Halp us, Noo Yorke Timez, weer Innernet dummys who kant spel

By Michelle Malkin  •  August 13, 2007 09:27 AM

Classic. Even when the NYTimes admits its faults, the Internet gets blamed. Public Editor Clark Hoyt writes about the massive amount of misspellings that the Old Gray Lady sees fit to print:

The fact is, The New York Times misspells names at a ferocious rate — famous names, obscure names, names of the dead in their obituaries, names of the living in their wedding announcements, household names from Hollywood, names of Cabinet officers, sports figures, the shoe bomber, the film critic for The Daily News in New York and, astonishingly and repeatedly, Sulzberger, the name of the family that owns The New York Times.

The Times has given Gen. Douglas MacArthur the middle initial A at least 25 times since 1987, though he had no middle name and didn’t use A, B, C or S, all of which have been ascribed to him.

So, you ask, what’s the big deal? Doesn’t The Times have more important things to worry about, like getting it right on Iraq and Iran and the presidential campaign?

Yes, a great newspaper has to get the big things right, but it also has to pay fanatical attention to thousands of details every day to prevent the kinds of mistakes that start readers wondering, “If they can’t spell his name right, what else is wrong with the story?”

Or, as Joe Lelyveld said in 2000, when he was executive editor of The Times, “When it comes to accuracy issues, tolerance and the larger view can be dangerous to our health.”

At a retreat of senior editors of The Times, Lelyveld called on them to “sweat the small stuff.” He bemoaned “the malignancy of misspelled names,” pointing out, among other things, that The Times had misspelled the first name of Madeleine Albright, who was then secretary of state, 49 times, despite running three corrections.

Unfortunately, the cancer appears to be getting worse. When Lelyveld spoke in mid-September, there had been 198 corrections for misspelled names in The Times so far that year. Through yesterday, still in early August, there had been 269 this year. And the mistakes keep coming.

The exasperation has spilled over onto the copy desk. John Hinderaker noted it in “They Can’t Spell, Either” last week:

Whoever runs the Corrections section at the New York Times is getting a little exasperated. Here are two items from today’s corrections:

An article in some copies on Wednesday about Congressional efforts to pass legislation to expand the government’s electronic wiretapping powers misspelled — yet again — the surname of the attorney general of the United States, in three of four references. He is Alberto R. Gonzales, not Gonzalez. (The Times has misspelled Mr. Gonzales’s name in at least 14 articles dating to 2001 when he became White House counsel. This year alone Mr. Gonzales’s name has been misspelled in February and March, and in two articles in April.)

An article on the Street Scene page in Business Day on Friday, about the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore’s entry into bankruptcy law practice, misspelled the name of another law firm that recently lost a bankruptcy specialist. It is Willkie Farr & Gallagher, not Wilkie. (The Times has misspelled the firm’s name in at least 50 articles since 1958. The “Willkie” comes from Wendell L. Willkie, who joined the firm shortly after losing the 1940 presidential election to Franklin D. Roosevelt and remained there until his death in October 1944.)

Shakespeare couldn’t spell either; but then, he was writing fiction.

Heh.

Now, we all make mistakes. But when a sloppy typo or misspelling appears on my blog, it is my fault. When you leave ghastly typos and misspellings in the comments section, it is your fault.

But when asked who’s to blame for so many spelling blunders getting past the NYTimes’ layers and layers and layers of editorial oversight, guess who’s to blame?

It’s our fault!

I asked Greg Brock, the senior editor in charge of corrections, why he thinks so many names are misspelled in the paper, especially when The Times has so many layers of editing. In theory, every article is read by at least five people after a reporter finishes it, though stories written or changed for later editions often get far fewer checks. Brock said that when he looks into mistakes he gets several common responses:

¶Reporters say they were operating from memory and didn’t bother to check. That’s what one writer said after misspelling the name of Julianna Margulies, the television actress.

¶Reporters assume that a name is spelled the “normal” way and don’t check. That’s what happened with the obituary of Neal Shine, the former publisher of The Detroit Free Press, whose first name was not Neil, as it appeared in the paper. Shine hired me in 1968, when he was the city editor of The Free Press, and he would get infuriated by errors like this.

¶Reporters checking names on the Internet are carelessly misled by other people’s misspellings.

Oh, snorty-snort-snort.

