Tag Archives: misquotes

Say what?

November 5, 2009 – 8:00 am

latimesBrett Favre: In an NFL column in Monday’s Sports section, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre was quoted as saying, “It didn’t seem weird until I got in near the pier,” talking about his return to Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. What he said was, “It didn’t seem weird until I got in near De Pere,” which is a town between Appleton and Green Bay. Link

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Sterilize ‘em all! (If they fit specific criteria)*

November 2, 2009 – 8:00 am

Wanganui Mayor Michael Laws believes in sterilising the “underclass”, whom he identifies as criminals, with no stake in society, who are welfare-dependent, with alcohol and drug problems. He was not referring to all beneficiaries, most of whom are good parents, he says.

This correction also appeared in the Dominion Post and the Press.

*Correction Nov. 2: The headline on this post originally read “Sterilize ‘em all! (If they fit this specific criteria).” The word “this” was removed because the word criteria is plural. Thanks, Harry!

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Quote in review not so accurate

October 19, 2009 – 8:00 am

sydneyPaul Byrnes’s film review of Mao’s Last Dancer, published in full and extract form since October 2, took issue with the film’s dialogue, in particular quoting: ‘‘Life in China not so good. I dance better here because feet more free.’’ This was incorrect. The full quote should have read ‘‘… in China, not so easy. Tell you what to do, where to go, what can say. Maybe I can’t come back.’’ And after a pause: ‘‘You know, I must dance political ballet in China, but I dance better here, because feel more free.’’  The Herald apologises for the error.

Here’s the letter to the editor that preceded to correction.

Any dramatist will tell you what a cheap and lazy shot it is when a critic quotes a line of dialogue out of context and uses it to tarnish the work and reputation of the writer.
In his review of my film Mao’s Last Dancer (‘‘Best foot forward’’, October 3-4), Paul Byrnes has gone one step further and invented his own dialogue and then ascribed it to me, saying, ‘‘That’s a good example of how awful the dialogue gets.’’ Well, you ought to know, Paul, you wrote it!
The scene in question happens after Li Cunxin is refused permission by the Chinese Government to extend his stay in America and his mentor, Ben Stevenson, reassures him that he’ll be able to come back one day. Li then discusses it with his girlfriend (in his broken English), in my version as follows: ‘‘Ben not understand. He too much in love with China. In China, not so easy. Tell what to do, where to go, what can say. Maybe I can’t come back. (Pause.) You know, I must dance political ballet in China, but I dance better here because feel more free.’’
Paul Byrnes’s bastardised version is: ‘‘Life in China not so good. I dance better here because feet more free.’’
Shame on you. Herald readers deserve better, and so do I.
Jan Sardi
Screenwriter, Mao’s Last Dancer
Eltham (Vic)

Thanks, Steve!

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Blonde, but not a bimbo

October 13, 2009 – 8:00 am

dailypostIN A report on October 6 about an employment tribunal case involving Wirral West MP Stephen Hesford, it was stated that Mr Hesford had once branded the constituency’s Tory Parliamentary candidate a “blonde bimbo ” and had accused her of using politics in order to get back onto the TV.
This was incorrect and should never have appeared in the report.
Mr Hesford did not make such comments, although a leaflet put out by the local Labour Party, just before the 2005 general election campaign, drew attention to statements said to have been made by the Tory candidate about herself, including that she wanted to combine her work as a TV presenter and politics and that “as a blonde Scouser no one takes me seriously”.
We are happy to make the position clear and to apologise for our error.

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Never said it

October 13, 2009 – 8:00 am

sundaytimeslogoAn article “Israel list names Russians helping Iran build nuclear bomb” (World News, last week) stated that Robert Einhorn, the special adviser for non-proliferation and arms control to Hillary Clinton, was understood to believe that Russian companies have also supplied material that has been used by Iran in the production of ballistic missiles. Mr Einhorn assures us that he does not recall having said anything like that to anyone and was not given an opportunity to refute the statement. We regret the error and are happy to set the record straight.

