Good, Bad, and Ugly
Reader reaction to Reuters news
The wrong year…
I was just watching a news clip with a voice-over by a woman with an American accent.
It was about the 100-yr-old table tennis champion lady. During the story, it was mentioned that the lady was also in the Guinness Book of Records for being the oldest volunteer at the “2004″ Sydney Olympics.
I thought this was just a tad sloppy for Reuters, especially as the Athens Olympics were such a historic event.
Sue M.
Yes. We redid the narration with the right year, 2000: GBU Editor
Ex-Olympic champion?
Ex-Olympic champion Lavrova killed in crash
Just so you know, an Olympic athlete who wins gold is never referred to as an “ex” Olympian.
Once an Olympic athlete, ALWAYS an Olympic athlete. I am writing this about your article about the late Ms. Natalia Lavrova.
Amelia
Russian gymnasts celebrate their gold medal in the all-around final of the rhythmic gymnastic competition at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, August 28, 2004. REUTERS/Caren Firouz
Gibe vs. Jibe
Vonn hurt by Mancuso jibe over popularity
Does anyone there have a journalism degree or maybe English?
Jibe = sailing term. Gibe = mocking term.
How does this make a worldwide article headline?
W.O.
In British English, jibe is the correct spelling for the word Americans know as gibe: GBU Editor
Well, this raises the question to me then: What’s the British English word for the word Americans know as jibe?
No, the other Korea…
Please see this page. I can see our national flag on the sled, called ‘Taegukgi.’
It is the South Korean national flag. Yes, I’m South Korean and want to correct the caption that says North Korea.
Chan
This picture is for South Korea’s four-man bobsleigh team. How can you say they are North Korean?
There is the South Korean flag. if you have a $20 atlas, you can find out. It is insulting for Koreans and Korean Olympics players.
Whoever wrote this article must apologize to Koreans.
Which sport?
Dara Torres faces “long road ahead” after knee surgery
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Five-times Olympian Dara Torres was “doing fine” after radical knee surgery but was still uncertain if she will compete at the 2012 London Games.
“It’s a long road ahead of me but I’m glad I finally got the operation over with,” the 42-year-old told Reuters Thursday in a telephone interview from her Boston hospital bed.
Torres, who has won medals at five different Olympics, had two pieces of cartilage placed into her left knee Tuesday and will be sidelined for 12-18 months.
FWIW, I guess that we’re all supposed to know exactly who Dara Torres is, and for what Olympic sport she won her medals?
Excuse me, but I don’t. And I wouldn’t really know by reading the body of this Reuters story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091022/sp_nm/us_swimming_torres_1
Oops…there it is! In the URL. Silly me.
The beauty of the Internet is that you could just search for more information about the topic.
Of course, Reuters could always try to make it easier!
When a headline is snipped, why not add the original headline to the text at the top of the article?
Grammar in Olympics story…
Chicago go out in first round of 2016 Olympics voting COPENHAGEN, Oct 2 (Reuters) – Chicago were eliminated after the first round of voting for the 2016 Olympics host city.
Correct grammer would be Chiicago WAS eliminated. The grammer in the headline is also atrocious: “Chicago go out…” What does that mean?
Please watch what you publish, running a grammer checker would probably have eliminated both of those errors.
Michael C.
For quite some time now I have been referencing Reuters’ website for news updates because of your quality and accuracy in reporting. Understandably the occasional error slips through – not a big deal.
However, your current article(s) on the failed Chicago Olympic bid are (or should be) an embarrasment. Clearly the products of a lazy reporter and editor using a prewritten template, the news items with their repeated errors in grammar show both a lack of concern for us as readers and for your own reputation.
A deadline rush is no excuse. Shame on you.
I’m just glad you commented on the fact that they had misspelled words also.
Olympics spoilers?
U.S. juggernaut sets up Spain in basketball final
Thanks so much for printing the outcome of the basketball game I was going to watch tonight. No point in watching it now, is there? Guess I’d better avoid your website in the future.
Fred A.
We’ve received several e-mails similar to this one in the course of the Beijing Olympics.
I hear what you’re saying, but we offer our readers timely coverage of the Olympics as a news event, and that includes putting major news in our headlines.
As I write this reply, the AP’s lead online sports headline is US beats Argentina, shoots for gold Sunday. Likewise, the New York Times online headline says U.S. Men’s Basketball Advances to Final, and the Washington Post tells us U.S. Beats Argentina, Reaches Gold Medal Game. MSNBC carried it live. So clearly it’s very difficult to avoid learning this news, whether you come to reuters.com or not: GBU Editor
REUTERS photo by Lucy Nicholson
Reuters coverage of the games was great, and I found the score news helped me keep up with events I couldn’t tune in to. Ultimately the score is only one part of a sports story, and watching the spectacular feats of the Olympians is the reason to tune in. Some of the Olympians who earned medals have set up athlete profiles on the Loop’d Social Network. Check some of them out like:
Lauren Wenger, Water Polo
http://www.loopd.com/Members/LAWenger/De fault.aspx
Mike Day, BMX
http://www.loopd.com/Members/mikeyday/De fault.aspx
Mark Gangloff, Swimming
http://www.loopd.com/Members/Gangloff/De fault.aspx
by GarwoodPR
His first Olympics?
FACTBOX: Michael Phelps v Mark Spitz
Phelps was 19 when he went to his first Olympics, the 2004 Games in Athens. He won six gold and two bronze medals.
Hi. Was reading the factbox on Michael Phelps vs Mark Spitz on reuters.com. It says Phelps’s first Olympics was Athens 2004. Wrong. He also swam as a 15-year-old at the Sydney 2000 Olympics, in the 200m butterfly.
R.K.
A number of readers noticed this one. We corrected: GBU Editor
REUTERS photo by Wolfgang Rattay
The wrong team…
(R-L) Tom James, Steve Williams, Pete Reed and Andrew Triggs Hodge of Britain prepare to compete before the men’s four semifinal rowing competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Shunyi Rowing-Canoeing Park August 13, 2008. REUTERS/Aly Song
The photograph published is of the French coxless four and not the British as stated.
J.M.Q.
Yes, the blades of the oars should have been a tip-off. We corrected: GBU Editor
Problem with gymnastics…
Hosts China fail to qualify for final
BEIJING, Aug 10 (Reuters) – China, one of the favourites for the gold medal, failed to qualify for the women’s gymnastics team final at the Olympics on Sunday.
The 2006 world champions were expected to battle it out with the United States for the top prize but a series of errors meant they failed to reach Wednesday’s final.
Did your reporter actually attend the Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Team Qualification event at the Beijing Olympics? Did your editor check facts based on the Ouija board school of journalism?
This story could not be further from the truth. Not only did the Chinese women qualify for the eight nation team final, but they qualified in first place.
Christopher C.
Not only is this story entirely false, but was it was posted at 10pm LAST night before the team qualifying competition even started.
Some mistakes are bound to happen but overall I like the balanced news that I get from Reuters. I find a lot less ‘slant’ than most American news agencies and the fact that the stories are usually more complete. CNN and Fox are just a waste of time for me.
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Resident Mediafile Expert
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