Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Was this written during a brain freeze?

This is the headline and, more importantly, the subheadline for "Missing man Adam Moore sought in northwestern B.C." on CBC News online on January 3, 2014. Please note both Dec. 19 and 7-11. Then,

this is the article's third sentence/paragraph. Your assignment: compare and contrast the date and the store name, in regards to what is in the subheadline. Papers should be between 8,000-10,000 words and are due first thing tomorrow morning. Click an image to enlarge it.

[The subheadline has now been updated to match the information in the third sentence. Oh, CBC - you and your subheadline shenanigans.]

The cost of inaccuracies

The subheadline for "BC Ferries hiking fares 3.5% to cover rising fuel costs" on CBC News online on January 2, 2014, states that the cost to BC Ferries for every 1 cent per litre increase in the price of fuel is "$12M per year", but

the article's third sentence claims the cost is $1.2M. I don't know which figure is correct and both figures remain the same. Click an image to enlarge it.

Monday, January 6, 2014

CBC British Columbia homepagerrors - December 2013

There were only a couple of errors detected on the CBC British Columbia homepage during December 2013. The first one was seen on December 9: that question mark should have been after the closing quotation mark. Then,

on December 21 there was a misspelling of what should have been marijuana. It's wrong in the headline but correct in the article description. Then,

the actual headline itself unsurprisingly has the same error (from "Medical marijuna users concerned over prices as Canada's market expands" on CBC News online on December 21, 2013). Then,

in the article, posses should be possess - unless I'm misreading this and the writer is actually writing about selling medicinal marijuana to various groups of people. Then,

later in the article, somebody apparently said says something. Click an image to enlarge it.

CBC also has issues

I'm neither a journalist nor a resident of Surrey, but I know that Surrey's mayor is Dianne Watts. Also, unless the homicide issue was addressed only in November, it's probably more accurate to write, "Mayor Dianna Dianne Watts launched a task force in November to address the issue". From "Woman dies in fall from 26th floor of Surrey highrise" on CBC News online on January 2, 2014. Click the image to enlarge it.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Yahooooooooooooooooooooo! December 2013

Happy New Year! It's 2014 and we're looking back. More specifically, we're looking back to December 2013 and the errors that were seen on the Yahoo! Canada homepage. First, on December 1, the question mark should have been after the closing quotation mark. Then,

on December 5 the words say and ever should have been swapped. Then,

also on December 5, surely - based on context - leader's should have been leader. Then,

on December 8 there was an important lesson regarding proofreading. Then,

also on December 8, there was an I missing from what should have been competitive. Then,

on December 11 there was this misspelling of heist. It's another nonword Yahoo! - where is your mind? Then,
on December 15 there was another nonword with this misspelling of cleared. Then,

there was a second nonword on December 15 with this misspelling of selfless. Then,

there was a third nonword on December 15 with this misspelling of portraits. Then,

there was a fourth(!) nonword on December 15 with this misspelling of decade. 12/15, Yahoo! - never forget. Then,

on December 17 there was this misspelling of midwife. Then,

on December 18 I puzzled over what "an absent minded father airport" is. Then,

on December 22 on should have been one. Then,

on December 26 form should have been from. Then,

on December 28 there was this absolute nonsense. First of all, Yahoo! writer, score does not mean what you think it means. Second of all, I think the rest of the sentence can be fixed by changing an to on and moving it to between marks and their. Then,

on December 29 there was this misspelling of Redskins. Then,

also on December 29, there was this misspelling of rules - resulting in another nonword! Then,

on December 30 should have went should have been should have gone. Then,

in the corresponding article ("Whoopsie! Chelsea Handler Injures Herself Skiing (but Jokes About It)" on Yahoo! Canada omg! on December 30, 2013), these were the final two paragraphs. The final sentence of the penultimate paragraph is missing at least one word. The final sentence of the final paragraph has a made which should be may. Then,
on December 31 there was this misspelling of what should have been Antarctica. Then,

also on December 31, there was this dog's breakfast. In my mind, terribly should have been terrible and favs should have been faves, but I don't know what to make of with plenty of with. A little help? That's all for this time. Click an image to enlarge it.

My favoritie post about baby's

The subheadline (of "What were the top baby names for 2012?" on CBC News online on December 30, 2013) has a terrible spelling of what should be favourites. I would've overlooked the missing U and written that it should be favorites, but

the article's second sentence has the Canadian spelling! Maybe the U in the subheadline migrated east to mingle with the T and the E, and also changed into an I to avoid being spotted. Then,
on the sidebar is this link. Baby's most chosen names? What? I don't know what that means. I'll click the link to see what is meant..

Oh FFS. Is this really the heading of a webpage on the provincial government's website? Really?! Yes, folks, it really is. See it for yourself by clicking here. Click an image to enlarge it.

Down and not up

Is that supposed to be Alberts remained down and not up? Nah, that would be redundant - maybe Alberts remained down and out? And what's with the space both before and after the comma? From "Hansen, Lack shine as Canucks blank Flames" on CBC Sports online on December 29, 2013. Click the image to enlarge it.

Twas no-L season

There was a megal-deal in "The Brick Boxing Day discount reversal angers customers" on CBC News online on December 29, 2013. Whether that's better or worse than a mega-deal is a mystery to me. Click the image to enlarge it.