EastStandWellFan Posted August 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2009 No wonder Dundee Utd managed to beat the Jambos last night. If you look at the Rancid today at the players scores out of 10 United were playing themselves. It goes through the United team twice with no Jambos mentioned. Surely somebody must be proof reading at a daily newspaper. Dicks All the other Rancid staff were too busy with the 17 page (I kid you not!) special on the Celtic-Arsenal game. scott_mfc - I totally take your point, not all journalists are lazy - far from it. In a former life I worked at stv and know how often the likes of Raman and Gerry McCulloch were on the phone to SPL clubs and their various contacts. Also, anyone watching ESPN's coverage last night must have been impressed with Derek Rae's research on the SPL. He was never my favourite commentator before he went to America, but I thought he was excellent last night and being so well versed in the teams playing meant he at least sounded as if he knew what he was talking about. I digress..........there are too many lazy journalists though who get basic facts wrong - not opinion pieces which we can argue all day long about...basic facts. I wish I had a copy of the article from The Independent (I think it was) which carried a match report in its early editions of a game which had in fact been postponed due to the weather ! Stuart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WishyWell Posted August 18, 2009 Report Share Posted August 18, 2009 Is it just me who thinks that most posters on here could write three articles a day no bother? One of the first things you learn in journalism is that everyone thinks they can do your job. And, yes, there have been financial cutbacks in every editorial office that have seen the experience and, yes, quality of the reporters drop dramatically, as well as the workload increase. But... one of the other things you learn right at the start of a career in journalism is that the one thing that brings in more complaints than any other is making mistakes with people's names. And the sort of mistakes made in the reports mentioned in this thread are sloppy, show a lack of interest in anyone outside the Old Firm, and embarrass the hacks who do give a damn. What's worse, as Fatcalf points out, it has been happening regularly for a long time now. A correct picture caption, for example, is a rarity. It's yet another example of the Ugly Sisters' cancerous influence and dominance. Don't get me started... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatcalf Posted August 18, 2009 Report Share Posted August 18, 2009 I'm no sure if I want to comment on this one . What I will say is that several of the sports journalists I know do put a lot of work in to get facts right and are far from "lazy". Many reporters at even national papers have to deal with editing other people's stories, deal with page layout and sub editing while writing their own stories, again to tight deadlines. A great deal of care is taken in my experience to get names like details etc correct. I worked for a national paper for over a year as a football reporter and it is easy to make the odd mistake. You don't always get club contacts who are able to help you, which is frustrating to say the least when you know there is something you need clearing up. Edit: in regards to the Steve Maguire (aka McGarry) thing, this was due to the names that PA had down being incorrect that was distributed out to the likes of Teletext, BBC etc. Which magnifies the mistake. The odd mistake is acceptable, shit happens but in this case these same mistakes have been happening for decades, that isn't acceptable. Agree or disagree? I know a few journos as well and they know my views on their profession, arseholes making those kind of easily rectified mistakes bring their names into disrepute, and by the same token probably yours Scott. I can accept trying to make excuses for the hard workers and genuine guys but this type of thing has been going on so long personally I'd be embarrassed to make any kind of excuse for those still guilty of such rubbish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott_mfc Posted August 18, 2009 Report Share Posted August 18, 2009 I agree MJ that mistakes in any national paper don't do me or anyone else in the industry any good, and knowing Richard and the staff at the paper I am sure it is just an unfortunate and rare mistake. In regards to Frazzle claiming that anyone can write three articles a day, it depends what you are doing. If you are going out of your way to try and pull fresh stories to write, it is very difficult. Whether it is first finding something to write about, contacting the club or person to arrange something, doing background checks, waiting hours for them to get back to you, if at all, travel out there to do the interview, come all the way back, write it, proof read it, liase with a photographer who was there with you, get it submitted, then deal with queries or any add ons the desk want you to do, it quite quickly cuts into your day. It's not simply a cut and paste job. I'm not saying every story you write as a reporter will take that long, but