Unintelligibly illiterate BBC News article link text

Bruv · Post by **Bruv** » Sat Jul 12, 2014 7:47 am

Well..........on that evidence El Reg should give you plenty of cryptic headlines to get your teeth into.The BBC will be happy I suspect.

TÃ½r · Post by **TÃ½r** » Mon Jul 14, 2014 12:57 am

This is not, admittedly, a BBC link but from the Independent Newspaper website - it's the wrong thread and I merely pass it on in an idle moment. Even so...Francis I pledges to drive out the 'leprosy' of child abuse from the Church.

The lepers will be up in arms over that one.

AnneBoleyn · Post by **AnneBoleyn** » Thu Jul 31, 2014 8:02 am

This morning, on the cable news channel MSNBC, in the trailer below the show there was the following blurb: "George W. Bush writes Autobiography of his father."

Must be hiring chimps.

FourPart · Post by **FourPart** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 2:59 pm

AnneBoleyn;1461038 wrote: This morning, on the cable news channel MSNBC, in the trailer below the show there was the following blurb: "George W. Bush writes Autobiography of his father."

Must be hiring chimps.
He can WRITE????

AnneBoleyn · Post by **AnneBoleyn** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 3:18 pm

FourPart;1461152 wrote: He can WRITE????

I know!! :yh_rotfl Strange, isn't it?

Maybe he hired chimps too!

FourPart · Post by **FourPart** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 3:22 pm

CIA - Chimps Intelligence Association.

AnneBoleyn · Post by **AnneBoleyn** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 3:25 pm

FourPart;1461155 wrote: CIA - Chimps Intelligence Association.

Are they publishers?

FourPart · Post by **FourPart** » Sat Aug 02, 2014 8:05 am

You've heard of the Boston Tea Party. Meet the Chimps' Tea Party.

Post by **LarsMac** » Tue Aug 05, 2014 4:33 pm

Here's one for ya:

FourPart · Post by **FourPart** » Tue Aug 05, 2014 4:36 pm

Well, they've always known that.

Post by **spot** » Fri Sep 12, 2014 2:19 am

I note a paragraph from BBC News - Scholars secure future of rare Â£1.1m Biblical manuscript

The society, which was presented the 176-page volume in 1821, wanted to shore up funds for a new Â£1m visitor centre inside a deconstructed church in North Wales.

I believe you're missing a "with", as in "which was presented with the 176-page volume".

More unfortunately, had the church in North Wales been deconstructed it could scarcely house a new Â£1m visitor centre. The ungainly word your illiterate reporter fished for is "deconsecrated". Your website sub-editor is, yet again, blatantly incompetent.

G#Gill · Post by **G#Gill** » Fri Sep 12, 2014 4:47 am

spot;1464115 wrote: I note a paragraph from BBC News - Scholars secure future of rare Â£1.1m Biblical manuscript

The society, which was presented the 176-page volume in 1821, wanted to shore up funds for a new Â£1m visitor centre inside a deconstructed church in North Wales.

I believe you're missing a "with", as in "which was presented with the 176-page volume".

More unfortunately, had the church in North Wales been deconstructed it could scarcely house a new Â£1m visitor centre. The ungainly word your illiterate reporter fished for is "deconsecrated". Your website sub-editor is, yet again, blatantly incompetent.

It seems to me that most newspapers and media newsrooms do not have 'proof readers' any more, hence grammatical errors going unchecked, and the use of larger words in the wrong context, just because they sound intelligent ! I have also noticed that spellings of every-day words quite often are incorrect, probably 'typos' mostly, which indicates carelessness. It does suggest that education standards are falling down into the basement !

Post by **spot** » Fri Sep 12, 2014 6:03 am

G#Gill;1464123 wrote: It seems to me that most newspapers and media newsrooms do not have 'proof readers' any more, hence grammatical errors going unchecked, and the use of larger words in the wrong context, just because they sound intelligent ! I have also noticed that spellings of every-day words quite often are incorrect, probably 'typos' mostly, which indicates carelessness. It does suggest that education standards are falling down into the basement !That may be true of every other media newsroom on the planet. It must not, now or ever, be true of the BBC's online newsroom. The BBC must be held to a higher standard. Sadly the BBC seem to have failed of late to remember its calling.

