Off-target newspaper story

[Bill93]

New Hampshire's Concord Monitor on Oct 12 posted a brief story about a disk on a local building, indicating that it was obsolete. Comments to the contrary have been posted.

 

Story link

[AZcachemeister]

New Hampshire's Concord Monitor on Oct 12 posted a brief story about a disk on a local building, indicating that it was obsolete. Comments to the contrary have been posted.

 

Story link

 

Interesting.

WAY too much BS involved for me to post a reply/note.

[foxtrot_xray]

I wonder if the photographer is going to log it here.

[+TheBeanTeam]

I wonder if the photographer is going to log it here.

 

I wonder how many geocachers are going to log it because they saw it online or in the paper?

[+jwahl]

I wonder why geologists seem to be consulted on these things. A geologist or two were involved in much of the recent 4-corners dust up.

 

- jlw

[NGS Surveyor]

This morning (Tue) I sent the link to the newspaper article to our NGS Advisor in New Hampshire. He already had seen the article and prepared a response.

 

GeorgeL

NGS

[monkeykat]

Hah, a good read. A "now defunct agency", i like that one. Story should have run on April 1st for this forum.

[68-eldo]

I really can not believe the poor quality of news reports in this day and age. A month or so ago the local news anchor was reporting on the recent eclipse of the sun and said the eclipse was caused by the shadow of the moon crossing the sun.

 

The other anchor then said “This is the last eclipse of the twentieth century”.

[+GeoGeeBee]

We had a story on the morning news a while back about a utility company asking for a rate increase. The anchor guy said the utility wanted a 12.6% increase, which meant that a typical family that was paying $100 a month would see their bill go up by about $18.

 

I guess if they were good at math they wouldn't have majored in journalism. Or "communications," which is journalism for people who can't spell, either.

[+TheBeanTeam]

We had a story on the morning news a while back about a utility company asking for a rate increase. The anchor guy said the utility wanted a 12.6% increase, which meant that a typical family that was paying $100 a month would see their bill go up by about $18.

 

I guess if they were good at math they wouldn't have majored in journalism. Or "communications," which is journalism for people who can't spell, either.

 

No that is government math.

 

a 12.6% increase plus taxes and fees = 18 dollars.

[Wintertime]

I wonder why geologists seem to be consulted on these things.

Maybe because people know that USGS makes maps, and maps have benchmarks on them? (Many of them actually being USGS benchmarks.)

 

Of course, the maps are from USGS's cartographers, not their geologists, but it is the "geological survey," so it's a bit confusing.

 

Patty

[ArtMan]

We had a story on the morning news a while back about a utility company asking for a rate increase. The anchor guy said the utility wanted a 12.6% increase, which meant that a typical family that was paying $100 a month would see their bill go up by about $18.

 

I guess if they were good at math they wouldn't have majored in journalism. Or "communications," which is journalism for people who can't spell, either.

No that is government math.

 

a 12.6% increase plus taxes and fees = 18 dollars.

Actually, that's more like cable company or wireless carrier math. Check your bill.

 

-ArtMan-

[andylphoto]

As a news director for a local radio station, I strive for accuracy in my writing, but errors still occur, unfortunately.

 

That said, in my experience, the relationship between what you read in the paper and the actual facts of the story is similar to the relationship between the color green and the number seven.

 

Andy

[+PFF]

....similar to the relationship between the color green and the number seven.

LOL. Great analogy, Andy. I'm going to shamelessly copy it.

 

By the way, Radio news is more accurate TV, where if there is no video clip, the story probably won't airtime.

 

-Paul-

 

(Formerly at WTSB, WBSC, & WUNC-FM)

[+TheBeanTeam]

 

Actually, that's more like cable company or wireless carrier math. Check your bill.

 

-ArtMan-

 

True, True.....

 

 

By the way, Radio news is more accurate .....

 

(Formerly at WTSB, WBSC, & WUNC-FM)

 

I am another former radio news guy. Small town market.

 

Radio news is more accurate but a disturbing trend in my area is the local news station is generating a majority of their news directly from the local newspaper which is often biased, wrong or both.

 

I get frustrated every time I hear them rehash a news story that I read in the morning rag almost verbatim.

[ArtMan]

Actually, that's more like cable company or wireless carrier math. Check your bill.

 

-ArtMan-

True, True.....

 

By the way, Radio news is more accurate .....

 

(Formerly at WTSB, WBSC, & WUNC-FM)

I am another former radio news guy. Small town market.

