Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Errors happen all to often

The first error in this article ("UBC rallies for blinded student" on CBC News online on June 26, 2011) is seen above: the first to should be too. The second error

is the use of an em dash here. What kind of professional writer would think that this sentence is correct? And what kind of editor would actually okay it? I suggest replacing the em dash with, waaait for it, nothing! How does this look/sound: Dhahan, who is now blind, said if she could speak to Monzur her message would be one of hope. Good? Good. Click an image to enlarge it.

Can you see you see the error?

The three words may have been may have been repeated with no one at CBC - not the writer, not the editor, not anyone else - noticing, but I noticed. The article ("Black bear cub stranded on North Shore" on CBC News online on June 26, 2011) had been updated at least once with the error remaining, but it is now fixed. Click the image to enlarge it.

Maybe the driver left to look for the I and L

First things first, the incident covered in the article happened inVancouver. When I search nonword initaly on Dictionary.com, initially isn't the first suggested actual word. It's not the second suggested actual word either. From "Police seek driver in fatal hit and run" on CBC News online on June 25, 2011. [FYI: Intal is a trademark, used for a preparation of cromolyn sodium.]

A white tie affair

This misspelling - Whtiecaps should be Whitecaps - on its own isn't so bad, but what makes it worse is its location location location. It's on this match information page on the Vancouver Whitecaps FC website on June 25, 2011. Yes, the Whitecaps can't spell their own name correctly.

The editor's day off

There are several issues with this paragraph from "Langley runaway issues Facebook apology" on CBC News online on June 20, 2011. I watched the YouTube video apology, and in the part that the writer is quoting from Mandy McPhee actually said, "Life moves pretty fast" - in fact, that was also the title of the video, which has now been removed from YouTube. Also, there should be an apostrophe in it's and another R in referring. The worst error, however, is the butchering of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Where's the apostrophe? Why aren't day and off capitalized? Awful. The movie's title has been fixed, but the other errors remain. Click the image to enlarge it.

Update: Oops! I overlooked another brutal error. The headline refers to a Facebook apology, but the apology was a video on YouTube and there is actually nothing at all in the article about Facebook. Go ahead and explain that, CBC.

No proofreadng here

First there's the misspelling of speaking, and then there is a word or two missing in or around the second quote. From "Teen athlete apologizes for Vancouver riot role" on CBC News online on June 19, 2011. Click the image to enlarge it.

An occasional error

I suppose a loving reader can overlook the occasional error, even if it's in an article's headline. (Or was this Dan's way of sneaking an ass into the headline?! You can't spank without one, after all.) From "A loving husband indulges in the occassional spanking (Savage Love)" on The Georgia Straight online on June 15, 2011. Click the image to enlarge it.

Updated, but not fixed

This article ("Canucks game prompts liquor store closures again" on CBC News online on June 14, 2011) has been updated at least once, with the latest update coming over 19 hours after the article was posted, and yet a nonword - an obvious nonword! - remains in the article's subheadline. Absolutely ridiculous. There is no such word as saftey. Then,

safety gets the correct spelling - twice - in this paragraph, but there is one S too many in what should be six public liquor stores. That error also remains. Finally,
in the article's final line of text, Harbour Centre, located in Vancouver, Canada, is missing its U. The article may have been updated at least once, but the three errors posted here remain on display. Click an image to enlarge it.

The editor hasn't been since recently

The photo caption for the article ("Search continues for missing Langley teen" on CBC News online on June 14, 2011) contains what - at a glance - looks to be a repeated word, but it is actually a spectacular misspelling. The first since should actually be seen, but that error was apparently not seen by anybody at CBC. Then,

in the article's penultimate paragraph, the word of is missing from between word and her. While the article has been updated at least once, the errors remain.

CBC British Columbia homepagerrors

Two errors to share from the CBC British Columbia homepage. Firstly, you should be your from June 8, 2011. Secondly,

from June 15, 2011, the word of needs to be inserted between game and the.

Monday, June 20, 2011

A for effort, but E for result.

Constable Lindsey Houghton gets his name misspelled so often by the media, and it's always the exact same error. This time it's in "Liquor stores shutting early for Game 6 in Vancouver" on CBC News online on June 13, 2011. Click the image to enlarge it.

Take a peek at this

Here's a homophonic error at the end of "Videomatica employees set to shoot web series about last days of video" on The Vancouver Courier online on June 10, 2011.

Taking shots at writers

This article ("Canucks' Luongo catching blame in series slump" on CBC News online on June 9, 2011) has been updated at least once, yet an obvious error remains in the article's first sentence: starting should be start. A professional writer should be able to catch that. Also,

there is a doubling of that in this sentence. Click an image to enlarge it.

Grade: D

Above is the headline of the article ("2 dead after SUV plunges into Vedder Canal" on CBC News online on June 8, 2011) and

here is the article's first paragraph. The correct Vedder Canal lost a letter, and Chilliwack, B.C., is missing a comma. Click an image to enlarge it.