“Reporters checking names on the Internet are carelessly misled by other people’s misspellings.”

Dammed Whirled Wyde Webb! How dare we mislead those poor NYTimes writers.

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Comments


  1. #1
    On August 13th, 2007 at 9:32 am, PBoilermaker said:

    They won’t even take responsibility for their own spellchecking?

    That’s a new level of awesome.

  2. #2
    On August 13th, 2007 at 9:37 am, corona said:

    “great newspaper” – where?

  3. #3
    On August 13th, 2007 at 9:38 am, swj719AWG said:

    Ha-ha-ha!

    My eeeeeeeeevil plan is coming to pass…

    Mwahahahahaha!!!

  4. #4
    On August 13th, 2007 at 9:44 am, On-my-soap-box said:

    Oh, snorty-snort-snort.

    Did you spall chek that?

  5. #5
    On August 13th, 2007 at 9:47 am, swj719AWG said:

    Did you spall chek that?

    noe

  6. #6
    On August 13th, 2007 at 9:48 am, taylork said:

    This is all a hate-monger blog plot to get the poor people in Florida confused. They’ll be looking to vote for Hillary Clanton, but the ballot will say Clinton. Out of confusion, Pat Buchanan will get 20,000 votes.

  7. #7
    On August 13th, 2007 at 9:52 am, On-my-soap-box said:

    Hey! I happen to be from Florida. My chad was not hanging!!!

  8. #8
    On August 13th, 2007 at 9:54 am, swj719AWG said:

    I happen to be from Florida.

    O RLY??

    …

    This has the potential to keep me entertained all day…

  9. #9
    On August 13th, 2007 at 10:01 am, shooter said:

    boo frickin hoo

    NYT lookie here , it’s SHILLARY ! add that to yer lexicon.

  10. #10
    On August 13th, 2007 at 10:03 am, shooter said:

    maybe they’re all under 25 and only know how to ‘text’… POS.
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    that’s ‘parent over shoulder’, not what you were thinking.

  11. #11
    On August 13th, 2007 at 10:07 am, On-my-soap-box said:

    This has the potential to keep me entertained all day…

    Dito

  12. #12
    On August 13th, 2007 at 10:08 am, gregorystephens said:

    Since they are so easily misled, maybe we can devise a plan to lead them from the far left back to the middle….or just a bit right, since we’re going through all the effort anyway. ;)

  13. #13
    On August 13th, 2007 at 10:08 am, DarthRove said:

    My final masterstroke has been executed as planned. Not quite as powerful as a fully armed and operational battle station, but still enough to deal with their pitiful little band.

    And now, adieu! I retire!

  14. #14
    On August 13th, 2007 at 10:08 am, swj719AWG said:

    TNR’s bff: STB…

  15. #15
    On August 13th, 2007 at 10:10 am, JammieWearingFool said:

    We all have typos on occasion (I had a doozy in a blogpost recently), but they’re quickly fixed when people point them out, or we notice it ourselves.

    However, in the case of the Times, it’s just plain sloppiness or–dare I say it–lowered standards as a result of affirmative action.

    Anyone remember Jason Blare? Oops, I mean Jayson Blair.

  16. #16
    On August 13th, 2007 at 10:11 am, Snooper said:

    I yoosed ta knowd whowta speille butt i din fergetted watt it be wuz.

  17. #17
    On August 13th, 2007 at 10:13 am, On-my-soap-box said:

    I lined my bird cage with the NYT and he stopped talking. I am not sure if he is confused or just got dummer!

  18. #18
    On August 13th, 2007 at 10:13 am, swj719AWG said:

    or–dare I say it–lowered standards as a result of affirmative action.

    Raceist…

    ;)

  19. #19
    On August 13th, 2007 at 10:27 am, englishqueen01 said:

    Typical of liberals…they screw up and blame someone for their lack of responsibility.

    If I can’t spell a word, I don’t go to the Internet first. I go to this handy little thing called a “dictionary”.

    I know that’s so 20th century, but it works.

    And if I do use the Internet, I check at least three different sources for spelling before I publish it.

    If I make an error, it’s mine. Period.

  20. #20
    On August 13th, 2007 at 10:28 am, On-my-soap-box said:

    Now, we all make mistakes. But when a sloppy typo or misspelling appears on my blog, it is my fault. When you leave ghastly typos and misspellings in the comments section, it is your fault.

