Tag Archives: misquotes

Didn’t get the joke

May 5, 2009 – 8:00 am

apIn a May 2 story about swine flu comments and the immigration debate, The Associated Press mischaracterized a comment by CNN’s Lou Dobbs. The story said Dobbs called the current epidemic “Mexican flu.” While Dobbs used that language, he was making light of those who were suggesting the name should be changed to something other than swine flu. Link (Link fixed May 10)

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Not playing politics

April 30, 2009 – 8:00 am

nytbanner1A picture caption in some editions on Monday with an article about the test of loyalties that a same-sex marriage bill poses to Malcolm A. Smith, the New York Senate majority leader, misquoted Mr. Smith, who supports the bill. Referring to the Rev. Floyd H. Flake, Mr. Smith’s mentor, who opposes the bill, Mr. Smith said, “He looks at it as a religious matter, and I look at it as a legal matter.” Mr. Smith did not say, “He looks at it as a religious matter, and I look at it as a political matter.” Link

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Wikiwhere’d you get those quotes?

April 30, 2009 – 8:00 am

guardianAn obituary of Maurice Jarre (31 March, page 36) opened with a quotation which we are now advised had been invented as a hoax, and was never said by the composer: “My life has been one long soundtrack. Music was my life, music brought me to life.” The article closed with: “Music is how I will be remembered,” said Jarre. “When I die there will be a final waltz playing in my head and that only I can hear.” These quotes appear to have originated as a deliberate insertion in the composer’s Wikipedia entry in the wake of his death on 28 March, and from there were duplicated on various internet sites. Link

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Jews, Nazis… whatever

April 23, 2009 – 8:00 am

nytbanner1An article on Tuesday about a speech that disparaged Israel, made by the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, at a United Nations conference on racism in Geneva, quoted incorrectly in some editions from his comment about the creation of Israel. He said, “Following World War II they resorted to military aggressions to make an entire nation homeless under the pretext of Jewish suffering.” He did not say “under the pretext of Nazi suffering.” Link

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Squib, not squid

April 8, 2009 – 8:00 am

guardianA commentary on the games industry went off the deep end when the author declared himself hit “like a damp squid” by the sector’s failings in recent years (The start of something beautiful in San Francisco, 2 April, page 6, Technology). When correctly rendered as damp squib, this figure of speech is devoid of associations with marine life. Link

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Inapt, not inept

March 30, 2009 – 8:00 am

In a story posted March 5 on The Hook, The Tyee reported that B.C. Supreme Court Justice Elliott Myers described a defence argument in a lawsuit involving a parody issue of The Vancouver Sun as, “with respect, inept.”
The story was based on oral reasons for judgement delivered in chambers by Justice Myers.
A written version of those reasons made public today shows that, in fact, Justice Myers said the argument was, “with respect, inapt.”
The full text of the reasons can be found on the B.C. Supreme Court website. Link

Thanks, David!

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All politicians sound alike

March 16, 2009 – 8:00 am

washpost4A March 13 A-section article about an interview President Obama gave to reporters from regional newspapers incorrectly attributed a quote. This statement, “I’m not going to sit back while the feds do not do their job,” was not said by Obama, as was reported, but by Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) in an interview on Fox News Channel. Link

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Andy Kindler goes on Letterman to complain about misquote

March 13, 2009 – 4:11 pm

mtlgazetteComedian Andy Kindler, a frequent guest and occasional correspondent on David Letterman’s show, recently dedicated part of his time on the Late Show to complain about a misquote in Montreal’s daily English language paper, The Gazette.

Kindler was interviewed by Gazette columnist Bill Brownstein back in January for a piece about how comics would handle the new Obama administration. (Disclosure: Bill and I are friends.) At one point in the column, Kindler was quoted as saying, “Bottom line is that Letterman is unwatchable now. And the best Saturday Night Live can do is give us Fred Armisen trying to do Obama, but he is so weak.”

After the article appeared, Kindler called Brownstein to say he was misquoted, and it turns out he was. In a subsequent column, Brownstein added this note:

Because of an unfortunate static disruption while recording an interview with comic Andy Kindler for my column of Jan. 21 – about the death of political comedy with the departure of Dubya – a key word, “not,” went missing. The Kindler quote should have read: “Bottom line is that only Letterman is not unwatchable now.” And not: “Letterman is unwatchable now.”
Kindler’s concern over this omission is not unwarranted: he is an occasional correspondent for Letterman’s Late Show. “The ironic part of this mix-up is that David Letterman is one of the few people whose comedy I have unconditional love for,” Kindler says. “I think that’s the proper context for the word ‘irony.’ If it’s not, that would be ironic.”
However, and not surprisingly, Kindler still stands by his statement that with little to mock about Barack Obama for the time being, he will start focusing more on Jay Leno,”the next big threat facing our country.”