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A compendium of accusation

October 5, 2009 – 8:00 am

guardianWriting from memory in a piece defending his work against critics – Why my book is not sexist, 21 September, page 21, G2 – Stephen Bayley said that he had been accused by the presenter of BBC Woman’s Hour of producing a “coffee-table compendium of filth for perverts”. Jenni Murray has objected that she would never use the word compendium (the same goes for filth). The correct wording of the question she posed in the 9 September programme was: “Has he reclaimed images of the female body or produced a coffee-table playground for perverts?” Link

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Making sense of a milestone

October 5, 2009 – 8:00 am

apIn an Oct. 1 story about the world’s biggest wind farm opening, The Associated Press incorrectly quoted Patrick Woodson, an officer for E.ON Climate and Renewables North America. He said, “This is truly a significant milestone for us,” not “This is truly sign milestone for us.” Link

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The forbidden food

October 2, 2009 – 8:00 am

bordermailAustralian author and journalist Margaret Simons spotted this recent clarification in the Border Mail:

The Game Meats Company at Myrtelford is a halal-accredited organisation which processes only goats, emus, ostriches and deer…At no stage did export operations manager Rick Cavedon say Senator Fielding had ’saved our bacon’.

Thanks, Kevin!

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Corrections fix misquote of ACORN filmmaker

September 23, 2009 – 8:00 am

washpost4This article about the community organizing group ACORN incorrectly said that a conservative journalist targeted the organization for hidden-camera videos partly because its voter-registration drives bring Latinos and African Americans to the polls. Although ACORN registers people mostly from those groups, the maker of the videos, James E. O’Keefe, did not specifically mention them. Link

And this from AP:

In a Sept. 19 story about the community organizing group ACORN, The Associated Press, based on an account in The Washington Post, erroneously quoted a conservative journalist saying he targeted the organization for hidden-camera videos because its voter-registration drives bring minority voters to the polls.

The Washington Post on Tuesday printed a correction about the quote. Although ACORN registers people mostly from those groups, the maker of the videos, James E. O’Keefe, did not specifically mention minorities, the newspaper said.

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North Carolina weekly corrects controversial misquote

September 10, 2009 – 8:00 am

From a post on YES! Weekly’s blog:

After careful review of Keith T. Barber’s interview with Forsyth County District Attorney Tom Keith, we have determined that Mr. Keith was misquoted in a single instance.
The piece ran in the Aug. 26 edition of YES! Weekly under the headline, “Forsyth DA: Racial Justice Act inherently flawed.”

The quote we reported:

“If you’re African American, you’re six, seven or eight times more likely to have a violent history. I didn’t go out there and put a gun in your hand and say, ‘You commit eight crimes and I’m a white man and I’ll commit one.’ That’s just instincts, that’s how it is.”

The actual quote:

“If you’re African American, you’re six, seven or eight times or some figure more likely to have a violent history. I didn’t go out there and put a gun in your hand and say, ‘You commit eight crimes and I’m a white man and I’ll commit one.’ That’s just statistics. That’s how it is.”

The differences between the two quotes have been noted with italics.

YES! Weekly regrets the error. Audio of the full interview will be available here at the YES! Weekly blog momentarily, soon to be followed by a full transcript.

Yes, the statistics/instincts error is definitely significant. The misquote was covered by other local press. Here’s the offending article, which has been corrected.

Thanks, Jason!

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Personality disorder

September 9, 2009 – 8:00 am

nytbanner1An article on Friday about criticism of President Obama’s plan to address schoolchildren on Tuesday referred incorrectly to remarks by Mark Steyn, a Canadian author and political commentator, on the Rush Limbaugh show. (The Media Equation column in Business Day on Monday also included the incorrect reference.) Mr. Steyn made extensive reference to Saddam Hussein’s cult of personality in Iraqi schools, and said an attempt to create a “cult of personality at grade-school level” should have no place in the United States, but said he was not accusing the president of a “cult of personality on the kind of Kim Jong-il, Saddam Hussein scale.” He did not explicitly compare the president to Saddam or the North Korean leader or say that Mr. Obama’s efforts were “analagous” to theirs. Link

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A bit different

September 1, 2009 – 8:00 am

apIn a story Aug. 27, The Associated Press reported that the family of a student who said a science teacher burned a cross on his arm settled a federal lawsuit with the school district. Their attorney, Doug Mansfield, described it as an effort by the family to move past the incident. Mansfield was quoted saying, "I think they regretted bringing the lawsuit." The attorney says his quote in the story should have said that the family "regretted having to file the lawsuit." Link

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Somebody blew it

August 31, 2009 – 8:00 am

timesukKeva McKibbin ("Modern Weddings", Magazine, August 22) did not say that she was "blown off her face" when she first met her husband, but that she was "blown off her feet". We apologise for any embarrassment caused by our reporter’s mishearing. 

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The misquote that defies defeat cont.