    I blame Boosh.

    This is too much fun.

  21. #21
    On August 13th, 2007 at 10:33 am, swj719AWG said:

    I blame Boosh.

    I lol’d…

  22. #22
    On August 13th, 2007 at 10:40 am, RobM1981 said:

    Mishel,

    Yu hurt us blogahs wen yu say we kant spel or tawk guud. Wy, I hav sumthing liyk 13 yeers of publik edukashun beehind me.

    huuk’d on fonix wurk’d for me…

  23. #23
    On August 13th, 2007 at 10:41 am, ajmontana said:

    NYT Headlines Tomorrow:
    “Luner Rowver to Retireds Augast 31st”
    :)

  24. #24
    On August 13th, 2007 at 10:43 am, swj719AWG said:

    Damn… These are starting to hurt my brain…

  25. #25
    On August 13th, 2007 at 10:45 am, On-my-soap-box said:

    On August 13th, 2007 at 10:43 am, swj719AWG said:
    Damn… Dam These are starting to hurt my brain…

    You should run spell check – it’s free!

  26. #26
    On August 13th, 2007 at 10:46 am, jrlingreenbay said:

    If they taught spelling at these journalism institutes of higher education, instead of filling their heads with liberal garbage – perhaps they wouldn’t have to worry about things like this.

    Basics, people….basics…..

  27. #27
    On August 13th, 2007 at 10:46 am, BROOKLYN said:

    hukt on fonix werked fur me!

  28. #28
    On August 13th, 2007 at 10:48 am, geminicontender said:

    I think this shows the general level of intelligence (schooling) of the so-called journalists. Send them back to 6th grade…..never mind that thought. All they will come back with is how to put a condom on a cucumber.

  29. #29
    On August 13th, 2007 at 10:50 am, ajmontana said:

    NYT SPORTS:
    “Metkees to Meat Yanktropolitans in World Series”

  30. #30
    On August 13th, 2007 at 10:50 am, On-my-soap-box said:

    I think we should adopt ebonix ebonicks eboneix ah, heck – english.

  31. #31
    On August 13th, 2007 at 10:55 am, ajmontana said:

    I feel sorry for the people doing the Crosswurd Puszel.

  32. #32
    On August 13th, 2007 at 10:59 am, geminicontender said:

    I smell a rhat

  33. #33
    On August 13th, 2007 at 11:00 am, swj719AWG said:

    Ow…

  34. #34
    On August 13th, 2007 at 11:22 am, Myra Langerhas said:

    I gots my degreez and lerned spelllin from my lolz cats.

  35. #35
    On August 13th, 2007 at 11:24 am, jferg49 said:

    Yu peepel shud bee ahshaimed. Makein phun uf the NYT. I halv nefer sceen thees sew kald miss spelengs….Git a jowb, an leive thim alowne.

  36. #36
    On August 13th, 2007 at 11:27 am, Thomas said:

    BruHaHaHaHa!

  37. #37
    On August 13th, 2007 at 12:42 pm, daveglo said:

    Howdya ‘spect ‘em to spell right, when dey can’t f@#*in’ tawk right? [said in my poorest NY accent]

  38. #38
    On August 13th, 2007 at 1:06 pm, jukin said:

    These are the people that are smarter than us?

  39. #39
    On August 13th, 2007 at 1:07 pm, palani said:

    It’s not just spelling (and grammar), folks. I emailed the “accuracy” desks of USA Today, and my own local, The Honolulu Advertiser, regarding the incorrect annual temperature data reported in their August 9th’s “Climate model predicts hot decade”. (Thanks to MM for highlighting this in her “Hot News” blog.)

    The silence is deafening!

  40. #40
    On August 13th, 2007 at 1:12 pm, HeatherRadish said:

    Blame the internet? If you use Google and search for “alberto gonzalez” the first two hits are for “Alberto Gonzales” at Wikipedia and the biography of “Alberto Gonzales” at whitehouse.gov. Yesterday when I Googled “Steve MacNair” it asked me “Did you mean: steve mcnair”, which of course I did.

    And it’s not like Google is a puppet of the vast right-wing conspiracy to be avoided at all costs.

  41. #41
    On August 13th, 2007 at 1:31 pm, Pal2Pal said:

    I blaim Boosh and Rohv, a plaht I tell ya a plaht!