 

Radio news is more accurate but a disturbing trend in my area is the local news station is generating a majority of their news directly from the local newspaper which is often biased, wrong or both.

 

I get frustrated every time I hear them rehash a news story that I read in the morning rag almost verbatim.

At the risk of hijacking this thread, as a current radio news guy (since 1981), I have to admit I like radio a lot, but it's probably got just as many bad journalists as TV or print. True, you can get a story on the air without pictures, but local radio especially, and especially in small markets, is so starved for resources that it's a wonder anyone does anything other than rip-n-read.

 

-ArtMan-

Edited October 16, 2009 by ArtMan

[Wintertime]

Wow, I didn't know we had broadcasters here!

 

Patty

Formerly of KKHI, KQED, KNEW, and KSAN

[+GeoGeeBee]

Wow, I didn't know we had broadcasters here!

 

 

Me: Currently with FOX 50/WRAZ, previously with WNOL.

 

So watch what you say about TV!

[foxtrot_xray]

Huh!

 

Not news, but music..

Formerly of KYZX.

Former Engineer at Business Talk Radio

 

[andylphoto]

....similar to the relationship between the color green and the number seven.

LOL. Great analogy, Andy. I'm going to shamelessly copy it.

 

By the way, Radio news is more accurate TV, where if there is no video clip, the story probably won't airtime.

 

-Paul-

 

(Formerly at WTSB, WBSC, & WUNC-FM)

 

Feel free to use it--I can't tell you it's original though. It seems like I heard it somewhere years ago, but I have no idea where. Because it struck me as both amusing and true, it stuck with me. Every time I've read a story in the paper about an event I had personal knowledge of, it seems there's been at least one error in fact.

[68-eldo]

Every time I've read a story in the paper about an event I had personal knowledge of, it seems there's been at least one error in fact.

 

Same here. I refer to it as the obligatory error.

[ArtMan]

Every time I've read a story in the paper about an event I had personal knowledge of, it seems there's been at least one error in fact.

 

Same here. I refer to it as the obligatory error.

Actually, it's sort of a journalistic secret handshake. Reporters make mistakes to distinguish ourselves from everyone else. For example, in a story I recently did on Parkinson's Disease I mentioned Mohammed Ali's Nobel Prize in Boxing, an error that no one seemed to notice. (Of course, it was actually the Pritzker.) And I once was forced to buy a round of drinks at a popular press hangout in Belgrade when my colleagues discovered I had failed to make a single mistake in a story I filed. My bad.

 

Imperfectly,

-ArtMan-

[Difficult Run]

Every time I've read a story in the paper about an event I had personal knowledge of, it seems there's been at least one error in fact.

 

Same here. I refer to it as the obligatory error.

Actually, it's sort of a journalistic secret handshake. Reporters make mistakes to distinguish ourselves from everyone else. For example, in a story I recently did on Parkinson's Disease I mentioned Mohammed Ali's Nobel Prize in Boxing, an error that no one seemed to notice. (Of course, it was actually the Pritzker.) And I once was forced to buy a round of drinks at a popular press hangout in Belgrade when my colleagues discovered I had failed to make a single mistake in a story I filed. My bad.

 

Imperfectly,

-ArtMan-

Where's your obligatory error?

Misspelling of Muhammad Ali or that he won a Nobel Prize?

~ Mitch ~

[68-eldo]

Every time I've read a story in the paper about an event I had personal knowledge of, it seems there's been at least one error in fact.

 

Same here. I refer to it as the obligatory error.

Actually, it's sort of a journalistic secret handshake. Reporters make mistakes to distinguish ourselves from everyone else. For example, in a story I recently did on Parkinson's Disease I mentioned Mohammed Ali's Nobel Prize in Boxing, an error that no one seemed to notice. (Of course, it was actually the Pritzker.) And I once was forced to buy a round of drinks at a popular press hangout in Belgrade when my colleagues discovered I had failed to make a single mistake in a story I filed. My bad.

 

Imperfectly,

-ArtMan-

 

I’ve heard of map makers doing that. I did not know journalist did that too.

 

One of those errors had me in hot water for a while. I was a member of a community planning group as a representative of a non profit. The newspaper falsely reported that the non profit was going to build a large building in the town.

 

I was in deep trouble for committing the group to such a big expense. The were mollified only after I handed over the minutes of all the meetings to prove there was no plan to build that building.