I didn't like "shore up funds" either. I suspect it's a typo - or worse - for "store up funds", which is little better, instead of "secure funds" which is more accurate. What the Swindon church did was to realize an asset.

FourPart · Post by **FourPart** » Fri Sep 12, 2014 7:20 am

I suspect that much of it is to do with an over reliance of auto spell checkers. The words exist & are spelt correctly. Therefore it lets it pass. However, the spell checker can't understand the context of the meaning of the word (at least, not yet - believe me, the time will come).

G#Gill · Post by **G#Gill** » Fri Sep 12, 2014 2:09 pm

I know exactly what Mr. Spot is on about. I feel it is a fact that over the last decades, the standard of education in general has declined to a fairly appalling level. It seems that year on year pass marks for various examinations get lower and lower. Correct spelling is not considered as important as it used to be. Many people tend to spell words phonetically now and it concerns me that English language is being lost in the forests of slang, degradation and abbreviation. This is not helped with the advent of the mobile phone on which people can text messages one to another, and of course in order to take advantage of the space available for each message, there has developed a 'Text speak' where words are abbreviated like ur (your) and tx (thanks) and horrors- m8 (mate) !

Unfortunately this general reduction in quality has spread into the hallowed territory of the British Broadcasting Corporation, which was always held in high regard and respected the world over. Oh dear. Standards have slipped and respect is consequently waning.

Post by **spot** » Fri Sep 12, 2014 2:34 pm

In seeking an appropriate comment on our position, Gill, I note that the OED records this earliest use as 1642 from G. Torriano's Selected Italian Proverbs: He who pisseth against the wind, wetteth his shirt.

G#Gill · Post by **G#Gill** » Fri Sep 12, 2014 5:51 pm

:wah: I suppose we are in agreement there - that it is a waste of time.

Post by **spot** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 7:59 am

Oh my giddy aunt. If this photo caption was true, last night's storm would have taken on apocalyptic Noah's Flood proportions...This was taken in Corsham overnight, where a train also became submerged in flood water.

BBC News - Train stuck in flood water after storms in southern England

A train is only submerged in flood water if the flood water is over the train's roof. That is the meaning of submerged. I doubt whether this train's axles got wet. The word required is stranded, not submerged. A train became stranded in flood water, true. A train also became submerged in flood water? Poppycock.

Would the BBC please be so kind as to have all online news articles attributed to their writer? Who on earth got that caption so utterly divorced from reality?

Post by **spot** » Wed Oct 01, 2014 9:09 am

Link text: "Armed man shared lift with Obama".

No problem there, lots of drivers are armed in the USA. But I'm damned if I know why the President was hitch-hiking in the first place.

Post by **spot** » Thu Oct 09, 2014 11:13 am

Post-Biblical revelation of an unprecedented order has cast new light on the identity of God, 3400 years after Moses encountered the Deity on Mount Sinai.

BBC hyperlink text: Australian woman emerges from bush.

FourPart · Post by **FourPart** » Thu Oct 09, 2014 11:25 pm

I can imagine that in a couple of thousand years this very report might have been interpreted in typical Biblical way such as saying, "And lo, the Prophetess didst emerge from the heart of that Burning Bush. And she was saved, because her heart was true".

FG-administator · Post by **FG-administator** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 6:52 am

Yum...

FG-administator · Post by **FG-administator** » Thu Dec 18, 2014 5:52 am

This is the wrong thread in which to post this sentence but it's scarcely worth a new one. I note the first ever use that I've seen of the the verb "to rival" to mean "to compete with".

Morrissey has 'politely declined an invitation' from Channel 4 to rival the Queenâ€™s annual Christmas Day television message.

The Independent

Ahso! · Post by **Ahso!** » Thu Dec 18, 2014 1:10 pm

Feast on this one.

Girl, 15, is taken from taxiing plane as she tries to join jihadists

A 15-year-old girl who planned to join Islamic State jihadists in Syria was intercepted by counterterrorism police on an aircraft as it taxied on a runway, it emerged yesterday.