you get the idea. Like I said many reporters now also do subbing etc which is also quite time consuming. Aye it's annoying to see mistakes and reporters get frustrated with it even more so than anyone else. ENd of the day some people (and not all) will just moan for the sake of moaning, and a newspaper gives them the perfect chance. God I did a story regarding Mr Miller last month and I got criticised for it being factually correct and not 'tarting' it up by certain people. End of the day people moan about the papers, but they still buy them or read them online. If a minor genuine mistake is going to cause you to stop reading a paper then that is even more concerning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatcalf Posted August 18, 2009 Report Share Posted August 18, 2009 End of the day people moan about the papers, but they still buy them or read them online. If a minor genuine mistake is going to cause you to stop reading a paper then that is even more concerning. I don't buy them, for very different reasons as some will recall, but enjoy seeing their mistakes highlighted here for a wee moan. It is surprising to see the same basic mistakes over and over and over again though, surely one day we can expect better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daver Posted August 18, 2009 Report Share Posted August 18, 2009 The odd mistake is acceptable, shit happens but in this case these same mistakes have been happening for decades, that isn't acceptable. Agree or disagree? The McGarry type of mistake is certainly not new. Those of a certain age will remember that, pretty much every week, the papers listed one of our subs as Sullivan. Even after it had been established they meant John Philliben the error continued, for more than one season if I remember correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodge Posted August 19, 2009 Report Share Posted August 19, 2009 I am sure it is just an unfortunate and rare mistake. Have you not read this thread? These mistakes are far from rare and thats why folk are moaning about it. Mistakes can be forgiven when the reporter is working to tight deadlines and has research to do but in match reports its unforgiveable. They don't even have to check websites for players name - if I'm not mistaken they are given a free programme in the press box which contains squad names and numbers. Why can't they familiarise themselves with the teams before the game starts. The standard of journalism in Scotland is dire and the standard of sports journalism has been on the decline for years. When I first started stewarding at Fir Park, Bob Crampsie would turn up a couple of hours before kickoff and would familiarise himself with everyone in the ground, listening to everyones opinions and would do proper research. Nowadays its a completely different story with mistakes more than often replicate in other tabloids. Blaming deadlines is a cop-out - I'm sure most folk on here work to tight deadlines yet still have some high level of attention to detail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott_mfc Posted August 19, 2009 Report Share Posted August 19, 2009 Have you not read this thread? These mistakes are far from rare and thats why folk are moaning about it. Mistakes can be forgiven when the reporter is working to tight deadlines and has research to do but in match reports its unforgiveable. They don't even have to check websites for players name - if I'm not mistaken they are given a free programme in the press box which contains squad names and numbers. Why can't they familiarise themselves with the teams before the game starts. The standard of journalism in Scotland is dire and the standard of sports journalism has been on the decline for years. When I first started stewarding at Fir Park, Bob Crampsie would turn up a couple of hours before kickoff and would familiarise himself with everyone in the ground, listening to everyones opinions and would do proper research. Nowadays its a completely different story with mistakes more than often replicate in other tabloids. Blaming deadlines is a cop-out - I'm sure most folk on here work to tight deadlines yet still have some high level of attention to detail. I was referring to the journalist in question, not speaking on behalf of an industry containing thousands of people I have never met. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellgirl Posted August 21, 2009 Report Share Posted August 21, 2009 http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/ho...-a-Jambles.html From today's Scottish Sun, our "thumping loss" to Bucharest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
two_sevens Posted August 21, 2009 Report Share Posted August 21, 2009 http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/ho...-a-Jambles.html From today's Scottish Sun, our "thumping loss" to Bucharest. Well, we did get beat 6-1... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott_mfc Posted August 21, 2009 Report Share Posted August 21, 2009 To be fair we did get thumped. We were out played in three halves out of four. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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