Writers should start trying to proofread

That right there is the first sentence of "Politicians should stop trying to be comedians" on Yahoo! Canada News on December 10, 2012. Of course, be should be me, and it doesn't bode well when an article's second word is misspelled. Then,

parody is correctly spelled once, but not twice, in the article's third sentence. Also, there is one leader too many. Another also, "Gangnam Style" should be in quotation marks and not italicized. Then,

in the article's seventh sentence, This Hour Has 22 Minutes is severely undercapitalized. Lastly,

in the article's final sentence, Gangnam Style is again italicized when it should instead be in quotation marks. Not only that, it's now missing an N. Click an image to enlarge it.

24 hours Vancouverrors - September 2012

I detected a few errors in the pages of daily newspaper 24 hours Vancouver during September 2012. First, on September 5, there was a missing hyphen in what should have been son's abduction. Would you believe that was the article's headline? Whether you would or wouldn't, it was. Then,

on September 13 there was a misspelled name in "Surrey breaks ground on new pools". The Surrey mayor is Dianne Watts.Then,

on September 18 there was another headline gaffe. Player express does not agree. It's gotta be either players express or player expresses. In this case, the article's content showed that players express would have been the correct one. Then,

also on September 18, an leopard-print should have been a leopard-print. From "‘Inappropriate’ new line brings trouble for Hurley". Last but not least,

on September 21 there was a misspelling of The Big Lebowski in the photo caption of "Film fanatics go retro". Click an image to enlarge it.

Hotel Transposed Letters

TIFF stands for Toronto International Film Festival. Every word is - or rather, *should be* - capitalized. From "Top 10 Funniest Press Conference Moments From TIFF 2012" on Yahoo! Canada Movies on September 16, 2012. Then,

in the caption for the first photo, what is supposed to be "Hotel Transylvania" is a victim of a wandering V. Then,

in the caption for the second photo, what is supposed to be "Hotel Transylvania" is a victim of an absent L. Click an image to enlarge it.

Yahooooooooooooo! August 2012

Spoiler alert: August 2012 is over. Let's take a look at some errors I detected on the Yahoo! Canada homepage during that month. First, on the first of the month, there was one is too many. Then,

there was some inconsistent capitalization on August 4. Then,

on August 6 the writer might've had to go to the bathroom while attempting to write over-hyped. Then,

on August 10 there were a couple of missing commas in the name of the city and the province. Then,

also on August 10, there was a missing N in what should have been Torontonians. Then,

on August 11, there were two apostrophe errors in one teaser. It should have read dos, don'ts. Then,

also on August 11, women should have been woman. Here's the article if you need proof. Then,

on August 16, the end of the sentence should have been either saying it degrades women or saying it is degrading to women. Then,

also on August 16, there should have been a to between try and hide. Then,

also on August 16, there was a comical attempt at typing '90210' - here's the article. Then,

also on August 16 (obviously not a good day at Yahoo!), there was a misplaced apostrophe in what should have been Bryant's. Then,

on August 20 there was a factual error. The balcony that Julian Assange was on was not in Ecuador. The balcony was at Ecuador's embassy in London. In London. Finally,

on August 27 there was a missing R in what should have been Harrah's. Click an image to enlarge it.

Errors in The Peep Diaries

The book The Peep Diaries by Hal Niedzviecki (ISBN 9780872864993) has a ridiculous amount of errors. Here are most of the ones I detected, but there could be are probably more.

P. 18: ... we show and tell all on our blog, our various "my pages," in the photos and videos we upload, on television, and anywhere where else we can think of.

P. 33: He couldn't keep up with the stream of hundreds of messages pouring in everyday.

P. 50: But in truth, rather then one replacing the other, all three categories can and do exist at the same time.

P. 82: "Uh," the ninth grader wants to know. "Is The Hills real?"

P. 94: ... that is "far more interesting, far more compelling purely as entertainment" then anything we could ever make up.

P. 101: Again, the personality types you're looking for are larger then life...

P. 103: Starring William and Pat Loud, along with their five children, the series featured son Lance coming out of the closet and his parent's apparent refusal to acknowledge that he was gay.

P. 112: I'm funny, a little awkward, okay-looking in a yes-that's-my-paunch kind if way.

P. 126: The Gargoyle has it's own mini-confession Web site ...

P. 129: One of these systems is Twitter, the social networking site that lets you answer the question "What Am I Doing Right Now?" in 140 characters or less.

P. 129: Rumpled and tattooed, they looked more like they were fronting a band then running a tech-development company.

P. 154: In the almost two decades SpyTech that has been selling miniature cameras, micro recorders, and software spying packages, we've gone from fearing Big Brother to wanting to be him.

