Good, Bad, and Ugly
Reader reaction to Reuters news
The wrong year…
Giuliani ponders 2010 presidential run
I didn’t know that 2010 is in the future and that there will be a US presidential election then.
Leo
Giffords headline
Giffords’ brain benefits from benign route of bullet
TUCSON, Ariz, Jan 9 (Reuters) – U.S. congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords suffered what her doctors on Sunday called a “devastating wound” to her brain in a point-blank shooting, but the bullet’s relatively benign trajectory bodes well for her recovery.
“Giffords’ brain benefits from benign route of bullet” — so she should be happy?!
To “benefit” is to make something better. For something to be “benign” means it’s at least harmless, if not good.
Mystery plane?
Mystery plane prompts Capitol evacuation, scramble of jets
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A mystery airplane prompted an evacuation of the Capitol building and scrambling of military fighter jets on Saturday but authorities said the false alarm was caused by a commercial airliner briefly losing radio contact.
A Federal Aviation Administration official said a Piedmont Airlines plane in the Washington, D.C. area briefly lost radio contact and military planes took off to find it.
The title of this story is what flat upsets a lot of us readers…
I’ll have a nice big stake, please…
Microsoft’s Ballmer sells 12 percent stake in company
SEATTLE (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer sold $1.3 billion worth of shares in the company, cutting his stake by about 12 percent, but said his first stock sale in seven years should not be taken as a lack of confidence in the world’s largest software firm.
Your headline says Ballmer sold a “12 percent stake in Microsoft,” which would mean he sold 12 percent of the company’s stock.
In fact, as your story itself explains, he sold 12 percent of his own holdings of Microsoft stock — a substantially smaller, though still really big, amount.
What kind of cargo ship?
Dutch cargo ship and ferry collide in busy canal
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – A small passenger ferry capsized on Friday after colliding with a German cargo ship in a busy Dutch shipping canal and the ferry captain went missing.
You might want to reword your headline. It appears to be a GERMAN cargo ship, not a Dutch one.
The first graph contradicts the headline.
No wheeze, please…
German “heatball” wheeze outwits EU light bulb ban
I realize that the level of English competency has fallen dramatically during this day and age, but unless the German in question has a serious case of the flu, I assume you meant to use the word “Whiz” in your headline.
When a news outlet such as “Reuters” makes such basic spelling errors in its headlines, and it remains unnoticed for this long, what is the English-speaking world coming to, in terms of education!!
Or does even Reuters feel the economic crunch such that it skimps on editorial review?
Bookman,
 Personally, if I see something worded in a way that is unfamiliar, I have a tendency to first look for a misspelling or a correctly spelled incorrect word caused by the author misspelling a word that would have logically fit… and subsequently choosing the wrong choice from the words offered by spell-check. With the way a lot of the stuff I have read nowadays (even some “edited” articles in “reputable sources”) is incorrectly spelled, punctuated, worded… it is regularly a correct explanation.
“Wheeze” being a misspelling of the word “whiz” in the headline was a logical assumption since “whiz” (or wiz) would be an accurate term to describe someone who, according to the article, appears to have legally circumvented the EU’s ban on conventional light bulbs… and is probably making a tidy profit from it. Whiz is also a much easier fit in the available space than entrepreneur, although it still would have needed a second line.
The headline “”Heatball” whiz outwits EU light bulb ban” would have been, in my opinion, a better title… and would have fit on one line.
A healthy change in the language?
PepsiCo trims forecast, bets on healthier food
EDITORS: Foods are more nutritious or more healthful.
They are not “healthier,” unless they are more robust, in good health.
A Careful Reader
Not a great headline
Ex-maid claims Whitman knew she in U.S. illegally
LOS ANGELES, Sept 29 (Reuters) – A onetime housekeeper to California Republican gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman surfaced on Wednesday to claim that the former eBay executive knowingly employed her illegally and treated her poorly.
Honestly. I consider Reuters a world-class news organization. This headline is abysmal. It’s a disgrace.
Japan ship?
Pirates attack Japan ship, no crew injured-media
TOKYO, Sept 12 (Reuters) – Pirates boarded a Japanese auto transport ship and robbed its crew off Indonesia late on Friday, but no one was injured and the undamaged ship resumed its voyage, Japanese media quoted the transport ministry as saying.
What, please, is a “Japan ship”? I know wooden ship, steel ship, warship and even editorship. Got any? Three letters more too long?
When people read illiteracy all day long they learn to BE illiterate. YOU can help or hinder your readers’ mental acuity.
You know what really gets me? Pompous people. Why can’t a person just state a concern without throwing in the *attack* comment along with it. Mistakes happen, if you feel like pointing it out go right ahead but do it without the “I’m holier than thou” attitude.
Yes, I am looking at you Michael S.
Where’s the ill temper?
Ortiz powers Sox to bad-tempered win
I re-read this article three times looking for any comment about somebody being bad-tempered.
There was no mention or even a hint about bad tempers. Who provided the title to this well-written account of the game?
I thought the Boston Globe was prejudiced in their writing, but your editors apparently don’t even read the articles. What a disappointment.
I don’t know, he might be a viable candidate in Columbia for 2010.