Ols(o/e)n

Four paragraphs into this article - "Woman stranded 6 days on remote B.C. beach" on CBC News online on June 6, 2011 - readers are introduced to Jeff Olson. Then,

there is nothing else from Olson, but during the rest of the article there is information provided by a mysterious entity identified only as Olsen. Is that a first name? A last name? An only name? And how is Olsen related to this story? Click an image to enlarge it.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

MSN pays "tribute" to Reese Witherspoon

Her first name is Reese. From "Robert Pattinson shocked viewers as he dropped the F-word live on TV" on MSN Canada Entertainment on June 6, 2011. Forget the F-word - where's the E-word? E for editor.

This isn't august writing. It's not angust writing either.

The problems in this article ("3 Vancouver fires not linked say investigators" on CBC News online on June 3, 2011) begin right at the top, in the top-of-the-article photo caption. The home is on Angus Drive, not Augus Drive. Then,

the writer correctly spells Angus Drive, but that street does not ever intersect Vancouver's Alexander Street. Angus Drive does, however, intersect Alexandra Street. Then,

it's back to another incorrect Augus Drive, before becoming

Angus Street. It's really simple CBC: Angus Drive. Not Augus Drive and not Angus Street. Ridiculous. Click an image to enlarge it.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

I'm waiting for corrections

I know there shouldn't be a comma after Bates in the second sentence, I know the word of is missing from between shy and 2.3 metres, and although weighted is a recognized word, I think weighed is the more appropriate word here. From "U.S. mom gives birth to baby weighing more than 14 pounds" on Yahoo! Canada News on June 1, 2011. The writer of this article has the title of Associate Editor. Click the image to enlarge it.

Getting a name right is not hard

The player that found Torres in close was Jannik Hansen. From "Luongo, Canucks blank Bruins" on CBC Sports online on June 1, 2011. Click the image to enlarge it.

The writer shouldn't celebrate

There is an E missing from celebrations. From the MSN Canada homepage on May 29, 2011.

One apostrophe too many

The woman's name is Madison Scott. There should never be an apostrophe on both the first name and the last name. From the photo caption near the top of "Vanderhoof rallies around missing woman's family" on CBC News online on June 1, 2011. Click the image to enlarge it.

CBC British Columbia homepagerrors

On May 29, 2011, the CBC British Columbia homepage created a disagreement. You see, activists hold a protest while a group of activists holds a protest. See the difference? Activists=plural=hold. Group=singular=holds. Then,

on May 30, 2011, the blurb said that Clark was sworn in, but according to the headline she was swore in. Sworn is correct. Then,

I spotted a misspelled artificially on June 2, 2011. Click an image to enlarge it.

A ton of hail is missing some ham

The street name is Hamilton, not Hailton. From the top-of-the-article photo caption in "Canucks local away-game tickets on sale Friday" on CBC news online on May 31, 2011. Click the image to enlarge it.

CBC editors should be concerned

I'd be concerned if I were an editor and an error like Abbostford (instead of the correct Abbotsford) appeared in an article. It's nine days later and the error remains. From "B.C. sex offender sought for alleged parole violation" on CBC News online on May 29, 2011. Click the image to enlarge it.

This writing is not enlightening

The first error in this article ("Surrey eyes Central City for Canucks celebrations" on CBC News online on May 27, 2011) is victory when it should be victories. The second error

is the absence of the word to between works and expand. The third error

is my favourite error of the three: Lightening should be Lightning. Click an image to enlarge it.

Soooo, not on?

Either the first off or the second off needs to be eliminated from this sentence. Also, U.S. should include periods. From "Mike Tyson goes wacko during interview" on MSN Canada Entertainment on May 27, 2011.

Missing letters and punctuation marks

Craiglist should be Craigslist and there needs to be an apostrophe in Translink's requests. From "TransLink losing millions to U-Pass fraud" on CBC News online on May 26, 2011. It's strange that this one sentence has two errors while no other errors were detected in the rest of the long article. Click the image to enlarge it.

A stunning start

In the first paragraph - indeed, just four words into the article - the second and should be the single-letter word a. Then, the third the in the second sentence/paragraph should be jettisoned. As you can see under the headline, when I detected these errors the article had already been updated at least once! The article is not very long! How could these be missed?! From "Carjacking stuns Maple Ridge couple" on CBC News online on May 25, 2011. It's now a day short of a fortnight since detecting these errors and they are still there. Click the image to enlarge it.

That's bollocks

The above paragraph (from "Facebook guide to teen sex abuse taken down" on CBC News online on May 25, 2011) is missing the word of between names and the men. Also,

Cpl. Dan is first introduced to readers as having the last name Pollock, but in the very next sentence it has changed to Pollack. Click an image to enlarge it.