The girl is believed to have saved up her pocket money to pay for her Â£290 ticket and boarded a flight bound for Istanbul at Heathrow. Detectives rushed to the airport to stop the flight. As the aircraft readied for take-off, it was ordered to turn around.

Her family, who were described as Muslim with no extremist connections, had reported her missing only hours earlier. The girl, who has not been named, had intended to go and live in territory occupied by Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and had been in contact with people overseas via social media.

Officers put out an alert and checked passenger lists after her family raised the alarm, quickly tracking her down and removing her from the aircraft. Girl, 15, is taken from taxiing plane as she tries to join jihadists | The Times

FG-administator · Post by **FG-administator** » Mon Dec 22, 2014 11:56 am

The BBC plumbs the depths... "Why do we fart more on planes?" may indeed be an accurate link, but is it news??

The link's toward the end of the rather more interesting BBC - Earth - The natural world as youâ€™ve never seen it

Post by **spot** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 2:55 pm

Cameroon punished for taking on Boko Haram.

Several seconds went by when I thought it said "Cameron". I was, admittedly, puzzled but at the same time delighted someone had finally made an effort to upset the chap.

Post by **spot** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 2:57 pm

... and while I'm here:

Fitness 'rubs off on your partner'.

Eww.

Post by **spot** » Sun Jan 25, 2015 11:39 am

And again...

Post by **spot** » Fri Feb 13, 2015 5:22 am

Not the BBC this time, but seriously - no article about the Scouts Association should include the phrase " in-depth penetration testing"...

Scouts take down database due to 'security vulnerabilities' â€¢ The Register

Post by **spot** » Sun Mar 22, 2015 6:49 am

Who on earth is meant to check this sort of imbecility?[...] the Taiwanese government is helping people catch the disease much sooner by providing around one million free screenings [...]

Asia's deadly secret: The scourge of the betel nut - BBC News

So one obvious preventative program would be to cancel the free screening program?

Or maybe the BBC News site editor should have a quiet word with his damnably illiterate staff.

G#Gill · Post by **G#Gill** » Sun Mar 22, 2015 8:12 am

I find that this sort of thing is rampant in many publications too. It seems that with the advent of the computer, editors find no more need for proof-readers. This is patently wrong thinking by these editors. Proof is in the finished and published article - our local daily paper is a master at the art of typos and more disappointingly outright bad grammar. One wonders if the reporters engaged by my local paper have actually been educated !!! Certainly those people who type out the classified adverts are not able to distinguish between the birth of a baby and the berth in a boat or a caravan ! There are so many mistakes in the press, particularly the local papers (I could no doubt fill a page and not repeat myself with examples), that it is obvious there are no such people as proof-readers any more. More's the pity.

Post by **spot** » Wed May 13, 2015 4:58 am

TÃ½r;1426358 wrote: Mr Montgomery-Swan, who has 25 years' experience driving powerboats, said he believed it should be mandatory for new boat owners to complete a competency training course.

There is, as yet, little information released about Speedboat crash in Solent leaves teenager critical - BBC News

I'd make the entire class of boat illegal, it's simply offensive that they're built in the first place much less bought.

I thought buoys were visible and marked on charts. Perhaps this one was hiding and adrift.

There is, for once, nothing wrong with the report, I'm only posting here to follow up on the earlier discussion.

Post by **spot** » Mon May 25, 2015 12:21 am

There's a word the BBC continually abuses. Extinct.

Extinct means irretrievably extinguished for all time, a thing once alive that can never again be returned to health. It is not a localized phenomenon.

"Extinct in the wild" is meaningless.

"Extinct in Syria" is meaningless.

The Dodo is extinct. We shall not see its like again. The Dodo is no more, there are no Dodo anywhere in the universe. All the Dodo that ever existed are in the past, they cannot come again.

The Northern Bald Ibis, regardless of its presence or absence in Syria, is not extinct. You may visit the Northern Bald Ibis in a zoo, or go to its natural habitat in Morocco and play with it all afternoon. You can even shoot one if you feel inclined, though you'd definitely be frowned on. The Northern Bald Ibis is not extinct, it is merely losing Syria as one of its habitations in much the same way as it was pushed out of Turkey - the other local birds predated on it.

