So you're saying that the murder victim assumed a false identity? But that's not right at all. Five days ago one of the 25 comments included this:
It should read something like: "Since the killing of Randhawa, Vancouver police had been pursuing Singh — who allegedly had assumed a false identity — nearly capturing him on a few occasions, police said Tuesday."Yet that sentence (from "Accused killer of Vancouver woman did not act alone" on CBC News online on August 24, 2011) remains unchanged.
The writer of this article ("Anton slammed for DTES tweet" on 24 hours Vancouver online on August 25, 2011) wrote out a tweet that was tweeted by Suzanne Anton. How do I know that it was written out and not copy and pasted? Well,
because the actual tweet was provided via a screen grab at the top of the article. As you can see, the article's writer erred twice:
If you have the dollar sign (as in $770 million), then you don't need to write the word dollars. In the same sentence, $27 million got by unscathed - how does that happen? From "Critics blame high fares for BC Ferries cuts" on CBC News online on August 25, 2011. Click the image to enlarge it.
There's something missing from this (not-quite-an-actual) sentence. Perhaps something like returned requests for comment. From "GameStop pulls OnLive coupons from boxed PC versions of Deus Ex: Human Revolution" on Yahoo! Canada News on August 24, 2011. Click the image to enlarge it.
I can kind of overlook the extra word the (from "Law banning phone use ignored by many B.C. drivers" on CBC News online on August 24, 2011), but
writing will instead of while? That is a ridiculous error for a professional writer to make. Doesn't anyone at CBC proofread the articles before they're posted?
This photo-caption sentence (seen at the top of "Canada eliminated at Little League World Series" on CBC News online on August 23, 2011) features a couple of hiccups: who holds onto to the bag and during the third inning of at the Little League World Series. Click the image to enlarge it.
There's an extra ago by in this final sentence (from "Racoon's death from leghold trap sparks call for ban" on CBC News online on August 23, 2011). Also, that space between traps and the period should not be there.
It looks like the word is should be between husband and not. From "Husband alters recollection about missing wife" on CBC News online on August 18, 2011.
It's another of my weekly Elert emails from Random House of Canada and McClelland & Stewart. This one came on August 16, 2011, and again features an error in the first paragraph: than should be then.
More errors from The Vancouver Courier. First, from "Cops crackdown on fireworks crowd" on August 3, 2011, eights cans should be eight cans. Also from August 3, 2011,
the apostrophe in the developer's name is correct in the first sentence of this article ("Panel rejects old Pantages site plan"), but the second sentence starts with an apostrophe error. Then,
the second an should be a in "Folks step up to the mic and tell stories" on August 5, 2011. Then,
I spresent to you a misspelled representatives in an ad in "Featured employment" on August 12, 2011. Then,
the location was actually Spanish Banks West Extension. From "Sea of Sand serves up noir on the beach" on August 17, 2011. Then,
the first a was out of place in "Walkers agree with city efforts to green festivals" on August 17, 2011. Then,
there was a misspelling of visitors in the photo caption for "Community Calendar" on August 19, 2011. Finally,
in "Mac world problems put heat on company" on August 19, 2011, how can it be too big too fail then too big to feel? Not a good way to end an article. Click an image to enlarge it.
First things first, the original headline of this article - "BC Ferries losses rise as passengers drop" on CBC News online on August 18, 2011 - had the word drop instead of dwindle; I guess CBC realized that talking about passengers dropping in association with ferries wasn't a good connection. "Man overboard!" Whereas the headline correctly has BC Ferries, the article opens with B.C. Ferries. Then,
a couple of swaps are in order: 2011/10 should be 2010/11 and says recent the drop should be says the recent drop and I think the second sentence could be restructured to have less ands and then it would flow better. Then,
what are risking fares? Are they anything like rising fares? Finally,
in the article's penultimate sentence, it should be dismissed. Click an image to enlarge it.
There is an extra word here (from "Man with 16 guns arrested at Canadian border" on Yahoo! Canada News on August 15, 2011). Professional editors would deem the extra word to be him. The sentence above remains as-is on Yahoo!, but the same article on CBC News online got "fixed"
by removing was. Now there's a crap-ass sentence. If you're not going to remove the correct word then try this sentence on for size: RCMP arrested the man and later charged him with numerous offences and fined him $11,500. Click an image to enlarge it.