August 27, 2009 – 8:00 am

latimesHamas-Israel negotiations: An Op-Ed article titled "Can Hamas Cut a Deal for Peace?," which was published on June 17, 2003, paraphrased and partially quoted former Israeli army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon as having "talked of rubbing in the fact that the Palestinians are ‘a defeated people.’ " The Times was recently made aware of questions regarding the source and accuracy of this material. The Times has been unable to verify that Yaalon expressed the thought or used the quoted words. The quote and the paraphrase should not have been used.

Background here.

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Trouble in the union

August 17, 2009 – 8:00 am

wsj2David Matayabas, a member of the Communications Workers of America, was referring to opponents of President Barack Obama’s health care proposals when he spoke of "ill-informed" and "not very smart" protesters "regurgitating talking points of Rush Limbaugh." A Wednesday U.S. News article incorrectly implied that Mr. Matayabas was referring to fellow union members. The article also incorrectly said that Mr. Matayabas worked to deny health claims when he worked for Athena Health Care. He said he performed that function for another employer. Link

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Eat your vegetables

August 17, 2009 – 8:00 am

guardianIn a report on an increase in the incidence of oral cancer among Britons in their 40s, we should have quoted a Cancer Research UK press release as saying that, along with tobacco and alcohol use, risk factors for oral cancers include "a diet low in fruit and vegetables, and a sexually transmitted infection called the human papilloma virus (HPV)". Instead, our report combined these two factors, so that the charity was wrongly quoted as stating that a diet deficient in fruit and vegetables was partly to blame for the growth of HPV (Heavy drinking culture blamed for surge in oral cancers, 11 August, page 9).

Link

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The misquote that defies defeat

August 10, 2009 – 8:00 am

torstar1A Nov. 14, 2004, column about the death of Yasser Arafat included an unverified quotation attributed to former Israel Defence Forces chief of staff Moshe Yaalon. Yaalon, now Israel’s strategic affairs minister, was quoted in that 2004 column as saying in 2002 that "the Palestinians must be made to understand in the deepest recesses of their consciousness that they are a defeated people." That quotation, while widely cited over the years, did not appear in the 2002 interview published in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, to which it has been attributed. Alon Ofek-Arnon, a spokesman for Yaalon, told the Star in an email that Yaalon never said this. As well, in a correction about this same quote published March 6, 2009, by the Chicago Tribune, Ari Shavit, the writer of the 2002 Haaretz article, said Yaalon did not say that. The Star has been unable to reach Shavit. Link

Here’s the Tribune correction.

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Apology for fabricated quote

July 22, 2009 – 8:00 am

sun_uk3FURTHER to our preview of last night’s game published in Thursday July 9th edition, we wish to clarify that Ian Bermingham did not give the quote attributed to him. The level of wages stated in the headline for Mr Bermingham was inaccurate. We regret any distress caused and accept that Mr Bermingham had declined to discuss with us the level of his wages with Shamrock Rovers.

From the original article:

I only earn £300 a week but I’ll still stop Cristiano

THE first player to mark Cristiano Ronaldo following his £80million move to Real Madrid is on £300 a week and still lives at home with his mum.

Ronaldo and Bermingham come face to face when Real visit Rovers’ tiny Tallaght Stadium in Dublin on July 20.

Tickets for the friendly sold out in two hours and pals of the defender reckon it could be the game that makes HIS name.

But not for his fantastic play – for nobbling the Portuguese wing whiz on his debut for Real’s new crop of Galacticos.

Since landing the toughest job in football the Irishman’s email inbox has been overloaded with cruel suggestions.

Bermingham said: "A lot of people seem to think if I really hammer Ronaldo it will put my name all around the world and I would be some kind of a hero. But, no – I could never, ever think like that.

"As long as I can catch him he’ll know I’m there, but I want to swap shirts with him so it’s better that he’s still standing at the end of the game!" …

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Apology

July 3, 2009 – 8:00 am

globemailAn article entitled "When bankruptcy trustees ‘run amok,’ " published on page B6 of the June 24, 2009, edition of The Globe and Mail, contained a statement that judicial officials have ruled that Mr. Edward White, who is a licensed trustee in bankruptcy, "lied to regulators." That is incorrect. A statement to that effect was made by a Registrar in Bankruptcy. No other judicial official has made any such statement. The Registrar’s statement was specifically disapproved by Justice Ruth E. Mesbur of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Mr. White’s appeal of the Registrar’s decision. Justice Mesbur also reversed the decision of the Registrar on several other issues. Her decision is under appeal by Mr. Robert Murphy, who was quoted at length in our June 24 article. The Globe and Mail regrets its error and apologizes to Mr. White. Link

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The war on dolphins

June 30, 2009 – 8:00 am

apIn a story June 26, The Associated Press reported that frustrated fishermen are firing guns at bottlenose dolphins that have become increasingly aggressive in taking fish off hooks, and some dolphins have been wounded or killed. The story quoted Bob Zales, president of the National Association of Charter Boat Operators, as saying he heard accounts of dolphins being shot at. He says he meant that some boat operators "may fire weapons in an attempt to scare them off" but does not know of anyone who would fire at a dolphin or try to harm them. He said attempts to scare away dolphins have been made by commercial fishermen and others, not just charter boat fishermen.

