Regret The Error, which tracks newspaper corrections and makes fun of especially stupid ones, took a shining to the Scranton Times-Tribune "we hate French Canadians" correction.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Scranton paper makes regrettheerror.com
Regret The Error, which tracks newspaper corrections and makes fun of especially stupid ones, took a shining to the Scranton Times-Tribune "we hate French Canadians" correction.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
More brilliance from Lackawanna County's finest fish wrapper.
Well at least they publish what their errors are.
The NYT's publishes about half a dozen or more corrections each day.
They can admit when they messed up. How 'bout you?
It's not the "messing up" that's the problem. It's not a typo or a misspelled name.
It's HOW the Times messed up that was so bad. Last I checked, reporters should not be adding their own bias to stories.
It wasn't bias; at least, I have a hard time believing a bias against Quebecers -- is that how you spell it? -- motivated the author. This is Scranton, not Saskatoon.
It was just stupidity, or laziness. Desparately trying to get a lame eight-inch story up to 10 inches at the end of the day. Padding.
As readers, we should also be open to the idea that is wasn't the reporter who inserted the offending line. It wouldn't be the first time a dumbass editor tried to "improve" a story with his erudite background knowledge of foreign cultures.
OK, I'll take a shot at defending Hags, since no one else will. He didn't say that Quebecois were rude to Anglos, he said that they had a "reputation" for being rude.
Which is absolutely true, I've heard that all my life. No one can deny that, in the northeast U.S., French-speakers in Quebec have a reputation for being rude to English speakers. Hags' point was, don't believe the hype, the schoolkids' experience was pleasant despite what you've heard.
Yeah, there was probably a more elegant and clear way to say that, but that's where good editors are supposed to help out (and at the Times Tribune, usually don't.)
Plus of course it was a story that never should have been written.
King of NEPA Journalism, I agree with your take 100 percent.
Scranton Times-Tribune: worst-edited mid-sized paper in America?
Discuss.
Post a Comment