militants, so leave should be leaves.

not to be afraide; rather then

If you're an aspiring writer, a bad speller, and a negligent proofreader, don't be afraid - you can get a job at 24H Vancouver! As this writer - of "Time to strut your stuff" in yesterday's edition - shows his readers, he's capable of more than just the then for than errors he's made many times in the past (and again here); he can publish nonexistent words as well.

Monday, April 12, 2010

their place crashed near Smolensk; at YVR on behalf

This article - "Polish community grieves" - about a tragic plane crash is the cover story in today's 24H Vancouver. It's a shame the writer wrote place instead of plane. A keyboard's N and C aren't even next to each other! They aren't even one away from each other! That wasn't the only error.
The image directly above is the entire final paragraph of the article. I wonder how the article was supposed to end.

Phillipe Desrochers

Here's an article - "'Most firms don't have an HR strategy'" in today's 24H Vancouver - that mentions another writer featured whose writings are featured in the newspaper. The problem?

Here's the spelling of the other writer's name in the byline of his own article ("Land work through four opportunity factors" in today's 24H Vancouver).

"Obviously L.A. is a young team and they're really hungry, Canucks forward Alex Burrows told the Vancouver Sun.; a lot of skill players up from and

There aren't any problems with the rest of the article, but the writer - of "Canucks shouldn't take Kings lightly" on CBC News on April 11, 2010 - made a couple of errors in this one paragraph. First, the first opening quotation marks require closing quotation marks after hungry. Second, a lot of skill players up from makes no sense - I'm guessing it should be either a lot of skill players up front or a lot of skill players up from the minors. In my unsolicited opinion, the former would make more sense.

What he he had to say

Yesterday the Yahoo! Canada homepage featured another error involving Jim Carrey and Tiger Woods - its second in as many days. Fortunately for Tiger, his name was left alone this time. Perhaps Carrey's comments were funny as well as startling. Or perhaps the writer was giggling about the previous day's error. The space between the hes, however, leads me to believe that one of the hes is an unamusing extra word.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Carrey tweets that Wood's wife had to know

Did any of you have any idea that Elijah Wood was married? Did you know that he cheated on his wife and that this was public knowledge? It has to be Elijah Wood - I can't think of any other well-known person with the last name of Wood. It must be a person whose first name doesn't need to be used in a headline on the Yahoo! Canada homepage yesterday. Or maybe Tiger's last name (it's Woods! Woods Woods Woods!) has been mistreated again. Click the image to enlarge it.

Better to be approximately right then to be precisely wrong.

Unfortunately, the use of then instead of than (in Coffee News - North Coquitlam for April 2010's week 1) is precisely wrong.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Kate Stevens; All My Living

First of all, it's Katie, not Kate. Second of all, what's up with the two types of apostrophes following Katie's last name, with no space before version? Third of all, and for this one the writer - of "The girls go fake on America's Next Top Model" in today's 24H Vancouver - needs to go sit in the corner, the song is All My Loving. Go. Corner. Sit. Now.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Siu Yin Ma; Sui Yin Ma

I don't know if the girlfriend's name - seen in "Makes no sense to kill girlfriend: Kembo" in today's 24H Vancouver - is Siu Yin Ma or

Sui Yin Ma. It looks like the article's writer doesn't know either. Perhaps he should've found out before publishing.