What possible reason does anyone, much less the BBC, have for watering down an essential component of the English Language by attempting to regionalize "extinct"? Extinction is a colossal and scary event. The loss of a species is a major moment. The loss of a habitat for a species is absolutely trivial by comparison.

What the BBC is actually doing is running yet another "Islamic State are monsters" headline, except today they have no news to go with it.

IS threat to Syria's northern bald ibis near Palmyra - BBC News

Smaug · Post by **Smaug** » Mon May 25, 2015 2:43 am

spot;1479671 wrote: There's a word the BBC continually abuses. Extinct.

Extinct means irretrievably extinguished for all time, a thing once alive that can never again be returned to health. It is not a localized phenomenon.

"Extinct in the wild" is meaningless.

"Extinct in Syria" is meaningless.

The Dodo is extinct. We shall not see its like again. The Dodo is no more, there are no Dodo anywhere in the universe. All the Dodo that ever existed are in the past, they cannot come again.

The Northern Bald Ibis, regardless of its presence or absence in Syria, is not extinct. You may visit the Northern Bald Ibis in a zoo, or go to its natural habitat in Morocco and play with it all afternoon. You can even shoot one if you feel inclined, though you'd definitely be frowned on. The Northern Bald Ibis is not extinct, it is merely losing Syria as one of its habitations in much the same way as it was pushed out of Turkey - the other local birds predated on it.

What possible reason does anyone, much less the BBC, have for watering down an essential component of the English Language by attempting to regionalize "extinct"? Extinction is a colossal and scary event. The loss of a species is a major moment. The loss of a habitat for a species is absolutely trivial by comparison.

What the BBC is actually doing is running yet another "Islamic State are monsters" headline, except today they have no news to go with it.

IS threat to Syria's northern bald ibis near Palmyra - BBC News

We ALL know IS are bloodthirsty butchers without a shade of pity, humanity or decency between them, so why bother with a "sideshow" like the Bald Ibis's habitat? Bit like some of our "tabloids"; if there isn't any news, invent some! (and pay the libel fine later, as it'll be a fraction of the extra profits made by the "libelous" news story)...

Bruv · Post by **Bruv** » Mon May 25, 2015 3:36 am

spot;1479671 wrote: There's a word the BBC continually abuses. Extinct.

Extinct means irretrievably extinguished for all time, a thing once alive that can never again be returned to health. It is not a localized phenomenon.

"Extinct in the wild" is meaningless.

"Extinct in Syria" is meaningless.

The Dodo is extinct. We shall not see its like again. The Dodo is no more, there are no Dodo anywhere in the universe. All the Dodo that ever existed are in the past, they cannot come again.

The Northern Bald Ibis, regardless of its presence or absence in Syria, is not extinct. You may visit the Northern Bald Ibis in a zoo, or go to its natural habitat in Morocco and play with it all afternoon. You can even shoot one if you feel inclined, though you'd definitely be frowned on. The Northern Bald Ibis is not extinct, it is merely losing Syria as one of its habitations in much the same way as it was pushed out of Turkey - the other local birds predated on it.

What possible reason does anyone, much less the BBC, have for watering down an essential component of the English Language by attempting to regionalize "extinct"? Extinction is a colossal and scary event. The loss of a species is a major moment. The loss of a habitat for a species is absolutely trivial by comparison.

What the BBC is actually doing is running yet another "Islamic State are monsters" headline, except today they have no news to go with it.

IS threat to Syria's northern bald ibis near Palmyra - BBC News

After reeding that, I wondered if they might have a campaign to alter the English language............like yourself Spot

FourPart · Post by **FourPart** » Mon May 25, 2015 5:47 am

Taken in its strictest sense, as you describe, the word 'extinct' is meaningless in any context as, echoes of Jurassic Park aside, it has been shown that with a bit of llive DNA it is possible to clone an 'extinct' creature, potentially to repopulate the species - ergo, not 'extinct' after all.

Post by **LarsMac** » Mon May 25, 2015 7:01 am

Perhaps it is journalism which truly faces extinction.

Smaug · Post by **Smaug** » Mon May 25, 2015 7:23 am

LarsMac;1479682 wrote: Perhaps it is journalism which truly faces extinction.

No, I think FourPart is right, you could always clone one from leftover DNA...

