Not much right

In the first paragraph, the street name is Arlington. In the second paragraph, 20s should not have an apostrophe. In the third paragraph, identify should be identity. In the fourth paragraph, Houghton's first name is Lindsey and the area is Champlain Heights. I had to screen capture almost the entire article - only the first and last paragraphs were error-free. From "Man shot dead in Vancouver's 8th homicide" on CBC News online on July 26, 2011. Click the image to enlarge it.

Downright thoughtless

"Clockwise from left"? I think you mean "top left". The article's third paragraph has the daughters' names as Samantha and Veronica. I choose to believe that instead of Vernonica. From the photo caption at the top of "U.S. family of 4 die in B.C. crash" on CBC News online on July 23, 2011. Then,

at the start of the fourth paragraph, there is is an extra word. Click an image to enlarge it. It's my opinion that the utmost care ought to be taken when writing about such a tragic topic. Click an image to enlarge it.

A picture is worth two nonwords

On July 14, 2011, we were at Bellis Fair in Bellingham, Washington. As we walked past Picture Perfect - which was closed at the time - this sign caught my eye. More specifically, the misspelling of appointments caught my eye. So I took a photo of it. As I got ready to post the photo here, I noticed the misspelled backgrounds. Interestingly, With The Exception Of necessary And backgounds backgrounds, Every Single Word Is Somehow Important Enough To Capitalize. I wonder why necessary and backgrounds don't deserve the special treatment. Click the image to enlarge it.

Stop spreading untruths

I'm confident that firefighter should be firefighters, and because this article appeared the day after the fire occurred, I'm also confident that about should be able. From "Abbotsford mother pulls 3 children from burning home" on CBC News online on July 22, 2011. Click the image to enlarge it.

MSN Canada homepagerrors

Here are some recent errors from the MSN Canada homepage. First, from July 16, 2011, the question mark should be after the closing quotation mark. Second,

from July 26, David Beckham and Victoria Beckham together are the Beckhams, and the apostrophe should go after the S. Also, a comma should be present after baby. Third,

present at the same time as the Beckham's (and they're both still featured on the homepage right now), the apostrophe above would be correct if the golfer's name were Tiger Wood; unfortunately for the writer, Tiger's last name is Woods. Click an image to enlarge it.

It could have been worse

It looks to me like a word - probably son - is missing from between injured and a. From "Disabled man stranded, car impounded for speeding" on CBC News online on July 20, 2011. But, hey, at least the writer didn't write "toe truck"! Click the image to enlarge it.

A note about your note

This note appears at the bottom of "Retired school teachers from Niagara Falls win $41.3-million lottery jackpot" on Yahoo! Canada News on July 19, 2011. The A that immediately precedes earlier should be An, and the word to should be inserted between reference and the. Click the image to enlarge it.

Questions

This article ("Urban farmer digs in over Lantzville ban" on CBC News online on July 19, 2011) produces more question than answers. What's a hectarce? Why is 1 not one? (Doesn't the writer know that the numbers one to nine should be spelled out, while numbers 10 and over should be expressed as figures?) Where is the missing hyphen for 1-hectarce one-hectare? Then,

in this ridiculous complete sentence, where is the comma that should be after change? What happened to the word an that should be between is and outspoken? How did no one notice the misspelled sustainability? Finally,

was the writer of the article also responsible for the article's photo caption? At the risk of dissing the scribe, was there any time spent proofreading any part of this article? How does a professional writer manage to write discribes in the first place? Then, by leaving it for eight days and counting, does that mean that there's zero accountability at CBC? Also - since it's missing again, this time from between as and organic - was there an order from above to not use the word an? Click an image to enlarge it - why not?!

Sufferin' succotash - what the of?

The word of is missing from between bouts and depression in this sentence from "B.C. Law Society ordered to pay $100K for discrimination" on CBC News online on July 19, 2011. Also, because CBC is a Canadian news agency, I'd say that the period belongs after the closing quotation mark. Click the image to enlarge it.

Jeff Parent is not right

Anyone who gets paid to write about baseball should know the difference between the right-field line and the left-field line. It's clear from watching the video embedded in the article that the ball was hit down the left-field line. From "Awkward: Shane Victorino’s homer sails foul, no one tells him" on Yahoo! Canada Sports on July 18, 2011. Also,

someone in the comments section wrote that the manager's name is actually Mark Parent. I checked it out and the commenter is correct. Click an image to enlarge it.

