Reuters Blogs

Good, Bad, and Ugly

Reader reaction to Reuters news

May 8th, 2008

Bad cropping…

Posted by: The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly Editor

change-360.jpgThere is a reuters photo of Obama circulating that includes a background picture with the “Change” banner cropped down to “Hang”.

Some people may find this quite offensive and would have a very hard time believing this was just an honest mistake. Really looks like it was done on purpose, or there is no editing staff whatsoever. Please remove it.

B.R.S.

We have deleted the photo, which was cropped for an online product by an editor who didn’t notice the unfortunate word the editing left behind. We had no possible reason to do this on purpose. GBU Editor

May 8th, 2008

Trouble with names…

Posted by: The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly Editor

Scottish Labour says “bring on” independence vote 

The pro-independence Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) formed a minority government after Scottish elections last year with a one-seat win over Labour, breaking decades of Labour hold on the country which has also provided key backing for the national party in Westminster.

Your story, while broadly accurate in reflecting the comments from the various politicos involved, does contain one rather unfortunate error. The Scottish Nationalist Party in fact is the ’Scottish National Party’. While this may seem a minor error I’m fairly sure the Conservative Party would never be described by reuters as the Conservation Party.

D. H.

UK police find Himmler/Churchill archive forgeries

Forensic examination revealed letterheads on documents purported to be written by Bernard Bracken, minister of information for wartime prime minister Churchill, in 1945 were made with a laser printer.

The Minister for Information in Churchill’s government was BRENDAN Bracken.

Veda

Readers were right in both cases. We corrected both: GBU Editor

May 7th, 2008

Wrong nationality

Posted by: The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly Editor

Italy’s Bartoli cruises into third round in Berlin  

bartoli-160.jpgItaly’s Bartoli took just over 50 minutes at the Steffi Graf Stadium to become the first player to reach the third round of the $1.3 million clay-court tournament.

Your headline and story are incorrect. Marion Bartoli is a French tennis player, not Italian.

V.C.  

You’re right, of course. We corrected. GBU Editor

REUTERS photo by Danny Moloshok

May 5th, 2008

Gross Domestic Product

Posted by: The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly Editor

Exxon profit disappoints despite high oil prices  

exxon-180.jpgExxon posted record earnings of $40.6 billion in 2007, with revenue higher than the gross domestic profit of Turkey, the world’s 17th-largest economy.

What is “gross domestic profit”? Is that something that only a Turkey has?

Hunter

We meant gross domestic product. We corrected: GBU Editor

REUTERS photo by Larry Downing

May 2nd, 2008

Proud, or really proud?

Posted by: The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly Editor

Obama’s wife joins push to court US working class  

obamas-200.jpgBut she has stirred controversy, such as when she said in February: “For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country.” Critics said the comment sounded unpatriotic and suggested she had not been proud of her country before her husband’s candidacy.

Is it nomral Reuters standard to misquote important people, when the misquote amounts to slander?

Your writer left out the work REALLY from her quote “For the first time in my adult lifetime I am really proud of my country”.

Leave the quote accurate, and the quote states that this is the first time she has been really proud, or extra proud, AND implies that in the past she had been just proud. How dare you!!

Tom

Several readers disputed our version of this quote. Our story is accurate. She said it both ways,  as you can see here: GBU Editor 

REUTERS photo by Jeff Haynes

May 2nd, 2008

The wrong time frame

Posted by: The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly Editor

Medtronic unit agrees to consent decree with FDA

In September, Medtronic announced plans to eliminate about 200 jobs in the Physio-Control unit.

This statement is not correct, and has our employees concerned. Is it possible to print a correction? It refers to actions taken in the past, not planned for the future.

Anne

Yes. We subsequently issued a correction making clear that the layoffs took place in March 2007, and were not announced in September 2007. GBU Editor

May 1st, 2008

The devil is in the details

Posted by: The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly Editor

Devil Rays sweep Red Sox with 3-0 win

rays-200.jpgST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Reuters) - James Shields pitched a two-hit shutout on Sunday as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays completed a three-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox with a 3-0 victory.

The headline on this article is so WRONG!!! Did your editor even READ the article?? Did he LOOK at the headline?? The team is no longer refered to as the “Devil” Rays. They have dropped any reference to Devil from the stadium, uniforms, locker room, everything.

Heck, the featured picture even shows clearly “RAYS” right across the front.

W.C.M.

Please let your reporter know that the correct name for the MLB team in Tampa Bay, Florida is the RAYS, not the Devil Rays. Maybe he hasn’t been covering baseball since the name change was announced, so please let him know.

A Fan

Lots of people noticed this one. We are aware of the change, and hope we don’t make this error again: GBU Editor

REUTERS photo by Steve Nesius

April 30th, 2008

Not the first time…

Posted by: The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly Editor

Calzaghe accuses Hopkins of being a sore loser

boxer-160.jpgApart from Hopkins’ straight right that floored Calzaghe for the first time in his career, neither fighter landed many telling shots in a scrappy clash of styles.

Byron Mitchell knocked down Calzaghe in June 2003.  Here is a link so you can see for yourself.

Mike M.

We corrected: GBU Editor  

REUTERS photo by R. Marsh Starks

April 29th, 2008

Hitting out at a headline

Posted by: The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly Editor

Obama hits out at Clinton for negative campaign 

obama-180.jpgHits out… who ever heard of such a thing?  I guess you will save the term “LASHES OUT” for the Republican candidate?

Michael

What does “hits out” mean? I’ve never used “hits out” in my life and I have never heard anyone use it. 

B.E.

It’s not terribly obscure. My dictionary includes the following as one definition for the word hit: “to assail effectively and sharply (often fol. by out): The speech hits out at warmongering.” GBU Editor

REUTERS photo by Frank Polich 

April 29th, 2008

Warning shots?

Posted by: The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly Editor

Ship hired by US military fires warning shots in Gulf  

In March, another U.S. military-chartered ship preparing to cross the Suez Canal fired warning shots at a small boat, killing an Egyptian on board.  

Warning shots? You do not get killed by warning shots. Why do you allow your writers to merely repeat what the military’s public relations officers say? It’s no wonder the Bush administration was able to drag us into war in Iraq as easily as they did. 

Alex

It does seem that when someone is killed, the distinction between warning shots and just plain shooting at the boat is pretty difficult to spot: GBU Editor