This is the first sentence/paragraph of the article ("Rock snot congests rivers in what is growing world-wide environmental problem" on Yahoo! Canada News on August 14, 2011). It's should be its. After that first-word error, would you keep reading? Well, I did, and
therefore I saw this. 1880s should not have an apostrophe. Click an image to enlarge it.
Ujjal Dosanjh's last name is correct at first, but then it's missing its N. From "B.C. NDP's affirmative action rules mean some Caucasian males not allowed to run for party" on Yahoo! Canada News on August 11, 2011. Click the image to enlarge it.
First off, the word said should be between Brolund and the. Second off, dealing with 11mm of rain over the course of an hour is an "intense storm" that is "incredibly challenging"? Ummm, surely it should be 11 centimetres instead. Surely. From "Intense storm hits Kelowna, B.C." on CBC News online on August 11, 2011. Click the image to enlarge it.
Was the editor "out to lunch"? The question mark should be outside the closing quotation mark. From the MSN Canada homepage on August 8, 2011.
Just like this recent post, the error here can be discovered by watching the video that's embedded in the article ("Video: Young fan catches foul ball, gives it away to older fan" on Yahoo! Canada Sports on August 10, 2011). As the article states, earlier in the game the older fan had obtained a foul ball and given it to the younger fan. Later, when the younger fan caught a foul ball of his own, he quickly handed the first foul ball back to the older fan. Even the headline is wrong. There were many comments on the article stating what actually happened, but no change to the article or the headline was made, and now - mysteriously - there is no comment section. Click the image to enlarge it.
The second is in this sentence (from "Vancouver girl Hannah Christensen, 11, writes children’s book in brother’s memory" on Yahoo! Canada News on August 10, 2011) should be erased. Click the image to enlarge it.
The writer spells Saskatchewan correctly twice in the news blurb, but screws it up in the bold, eye-catching, and all-caps text. From "Chief suspended" on August 8, 2011. Then,
on August 19, 2011, this complete sentence (from "One Day goes by too quick") should end with the period inside the closing parenthesis.
There are two errors here. There is just one woman yelling, so women should be woman. The second error, though, is one that puzzles me. The writer quotes the 
This article ("B.C. human trafficking suspect a no-show in court" on CBC News online on August 10, 2011) has been updated at least once, yet the misspelled represented - from the article's first sentence! - remains there as I type this at 9 p.m. on Sunday August 14, 2011. Click the image to enlarge it.
After reading the first sentence of this article (Oakland Athletics vs. Toronto Blue Jays preview on ESPN MLB on August 9, 2011), one would think - or at least I would think - that Brett Lawrie is from Toronto. After all, the game is about to be played in Toronto, and Lawrie is about to play in front of his hometown fans. Therefore, hometown=Toronto, right? Wrong. The article's second sentence then refers to Rich Harden as a fellow British Columbia native. Hmm. You see, Brett Lawrie is from Langley, B.C., which - at over 4,000 kilometres from Toronto - isn't exactly in the Greater Toronto Area. Click the image to enlarge it.
It'd be obvious to most elementary school students - but apparently not to the writer of this article ("Motorcyclists warned after multiple crashes" on CBC News online on August 7, 2011) - that women should be woman.
If I were a professional writer, I would read over my own writing at least once to make sure it makes sense to the readers. Heck, I do that already even though I'm not a professional writer. I guess the writer of this article ("Tourists attempt theft of Burgess Shale fossils" on CBC News online on August 6, 2011) doesn't care about the readers. Firstly, the third the should be than, and secondly, there shouldn't be a hyphen in 500 million years. (By the way, the thieves were fined $115 each, which is ridiculously low.) Click the image to enlarge it.
Arnold's last name is Schwarzenegger. From the Top Ten List on Late Show with David Letterman on August 1, 2011. Click here to watch it on YouTube.
Keep either two-year or after two years and get rid of the one you don't keep. From "Emma Watson 'loved up' with co-star" on Yahoo! Canada News on August 5, 2011. Click the image to enlarge it.
The word in should be inserted between recovering and hospital. That's the first sentence in the updated-at-least-once article ("Child shot in Richmond, B.C." on CBC News online on August 2, 2011) and later,
the first about should be removed. Click an image to enlarge it.
This is the first sentence of the article ("Oz woman sues obstetricians for her own birth" on Yahoo! Canada News on August 2, 2011) and 25 years ago shouldn't have any hyphens. Click the image to enlarge it.
The word in needs to be inserted between lived and Lund, and after B.C. there needs to be a comma. From "B.C. chopper crash victims identified" on CBC News online on August 2, 2011. Later in the article,
I believe the quoted person was misquoted and that starting needs to be start. Click an image to enlarge it.