  42. #42
    On August 13th, 2007 at 1:49 pm, ajmontana said:

    Just to keep things somewhat fair(except print media is diff)David Asman on Fox news just called fred Thompson “Jim” and said there were still 21 hostages remaining since the release of two. He should be more well informed there are 19 Hostages remaining, two killed.

  43. #43
    On August 13th, 2007 at 1:57 pm, skwired said:

    One spelling mistake here and there is ok . . . we are human. But continuous mistakes makes me think that the Times lacks the necessary attention to detail. If they are so rushed to print that they cannot check the spelling of names, are they too rushed to get to print to adequately check their “facts”?

  44. #44
    On August 13th, 2007 at 2:02 pm, On-my-soap-box said:

    Fare end bellenced!!!

  45. #45
    On August 13th, 2007 at 2:03 pm, On-my-soap-box said:

    I called man-bear-pig and he said the NYT bought spelling credits from his company so it is okay!

  46. #46
    On August 13th, 2007 at 2:47 pm, Kowboy said:

    NYT motto:

    “Hukt awn fonix werks fer mee.”

  47. #47
    On August 13th, 2007 at 2:52 pm, On-my-soap-box said:

    Headline:

    NYT calls Michelle Malkin a “fiurkrakur”

  48. #48
    On August 13th, 2007 at 3:28 pm, ajmontana said:

    Lol Soapy, thats wut the Gooze Crik Terrorwrists er sayun…. just fiurkrakurs.

  49. #49
    On August 13th, 2007 at 3:39 pm, palani said:

    Re:On-my-soap-box

    I called man-bear-pig and he said the NYT bought spelling credits from his company so it is okay!

    I don’t anyone likes him, dude.

  50. #50
    On August 13th, 2007 at 3:49 pm, twoninerkilo said:

    I wont say anything, people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. I’m guilty.

  51. #51
    On August 13th, 2007 at 4:12 pm, On-my-soap-box said:

    twoninerkilo

    We are all guilty, I think that is the point. You owned up to it. Now, newspapers with editors and loads of fact checkers and spell check on computers – there is just not much of an excuse. We do not even need to mention how bad the NYT really is.

    All that being said, join in if for no other reason – spelling doesn’t count!

  52. #52
    On August 13th, 2007 at 4:22 pm, hadsil said:

    They misspell “Republicans are not evil” too.

  53. #53
    On August 13th, 2007 at 4:47 pm, leepro said:

    Chronic wide-spread misspellings and improper grammar and usage have been the albatross around my neck for many, many years. Now it’s driving me to distraction! As we all know, automated spell-checkers do not catch anomalies like the differences among “there,” their,” and “they’re” either. And most grammar checkers only suggest that you “may” want to say [whatever] a different way. Usage correction is non-existent.

    Here in Memphis, we have what used to be one of the nation’s finest newspapers, but not any more. Not only have they drunk the liberal Kool-Aid, but also upon calling one of the editors to point out a glaring mistake and asking about proofreaders, he said, “Oh, we don’t use proofreaders anymore.”

    Citing my long history in journalism (now retired), I was offering my services as a proofreader. He wasn’t interested.

    BTW, the error I was pointing out was a photo of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. The caption read: “Bill Gates.”

    Sheesh!

  54. #54
    On August 13th, 2007 at 5:00 pm, On-my-soap-box said:

    leepro

    Then you can appreciate our paper having “Boituaries” in stead of Obituaries! Frankly, I like Boituaries better. It makes me feel like as long as I live here, I will never end up as a dead person.

  55. #55
    On August 13th, 2007 at 7:02 pm, josetheguerilla said:

    Blogggosfhere godess:

    Shareeha creep is worsless than exection!!!!!!

    Thanc you fur keeepen us informed Mechel!!!!!

    /s/

    hosea

  56. #56
    On August 13th, 2007 at 11:25 pm, 3Steps said:

    leepro…

    that is just so sad…

    the scariest thing is… how many people are really noticing?

    of course they did away with proofreading… the average american can no longer read.

    err.. btw.. can we get a spell checker button here Rick? ;-)

  57. #57
    On August 14th, 2007 at 8:20 am, ajmontana said:

    If they was a spell-checker on this thread it would have had a meltdown… :)

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