Kindler wanted to make sure everyone knew what he really meant, so he made a point of mentioning the misquote during his recent appearance on Letterman’s show. The relevant bit starts at about the 1:30 mark.

Thanks, Paul!

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So what did she say?

March 10, 2009 – 8:00 am

dominionpost3WRITER Lynley Dodd did not say she was too old to go changing her ways, as reported in yesterday’s article about the Government restoring titular honours. The error is regretted.

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Who said what?

March 5, 2009 – 8:00 am

washpost4A March 1 Style article incorrectly stated that Keith Olbermann described Karl Rove as having “a head like a lump of unbaked bread dough.” That comment was made by Jon Stewart.

A Feb. 25 Style article incorrectly quoted President Obama as saying, “See, I know we can get some concessions in here,” during his address to a joint session of Congress. He said, “See, I know we can get some consensus in here.” Link to both

ottawasunlogoA pull-out quote on Page 4 of the Ottawa Sun in a story entitled Dangerous Liaisons was attributed to the wrong person. “It could be plying a woman with alcohol or … she may have been slipped a drug.” Dr. Janice Du Mont made this statement.
The article “Immortality 2.0″ (January-February 2009) contained two errors. The quote, “For those of us who don’t believe in God, this is a sort of religion,” was misattributed to Tyler Emerson of the Singularity Institute. Emerson is not the source of this quote and does not hold this view.

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Never said it

February 23, 2009 – 8:00 am

startimesIN LAST week’s Star-Times, Veterans Affairs Minister Judith Collins was incorrectly quoted as saying that the onus was on veterans to claim war pensions, and that if they didn’t ask for it, they didn’t get it. Collins did not say that and the Star- Times apologises for the error.

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Apology

February 17, 2009 – 8:00 am

ottawa_citizenAn article on page F3 yesterday misquoted Dr. Lara de Salaberry, who was commenting on the accumulated effects of stress and other health problems caused by the OC Transpo strike. The correct quote should have read: “Initially, I would have had to lie on an application for people to get Para Transpo.’ Dr. de Salaberry has made it clear to the Citizen that she was referring to what she would have had to do to help her patients obtain Para Transpo services but that she did not lie on any applications for Para Transpo. The Citizen apologizes to Dr. de Salaberry for publishing the incorrect quote. Link

The offending section:

While many [of her troubled patients] have simply not shown up for their appointments, others have taken drastic steps.
“Initially, I had to lie on an application for people to get Para Transpo,” said Dr. de Salaberry. “But now, it has reached the point where they qualify because the strike really is endangering their health.”

Thanks, Doug!

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Speaking of reports you can’t trust…

February 16, 2009 – 8:00 am

ottawasunlogoIn a July 6, 2008 column, Eric Margolis wrote “According to Israel’s media, (George W.) Bush even told Israel’s Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, that he could not trust America’s intelligence community and preferred to rely on Israeli intelligence.” Israeli media wrote President Bush had “serious doubts about the conclusions” in the U.S.’s National Intelligence Estimates, but did not specifically say he could not trust the reports. Link

The same column was published, and subsequently corrected, by the Toronto Sun.

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Keith Olbermann corrects Murdoch misquote

February 13, 2009 – 5:13 pm

Keith Olbermann issued an on air correction this week:

News Cycle reports that the transcript has been corrected.

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Rest is fine

February 11, 2009 – 8:00 am

nytbanner1Because of editing errors, a video games column on Saturday about a legal dispute between Blizzard Entertainment, the creator of the World of Warcraft game, and the makers of a “bot” program called Glider that plays the game automatically, gave an incomplete quotation from a lawyer representing Glider’s creator, Michael Donnelly, and misattributed a statement about his approach to the case.
The lawyer, Lance C. Venable, was quoted as saying that he recognized that his client was “a pretty unsympathetic character.” The full quotation from Mr. Venable was: “My client is a pretty unsympathetic character. If you look at this case from the very narrow lens of it being a case of Blizzard versus a botter, I completely understand why people are sympathetic to Blizzard’s position.”
In addition, while Mr. Venable compared the case to hypothetical examples in other industries, it is the view of the writer of the column — not Mr. Venable — that as the case nears the appeals process, “it’s his job to make the most dire slippery-slope argument possible.”
And a picture caption, using information from Blizzard, misstated the name of the character from the game that was shown. It is the Lich King — not Frostmourne, the name of the sword he was shown carrying. Link

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Slightly different

January 30, 2009 – 8:00 am

times-picaySoccer story clarified: A story in Thursday’s Sports section said Jesuit midfielder Patrick Mullins always wanted to stick it to Brother Martin. In fact, after being asked whether Wednesday’s game was the kind he dreamed of, Mullins said: “Yeah, it was great. I couldn’t ask for more. We really wanted to show what we were made of.” Mullins scored two goals and had an assist in the Blue Jays’ 5-1 victory against Brother Martin on Wednesday. Link

Thanks, Dan!

