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BBC gets it wrong

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
This post relates to this article - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/8436443.stm

This has made me quite angry and I'll explain why...

When this article was first published online the picture attached to it was different - it was of the wrong person. Instead the picture showed a guy with ginger hair who I later found out was also called Rupert Rosedale.

So... how did such a mistake happen? Did the reporter just do a search online and find a facebook profile picture of a guy with the same name, and then automatically assume that its the right person, without any verification of any sort? Apparently so....

I mean the sort of problems caused by this are obvious... the main one being that the guy in their old photo - well he isn't dead.

I was just wondering... how often do mistakes happen like this in the world of media? I would have just thought that they would avoid attaching photos of people unless whoever doing the attaching was sure of the identity.


Oh and.... I don't really want a debate on the events - RR was a family friend.

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    This post relates to this article - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/8436443.stm

    This has made me quite angry and I'll explain why...

    When this article was first published online the picture attached to it was different - it was of the wrong person. Instead the picture showed a guy with ginger hair who I later found out was also called Rupert Rosedale.

    So... how did such a mistake happen? Did the reporter just do a search online and find a facebook profile picture of a guy with the same name, and then automatically assume that its the right person, without any verification of any sort? Apparently so....

    I mean the sort of problems caused by this are obvious... the main one being that the guy in their old photo - well he isn't dead.

    I was just wondering... how often do mistakes happen like this in the world of media? I would have just thought that they would avoid attaching photos of people unless whoever doing the attaching was sure of the identity.


    Oh and.... I don't really want a debate on the events - RR was a family friend.

    Sorry to hear that, but yeah sometimes the media is sloppy especially with things like names - a paper once quoted me, mispelling my name, demoting my rank and saying I was in a regiment which had got ammalgamated in the sixties.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I think this could be simplified to 'people make mistakes' its just that when you or I make mistakes at work (or at home) they aren't broadcasted on the TV or web.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I think it is slightly different though... its not like the journalist accidently clicked on the wrong thing and uploaded the wrong picture.

    More likely, they took a chance and assumed/hoped that this person would be the right person.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    A picture from my school was in the newspaper, and they gave us all the wrong names and said it was a different school. I agree with what Budda said, but then I also think that the media should spend more time getting personal info/pictures correct.
    Xx
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    A picture from my school was in the newspaper, and they gave us all the wrong names and said it was a different school. I agree with what Budda said, but then I also think that the media should spend more time getting personal info/pictures correct.
    Xx

    The problem with that (in the eyes of the media) is they have very strict deadlines, EG first to print, breaking news on the tv or websites, they want to be the first out which limits how much time they can put into it,

    also do the media really care? they issue an apology and forget about it, they do not care.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I like how print media can destroy someone with a massive story. Then the retraction is a small box somewhere towards the bottom of page 14!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Hellfire wrote: »
    also do the media really care? they issue an apology and forget about it, they do not care.

    They should care if it it comes to them putting up a picture of someone claiming he is dead when that particular man is still alive.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I never said they care... I just said they should. And you can't disagree with that. It may not be practical for them, but if they all dedicate more time to polishing the stories then it would benifit everyone. Including them, because more people would trust their paper/website. :-)
    Xx
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Maybe it's best they don't put a picture up until they've been given the right one by the person's family.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    It's worth remembering that the newspapers are just a fallable as anyone else - as is the BBC. You should consider this next time you rant about something which you have seen/read.

    A couple of interesting websites to look at:

    Tabloid Watch and Enemies of Reason

    Both look into the hyperbole surrounding newspaper stories and expose them for the inaccuracies on which they are usually based.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    They should care if it it comes to them putting up a picture of someone claiming he is dead when that particular man is still alive.

    I agree with you but they don't. I am just stating a fact, saying they should care cannot change that unfortunately,

    I completely agree with you here but there is not much we can do about it, Freedom of the press and all that junk,

    although one phrase comes to mind in this thread
    Well the ethical man knows he shouldn't cheat on his wife, whereas the moral man actually wouldn't."
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