The man's last name name is Bobbitt, which got misspelled in the middle sentence, and on the right sidebar it's apparently very important for you to know that he is clean-shaven. Or clean shaven, without the hyphen. Whichever. From "Manhunt on in Penticton after woman attacked" on CBC News online on July 31, 2011. Click the image to enlarge it.
The display on August 6 was by Canada. From "West End residents ask for respect during fireworks" on CBC News online on July 29, 2011. Click the image to enlarge it.
To change Capitan America to the correct Captain America, you first have to switch the T and the I, and then the I and the A. From "Public box office" in 24 hours Vancouver on July 29, 2011.
It's time! It's time it's time it's time! It's that time of the month; here are all the errors I detected from the Yahoo! Canada homepage during July 2011. First up, from July 5, is one of the three Ls in willling willing to go in exchange for an actual word? Next,
also from July 5, is it lookalikes or look-alikes? Who cares?! Do both! Then,
on July 6, the writer must have quit trying when they misspelled Casey Anthony's name. Later that same day,
someone misspelled volcano. What could possibly be the reason for so many nonwords on Yahoo!'s homepage? July 7 saw three homepage errors, starting
starting with this one. You see, see should be sees. I clicked to the article ("Woman see mother’s face for first time in five years after photo goes viral on Chinese social network" on Yahoo! Canada News on July 7, 2011),
and saw that the article's actual headline was no better. The second homepage error on July 7
was this misspelling of mortgage. Awful. The third error,
was this misspelling of together. That's nothing to laugh about. On July 11,
there was a twofer: in the first line, dismisse should be either dismisses or dismissed, and in the third line the S in UK's should be lowercase and phone-hacking victim requires a hyphen. I guess that makes it a threefer. Oh well. Then,
also on July 11, a Yahoo! "professional" misspelled entertainment. Moving on,
there was a misspelled girlfriend on July 13 and
an extra word - of - on July 15. The next day (July 16, 2011, to be exact),
there was this amusing misspelling of Milky Way. Later that same day,
both accidently and accidentally are acceptable spellings of the same word, but an online news source should probably stick to using one spelling across the entire news site, let alone in two consecutive lines. Holy crap. Then,
on July 17 the first to should have been left out and
an should be a because there is no way you can convince me that giant starts with a vowel sound. One sleep later,
on July 18, there was a misspelling of skull (the story contained info about an injury to a woman's head and had nothing to do with boats). And that last line is all kinds of terrible - into should be in to and form should be for. That writing is poor form. Later that same day,
I don't know how to fix this because I have no idea what the writer was trying to say. Later again that same day,
Yahoo! shared news about Janis Joplin that I hadn't known: first, that she wrote songs for Rolling Stones, and second, that she had passed away recently. When I clicked to the article ("Writer of tunes made into hits by Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin dies at 80" on Yahoo! Canada News on July 18, 2011) to find out more,
the headline reinforced those facts. The truth is that the word and should replace the comma in both instances. Joplin died in 1970 at age 27. Then,
of should have been off on July 20. A day later,
I was intrigued by this. I couldn't tell if I was misreading it, so I kept rereading it hoping some sense would come of it. Finally I gave in and guessed that cave should have been caves and that a whole lot of caves were going to be filled as part of housing developments or something. So I clicked to the article ("Lascaux's 18,000 year-old cave art under threat" on Yahoo! Canada News on June 23, 2011 AFP) and found out
that my guess was wrong. The story was about one old cave, not several thousand caves. But the headline is also short a hyphen in 18,000-year-old. Then,
on July 23 there was a misspelling of multiculturalism. Not just on the homepage,
but also in the article's headline ("Norway killer attacked multicuturalism, Islam online" on Yahoo! Canada News on July 23, 2011). What's extra special about this one is that while many online news articles are published without a writer's name, this article has two names! Plus,
this immediately follows the final paragraph at the end of the article. Priceless! Oh, and despite many comments in the article's comments section that point out the misspelling, the error in the headline is still there today, more than two weeks after the article was published. Also from July 23,
the single-letter word a does not belong between as and two. In fact, it doesn't belong anywhere in that sentence. Then,
on July 25 a writer apparently didn't know that the pitcher's name is Roger Clemens. Finally,
on July 31 rising should have been raising, and there should probably have been a comma after shopping. That's a wrap for last month's recap. Click an image to enlarge it.