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Newspapers | Also tagged | Comments

So how did she end up in the story?

January 29, 2009 – 8:00 am

nationalpostA story on residential schools payments that appeared in yesterday’s National Post, and was provided by the Canwest News Service, incorrectly attributed quotes to Brenda Reynolds. All of the quotes attributed to Ms. Reynolds, regarding deaths in British Columbia and recipients’ reactions to the payments, were made by Sharon Thira of the Indian Residential Schools Survival Society. Ms. Reynolds, a psychologist who works with former residential school students, did not make any comments for this story. Canwest News Service regrets the error. Link

Thanks, Morgan!

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No foolin’

January 23, 2009 – 8:00 am

globemailQuebec Finance Minister Monique Jérôme-Forget did not single out the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec or its board of directors when she told a press conference that “they [financial institutions] were almost fooled by this product [asset-backed commercial paper.]” The minister did not comment about the board’s role in making investment decisions concerning ABCP. Incorrect information appeared Friday. The Globe and Mail regrets the error. Link

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Headline, not quote

January 20, 2009 – 8:00 am

independentIn the article about Jonathan Ross, ‘So, did anyone miss him?’ (14 January 2009), we wrote that Mark Lawson had told the Radio Times that Ross should “‘Ship Out!’. In fact this was the headline of the Radio Times article but was not a quote from Mark Lawson. Link

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A bit different

January 19, 2009 – 8:00 am

independentA news in brief item on 9 January referred to the politician Imran Khan who was speaking to the court from Pakistan by video link during the trial of two London-based Baluchi defendants who deny charges of assisting terrorism. We have been asked to point out that Mr Khan was giving evidence as to the security and political situation in Pakistan, and that he did not “defend terror suspects” but in fact told the court that in his view there was “no place for terrorism in a civilised society”. Link

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Recycled quote

January 13, 2009 – 8:00 am

a1 sky sept20A report on Saturday on the crossbow shooting of an Auckland woman quoted former New Zealand First law and order spokesman Ron Mark renewing his call for the Government to require licensing of crossbows as firearms. Mark’s comments were historical and he has made no recent comment on the issue.

Meaning: they dug up an old quote and presented it as being new.

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Apology

January 6, 2009 – 8:00 am

southchinaThe article “Unified standard seen linking mobile world” published yesterday incorrectly stated that telecommunications executive Craig Ehrlich is married to Christine Loh Kung-wai. Statements attributed to Mr Ehrlich that he used the term “wife” to describe his relationship with Ms Loh were in fact not what he said. We apologise for any embarrassment this has caused.

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Slightly different

January 5, 2009 – 8:00 am

nytbanner1An article last Sunday rendered a comment by Israeli foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, incorrectly. On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” she said, “We are targeting Hamas, we are not looking for civilians to kill,” and then added “More than that, during this military operation, we are trying to avoid any kind of civilian casualties.” She did not say, “We are targeting Hamas, we are not looking for civilians to kill more than that.” Link

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Ostracized by quote, not school

December 23, 2008 – 8:00 am

A story yesterday about members of Temple Beth El in Patchogue hosting Hispanic residents mischaracterized statements by Jeremy Pomerantz, a senior at Sayville High School. He participated in the event because he said he believes in community outreach. He said he does not feel ostracized as one of the few Jewish students at his school. Link

Here’s the original paragraph:

Nearby, Jeremy Pomerantz, a senior at Sayville High School who speaks Spanish, chatted with several families from Ecuador. He said he could empathize with their feeling of being ostracized because he is one of only a few Sayville High students who is Jewish.

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Same difference

December 22, 2008 – 8:00 am

In a Dec. 18 story on Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to France, The Associated Press erroneously quoted the former Israeli prime minister as saying that Iran has “apparently known ambitions” about using force. He actually said Iran has “apparently no inhibitions” about using force.

Another great Israel/Iran misquote here.

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