It's right to try to write what you mean

I included the first paragraph in the above screen capture (from "Rude, unsafe drivers on the rise, CAA says" on CBC News online on July 18, 2011) to show that tying is not correct word. It should be trying. Later,

in the article's penultimate paragraph, its should be it's. Click an image to enlarge it.

The death of accuracy

In the photo caption that appears at the top of "Harry Potter works box office magic" on CBC News online on July 18, 2011, someone left out the the and misspelled Deathly in what should be Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.

The Vancouver Courierrors

These errors were on the same page of The Vancouver Courier on July 15, 2011. First up - from "Picks of the week" - the screening was likely on July 15 because June 15 was not part of "the week" that the paper came out in. Then,

farther down the page in "The trouble with Harry (Kudos & Kvetches)", whose should be who's and there needs to be a question mark instead of a period at the end of that sentence. Click an image to enlarge it.

Dropping E in Anahim Lake

The coordinator is introduced as Joy MacKay in the article ("Rockslides keep Bella Coola highway closed" on CBC News online on July 18, 2011), then

becomes Joy Mackay. Also, as the author of the article's first comment wrote, "It's 'Anahim Lake', not 'Anaheim'. You're not in California any more, Dorothy."

TransLink misses its S

This screen capture is from "West Coast Express service into Vancouver halted" on CBC News online on July 18, 2011. The article's headline was changed later that day to "West Coast Express service restored for afternoon rush" and the article's text was updated (though the original subheadline remains and is now out-of-date and incorrect in relation to what the article now states), yet the misspelled TransLink still remains. Plus,

a second error was added, by leaving out be from between will and operating. Two errors in one sentence, and in a two-sentence article to boot. CBC, your writers and editors need to work on improving their writing and/or proofreading. Click an image to enlarge it.

Please explain fintional

Uhh, does anyone reading this have any idea what "failed to fintional executives" means? I searched fintional on Dictionary.com and it came up as a nonword with the first suggestion being fictional. From "London police chief quits in phone-hacking scandal" on CBC News online on July 17, 2011. Click the image to enlarge it.

Unseemly

Did this professional writer have their article hacked? Because made it seemed is bush league. From "Motley Crue’s Tommy Lee saves Brad Richards from Twitter hack" on Yahoo! Canada Sports on July 15, 2011. Bonus: that's the article's first sentence, and one week later it's still craptastic. Click the image to enlarge it.

WTF? WTW?

What the F? Where's the W? There are five sentences/paragraphs in this article; the first two sentences have Tsawwassen correctly featuring two Ws, but the fourth sentence does not. Also, it should be an 8 p.m. sailing. From "BC Ferries breakdown cancels 2 sailings" on CBC News on July 15, 2011. Click the image to enlarge it.

(TDW stands for That's Damn Wrong.)

The period that is after the closing parenthesis should be before the closing parenthesis. From "Chart Watch Extra: One Hit Wonders" on Yahoo! Canada Music on July 11, 2011.

Water, water, everywhere, but no proofreaders

Someone should write a thesis, or maybe several theses, on why CBC's writers make so many errors. The lone its should be another it's, and theses should be these. From "B.C.'s 'bummer summer' not warming up soon" on CBC News online on July 14, 2011. Click the image to enlarge it.

Ugh

I work in a bookstore and am signed up to receive weekly Elert emails from Random House of Canada and McClelland & Stewart. That text up above is the opening paragraph in the Elert that hit my inbox on July 13, 2011. In the first sentence, hoards of customer should be hordes of customers - note the homophonic first-word error and the missing S on the end of the third word. Click the image to enlarge it.

Take two a day away

Tueaday should be Tuesday in "RCMP dog killed in Richmond crash" on CBC News online on July 12, 2011.

Foul writing

Hey, mister writer, try to report facts: the guy is actually standing on a table trying to catch a home run ball. From "Arizona man, Keith Carmickle, falls over railing at All-Star Home Run Derby; saved by friends, fans" on NY Daily News online on July 12, 2011. Click the image to enlarge it.

No Damn Proofreading

Is canadidate a candidate in Canada? No, it's just another nonword in another CBC article. From "B.C. MLA Heed fights to retain seat" on CBC News online on July 12, 2011.

