Facing a Media Bias,

Annoying media mistakes

Everyone makes mistakes and it is extremely trite to say that the media is no exception. These mistakes range from the very serious (such as Newsweeks false reporting that a Koran had been flushed down a toilet at Guantanamo Bay that led to rioting and deaths) to trivial and sometimes silly mistakes.

While minor mistakes are, in the general scheme of things not important they can be annoying, especially if they happen to be repeated over and over and over again.

One of the latest examples occurred this week on Torontos all news radio station, 680 News. The station reported that the first Toronto Blue Jays game ever played took place in April 1977 and that this year marks the Jays 30^th season. Prior to the season opener on Tuesday night the station repeated the news that the city might get some snow, just like it did when the Jays played their first game "30 years ago". Its true that this is the Blue Jays 30^th season but the first game was played 29 years ago, not 30. A minor mistake to be sure but annoying. If they cannot compute how many years have elapsed between 1977 and 2006, what else are they getting wrong?

Another common mistake that is consistently made by the media is when the temperature changes from say 4 degrees to 8 degrees Celsius in the space of two days. The media inevitably reports that the temperature "has doubled" in the one day. Wrong. Eight is only twice as much as four when the starting point is zero. On the Celsius scale, temperature does not of course start at zero but at absolute zero which is -273 degrees. Eight is nowhere near twice as much as four, but it sounds like it is so that apparently is an acceptable way of stating such increase. Again this is minor but still annoying.

This last mistake used to appear more frequently but can still be found whenever a provincial or the federal government is formed by a new political party. When the Conservatives won a minority government on January 23, Stephen Harper became the prime minister-designate until he and his cabinet were sworn in on February 6. Yet he was referred to by some media outlets as the "prime minister-elect". The use of the word "elect" is used in the United States where voters actually do elect a president and vice president. In Canada we do not "elect" prime ministers and no Canadian outside of the riding of Calgary Southwest even had a chance to vote for Stephen Harper. Again, minor but extremely annoying.

When even minor mistakes like these are made on a consistent basis, you really have to wonder what other mistakes are being made.

Arthur Weinreb is an author, columnist and Associate Editor of Toronto Free Press. His work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Men's News Daily, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck and The Rant. Arthur can be reached at: Columns 2006 '05 '04 '03 '02 '01 '00 1999 Media 2006 '05 '04 '03 '02 Toronto 2006 '05 '04