P. 164: ... as Michael Moore made clear in his documentary Farenheit 911...

P. 164: A Canadian Broadcasting Center (CBC) radio producer...

P. 184: David Lyon is head of the Surveillance Project at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario.

P. 200: Every time I sat down at the computer, as a matter of fact, I methodically opened the camera feed and spend a few minutes with the alley.

P. 206: This material is generated not just by the perpetrators by also by the victims...

P. 211: This slight women in her fifties with frizzy hair and freckles smiled at me.

P. 229: The homeless woman living in a bag in a park across from the White House has more privacy that your average homeowner.

P. 259: In my non-cyber existence I probably had fewer friends then at any other time in my life.

P. 273: The recording ended up forcing the Malaysian prime minster...

P. 273: ... looks the other way when the clerics who impose these laws have illict affairs.

24 hours Vancouverrors

A few errors to share from 24 hours Vancouver earlier this month. On the newspaper's front page on December 9, someone got creative with (and I would hope disciplined for) the spelling of becoming. Then,

in "Timbits more famous than Canucks: Poll" in the same day's paper, there should not have been a hyphen in physcially challenging, and the show is Survivor. Then,

I saw this bit on SNL and can tell you with absolute certainty that Alec Baldwin's character said, "Alec Baldwin is an American treasure". From "Baldwin jokes about flight on SNL" online on December 11. Then,

was anyone at 24 hours Vancouver embarrassed at the nonword that appeared in this headline on December 14? Then,

women should have been woman in "VPD searches for links to mom slaying" on December 16. Finally,

confidant should have been confident in "A bizarre tradition is better than no tradition" on December 22. Click an image to enlarge it.

Cause for a mutiny

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.

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.

There are several dragons

The show Dragons' Den gets mistreated again. From the MSN Canada homepage on July 9, 2011.

The show is Dragons' Den

The MSN Canada homepage still can't get Dragons' Den right. From March 19, 2011.

Yahoooo! (and MSN)

More errors from the Yahoo! Canada homepage. First up, I saw this misspelling of fluoride on February 9, 2011. Later that same day,

it's an popular fairy tale. Really? Popular doesn't even come close to starting with a vowel sound. Change an to a, please. Next,

on February 10, 2011, I see another incorrect way of writing Dragons' Den. At the same time,

it's identically incorrect on the MSN Canada homepage. So, 24 hours, Yahoo!, and MSN all can't get the show's title correct. Finally,

the Yahoo! Canada homepage today lost an M in the spelling of filmmaker. Click an image to enlarge it.

Postmordern writing

Hey, writer (of "Have You Ever Been Caught in the Act?" on MSN Canada Lifestyle on January 30, 2011), the show is Modern Family, and are you sure Clair's response wasn't, "That's not a euphemism, Phi"? Claire does in fact have an E at the end of her name - you got it right once, why not twice? Next time, give a little more care to your article's opening paragraph. Click the image to enlarge it.

Fear the dragon

Brett Wilson is not on Dragon Den's. In fact, there is no such show as Dragon Den's. The phrase Dragon Den's makes absolutely no sense. The show is Dragons' Den. From "CBC stars shine at Metrotown" in 24 hours Vancouver on January 26, 2011.

Written by a child

The writer (of "Akerman goofy in 'Hospital'" in 24 hours Vancouver on January 28, 2011) writes that he - or, rather, "they" - find the missing apostrophe gag funny: Childrens Hospital instead of Children's Hospital. Later in the very same paragraph as that confession, he misspells the show's title, which eliminates the gag altogether.

Playing a young writers

There are two errors in this one sentence from "Hollywood's newest Olsen makes film debut with 2 movies at Sundance" on Yahoo! Canada News on January 23, 2011. The first error: the movie is actually Martha Marcy May Marlene. The second error: women should be woman. Click the image to enlarge it.

Get paid to write, no strings attached

The incorrect title above - the movie is No Strings Attached - is from the 24H Weekend cover page in 24 hours Vancouver on January 21, 2011. Then, on page 16,

the text (in "Romantic disaster" in 24 hours Vancouver on January 21, 2011) should read Kline as Kutcher's developmentally arrested parent. See the difference?

Rachelle and Passchendaele

Rachel should actually be written as Rachelle in "Dhavernas makes her mark" in 24 hours Vancouver on January 12, 2011. Then, two paragraphs later,

the writer manages to misspell Passchendaele. I guess she's still learning journalism basics despite already being a *cough cough* professional.

Writing that grates

The start of The Game Plan is missing from "The Rock back into action genre" in today's 24 hours Vancouver.

24 hours is like a box of chocolates

See should be sees and the word of should be between release and the, in the above sentence from "Time-travel trilogy changed Fox’s world" in today's 24 hours Vancouver. Then,

Forrest Gump is short an R.