CBC British Columbia homepagerrors

It's now time to share more errors that were featured recently on the CBC British Columbia homepage. First up, on July 10, 2011, potential should be potentially, and there's one hyphen too many in five-year sentence. Then,

the next day son should have been put after 21-year-old. If there's a hyphen in car-surfing, shouldn't there also be one in car surf? I clicked the link to the article ("'Terrible decision' to car surf kills B.C. man" on CBC News online on July 11, 2011) and found more problems:

While son is now in its correct place, the sequence of words for off the roof of a moving car got a tad scrambled. Make a note of the spelling of Jordan Ward's name. Then,

later in the article another hyphen is required for 25-year-old. And

in the article's final sentence, there has been a change in how Jordan Ward's name is spelled. Back to the CBC British Columbia homepage,

on July 13 there was a misspelling of Agassiz. Do you think the person who wrote this lives in B.C.? Maybe the writer is a big tennis fan. Click an image to enlarge it.

D is a P pear shaped

It appears that appears should disappear then reappear as appear. From the photo caption in "Man kicked in head during arrest sues police" on CBC News online on July 12, 2011.

Cheech and Mila sitting in a tree

Would you believe this is a headline about Kunis accepting a date request from someone in the Marines? It is. Would you believe it hasn't been edited despite several comments about it in the article's comments section in the 24+ hours since it was published? It hasn't. Oh, and it's by Reuters and there's a writer's name attached. Stay classy, Yahoo! and Reuters. My favourite comment on the article is by Fluffy: "I thought Cheech had invited Mila on a date." From "Mila Kunis accepts Marin's YouTube date request" on Yahoo! Canada News on July 11, 2011.

CBC British Columbia homepagerrors

And now it's time for a couple of errors from the CBC British Columbia homepage. First up, from July 7, 2011, you don't have to be familiar with the Harrison Lake area to be able to spot the error above. Then,

on July 8, 2011, wander should be wandered. That exact sentence from the homepage was repeated as the article's first sentence. Later in the article,

the word business should be businesses. From "Cougar shot in Victoria suburb of Sidney" on CBC News online on July 8, 2011. Click an image to enlarge it.

Two ESPN heads needed here

Above is a prop from ESPN's Streak for the Cash on July 9, 2011. The conditions are clear, yes? The arrow next to Any Other Result means that ESPN has given the win to Any Other Result. The problem: the match was still being played. I don't mean penalty kicks either, as that would be an Any Other Result win. The arrow was given before extra time had even begun. A full 30 minutes in which Germany could still have managed to win by 2+ goals. Oh, but there's a Status Alert:

The Status Alert would be fine if the prop was for Germany to score two goals in the match. But it wasn't. By ESPN's wording, a 2-1 Germany win after extra time would mean a change in the result, when really it would still be a win for Any Other Result. I don't see any reason for not just keeping the prop locked until there was an actual result. Click an image to enlarge it.

The Vancouver Courierrors

I have several errors - seven, if you want to be precise - to share with you from the pages of The Vancouver Courier. The first one (from "RAMP meeting (community briefs)" on June 22, 2011) is a homophonic one: peak should be peek. Then,

it's never too soon to proofread what you've written. From "Picks of the week" on June 24, 2011. Next,

the question mark should be after the closing quotation mark. From "Team Robertson maintains mind-boggling riot defence" on June 29, 2011. Then,

if Diallo Oballa is - as the article states - 11 years old, that means he was born in either 1999 or 2000. So how does the writer of this article ("Alomar dispenses wisdom to little leaguers" on June 29, 2011) figure that he was born nearly two decades after 1992 and 1993? He was born less than one decade after those seasons. Frickin' frack. Then,

in Canada, it's kilometres rather than kilometers. But no matter where you are in the world, you don't use both spellings, and you especially don't use both spellings in the same bloody sentence. From "Inspiration comes in all shapes and sizes on Ride to Conquer Cancer" on July 1, 2011. Then,

and should be an in "Last week's poll question" on July 6, 2011. Finally,

were should not have an apostrophe. Those live sites we are a huge mistake makes no sense. From "Hidden camera captures riot talk in mayor's office" on July 6, 2011. Click an image to enlarge it.