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The Economist, not the economists

June 23, 2009 – 8:00 am

nytbanner1Because of a transcription error, an article last Monday about the rivalry between Rupert Murdoch, the chief executive of News Corporation, and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, misquoted Mr. Murdoch’s response to the prime minister, who accused Mr. Murdoch of conducting personal attacks on him through the media. Mr. Murdoch said he did not control what the editor of The Times of London or “The Economist” say about Mr. Berlusconi. He did not say “the economists.” Link

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Hustler, not huckster

June 2, 2009 – 8:00 am

washpost4A May 22 editorial on Virginia’s Democratic gubernatorial primary incorrectly stated that Terry R. McAuliffe had described himself as a “huckster.” In his autobiography, Mr. McAuliffe described himself as a “hustler.” Link

Via Andrew Sullivan and Matt.

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Contrary to reports, Seymour Hersh never said Cheney ordered the assassination of Benazir Bhutto

May 19, 2009 – 3:08 pm

Seymour Hersh has come out swinging against false reports claiming that he told an Arab TV station that Vice President Dick Cheney had ordered the assassination of for Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Raw Story has a report in which the Pulitzer winner decries articles that completely fabricated comments attributed to him. Raw Story notes that a number of media outlets in the US and Pakistan ran with the item:

Numerous Internet and mainstream publications picked up the story on Monday. Even The Wall Street Journal linked to unverified sources carrying the story. (Screenshot.) U.S. conservative magazine The American Spectator also published a blog with the false information. (Screenshot.)
Hersh told RAW STORY Investigative News Editor Larisa Alexandrovna that he made no such statements.
Following RAW STORY’s Monday evening report, the Journal removed the links from its Web site. (Screenshot.)
“We’ve tried to reach out to people in the media that we know and correct this,” confirmed Alexa Cassanos, director of public relations at The New Yorker, speaking to this reporter. “We’re not even sure where this came from.”
Web sites which appear to be based in India and Pakistan reported that Hersh made the allegation during an interview with “an Arab television channel.” Outlets which reported this include thenation.com.pk (no affiliation with U.S. news magazine The Nation), webindia123.com, thaindian.com and dawn.com.

Back in March, Hersh talked about an “executive assassination ring,” but he made no mention of Bhutto. Nor did he say her name during his recent appearance on Gulf News, an Arab TV station. It appears as though the fake story broke yesterday on thenation.com.pk in Pakistan and spread to other sites. Raw Story reports that the WSJ has removed the links to the offending stories from its website (they appear to have been automatically generated). The American Spectator has updated its blog post, and Dawn.com published this correction:

The story regarding Hersh’s reported claim that Cheney ordered the assassination of Benazir Bhutto was published on our website among other publications. We regret the error.

The correction appears at the top of a story that purports to include quotes from Hersh about this incident. A site in Pakistan also has the same quotes, but neither indicate where they came from. So read this with caution:

‘General McChrystal ran a special forces unit that engaged in High Value Target activity. While I have been critical of some of that unit’s activities in the pages of the New Yorker and in interviews, I have never suggested that he was involved in political assassinations or death squads on behalf of Mr Cheney, as the published stories state.’

‘I have never been asked by any journalist…about such allegations. This is another example of blogs going bonkers with misleading and fabricated stories and professional journalists repeating such rumours without doing their job — and that is to verify such rumours,’ Hersh said.

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Toronto Sun apologizes for “stupid” headline

May 11, 2009 – 8:00 am

torontosunA headline on page one of the Toronto Sun yesterday was both inaccurate and misleading. In fact, as the story reported, the mother of a boy involved in a high school fight in Keswick said her son “said something stupid.” She did not say nor imply he was stupid. The Sun regrets the error and apologizes to the boy and his family. Link

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Write what you thought you heard

May 11, 2009 – 8:00 am

apIn an April 13 story about pirates at sea, The Associated Press erroneously quoted President Barack Obama vowing “to halt the rise of piracy.” Obama misspoke, according to a White House transcript, using the word “privacy,” not “piracy,” in his comment. Link

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