Post by **LarsMac** » Mon May 25, 2015 7:54 am

Smaug;1479685 wrote: No, I think FourPart is right, you could always clone one from leftover DNA...

There you go. We should dig up Edward R Murrow. And maybe Sam Clemens, and Ben Franklin, Sam Coleridge, and a few of the others, and re-establish the species.

Post by **spot** » Mon May 25, 2015 10:46 am

FourPart;1479678 wrote: it has been shown thatYou seem to imply it's been done. I've heard nothing about it, if that's the case.

FourPart · Post by **FourPart** » Mon May 25, 2015 2:48 pm

Fresh effort to clone extinct animal - BBC News

It may not have survived long, but it proves the point that it's viable.

Post by **spot** » Mon May 25, 2015 2:59 pm

FourPart;1479698 wrote: It may not have survived long, but it proves the point that it's viable.

On the contrary, it says that every attempt to date has been definitively and demonstrably unviable!

OED: viable, adjective - Capable of living; able to maintain a separate existence.

I note also that the team worked with entire freeze-stored cell nuclei, not merely "a bit of live DNA". There's a huge difference.

FourPart · Post by **FourPart** » Mon May 25, 2015 3:06 pm

On the contrary. The creature was brought to term, but died shortly afterwards. Therefore, for that brief period, the species was no longer 'extinct'. Remember, the first Heart Transplant patient only survived 18 days after the operation, but that didn't make the procedure non-viable for future attempts. Each subsequent operation became more & more successful. Regarding re-animating extinct species by way of cloning is still a very new idea, and still has a great deal more research to undergo and doubtless many more successes in the future.

Post by **spot** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 2:56 pm

"US Muslim in Abercrombie hijab win"

Well, that's the link text. Sadly it doesn't actually mean that Abercrombie & Fitch have started selling hijabs in America, which would have been startling news.

Bogus link text of this nature is called "clickbait", I have recently discovered.

That was clickbait. On the BBC News website.

Shame.

Bruv · Post by **Bruv** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 3:32 pm

spot;1480101 wrote: "US Muslim in Abercrombie hijab win"

Well, that's the link text. Sadly it doesn't actually mean that Abercrombie & Fitch have started selling hijabs in America, which would have been startling news.

Bogus link text of this nature is called "clickbait", I have recently discovered.

That was clickbait. On the BBC News website.

Shame.

It is factually correct as it was concerning a US resident Muslim and the case between her and Abercrombie & Fitch about the wearing of a hijab at work.

If anything it cleverly uses peoples own preconceptions and prejudices to make a very good point.

Post by **spot** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 3:51 pm

My preconception was that Abercrombie & Fitch would rather go out of business than sell a hijab to a Muslim, and I appear to be on the mark. I'm quite convinced that "US Muslim in Abercrombie hijab" was a deliberately misleading conjunction of words.

Bruv · Post by **Bruv** » Tue Jun 02, 2015 5:52 am

spot;1480109 wrote: My preconception was that Abercrombie & Fitch would rather go out of business than sell a hijab to a Muslim, and I appear to be on the mark. I'm quite convinced that "US Muslim in Abercrombie hijab" was a deliberately misleading conjunction of words.

Your own agenda has omitted the final word........win.

"US Muslim in Abercrombie hijab court win"

Links are a form of advertising, a come on, a teaser, appetite wetter, something to pull the punters in..................and they work...........don't they ?

Post by **spot** » Tue Jun 02, 2015 5:56 am

Bruv;1480128 wrote: Your own agenda has omitted the final word........win. It's not an agenda, I was pointing out what I interpreted as a group of associated words - I did say the phrase was "was a deliberately misleading conjunction of words" in my post. I clicked the link wondering how a US Muslim had managed to acquire a hijab from Abercrombie & Fitch.

The BBC News Website is supposed to be above the use of "advertising, a come on, a teaser, appetite wetter".

FourPart · Post by **FourPart** » Fri Jun 05, 2015 2:05 pm

I read the headline to mean exactly what the story was about. I don't see the problem.

Post by **spot** » Fri Jun 05, 2015 2:07 pm

Deliberately misleading ambiguity. If the link can be red two ways then it's badly constructed.