BBC website howlers - what have you found?
BBC website howlers - what have you found?
Author
Discussion

GDL

Original Poster:

95 posts

197 months

Friday 31st March 2023
quotequote all
Is it just me, or is the standard of English on the BBC website getting worse?
Factual inaccuracies, sentences that don't make sense or are incomplete.

What have you found?

To start it off from today's story on Oscar Pistorius being up for parole
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-65123142
Contains the statement: "The former amputee recently met Barry Steenkamp, Reeva's father, as part of a mandatory process known as "victim-offender dialogue"."

"Former amputee"? How does that work then?

anonymous-user

85 months

Friday 31st March 2023
quotequote all
Not on the BBC, but when singer Ben E. King died a few years ago, the news stream said ‘Benny King’
Made me smile!

Eric Mc

125,863 posts

296 months

Friday 31st March 2023
quotequote all
Most media outlet websites are full of inaccuracies - often caused by relying on spell checking and very minimal (i.e. none) proof reading. The BBC does suffer from this - but so do most of them.

Riley Blue

23,214 posts

257 months

Friday 31st March 2023
quotequote all
I agree, the standard of BBC English is appalling:

https://www.bbc.com/pidgin

Mark-C

7,737 posts

236 months

Friday 31st March 2023
quotequote all
Proof-reading is expensive and slow in a world where people want news quickly and free ... all online news outlets have seen a massive decrease in quality over the last couple of years.

Jonmx

2,943 posts

244 months

Friday 31st March 2023
quotequote all
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-576...
'5,000 year old man was oldest plague victim'

JamesW

276 posts

263 months

Friday 31st March 2023
quotequote all
Sky News isn't the only one.

Saw this on Monday and had to screen grab it


ZedLeg

12,278 posts

139 months

Friday 31st March 2023
quotequote all
GDL said:
Is it just me, or is the standard of English on the BBC website getting worse?
Factual inaccuracies, sentences that don't make sense or are incomplete.

What have you found?

To start it off from today's story on Oscar Pistorius being up for parole
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-65123142
Contains the statement: "The former amputee recently met Barry Steenkamp, Reeva's father, as part of a mandatory process known as "victim-offender dialogue"."

"Former amputee"? How does that work then?
That's not what it says though, it says former amputee sprinter.

QIOM

45 posts

196 months

Friday 31st March 2023
quotequote all
JamesW said:
Sky News isn't the only one.

Saw this on Monday and had to screen grab it

What's the issue here?

Mammasaid

5,644 posts

128 months

Friday 31st March 2023
quotequote all
ZedLeg said:
GDL said:
Is it just me, or is the standard of English on the BBC website getting worse?
Factual inaccuracies, sentences that don't make sense or are incomplete.

What have you found?

To start it off from today's story on Oscar Pistorius being up for parole
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-65123142
Contains the statement: "The former amputee recently met Barry Steenkamp, Reeva's father, as part of a mandatory process known as "victim-offender dialogue"."

"Former amputee"? How does that work then?
That's not what it says though, it says former amputee sprinter.
Yup!


Getragdogleg

10,293 posts

214 months

Friday 31st March 2023
quotequote all
Mammasaid said:
ZedLeg said:
GDL said:
Is it just me, or is the standard of English on the BBC website getting worse?
Factual inaccuracies, sentences that don't make sense or are incomplete.

What have you found?

To start it off from today's story on Oscar Pistorius being up for parole
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-65123142
Contains the statement: "The former amputee recently met Barry Steenkamp, Reeva's father, as part of a mandatory process known as "victim-offender dialogue"."

"Former amputee"? How does that work then?
That's not what it says though, it says former amputee sprinter.
Yup!

"The Former sprinter, an amputee" would heve been more better.

sociopath

3,433 posts

97 months

Friday 31st March 2023
quotequote all
GDL said:
Is it just me, or is the standard of English on the BBC website getting worse?
Factual inaccuracies, sentences that don't make sense or are incomplete.

What have you found?

To start it off from today's story on Oscar Pistorius being up for parole
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-65123142
Contains the statement: "The former amputee recently met Barry Steenkamp, Reeva's father, as part of a mandatory process known as "victim-offender dialogue"."

"Former amputee"? How does that work then?
Oh, the irony.

Missy Charm

1,543 posts

59 months

Friday 31st March 2023
quotequote all
sociopath said:
GDL said:
Is it just me, or is the standard of English on the BBC website getting worse?
Factual inaccuracies, sentences that don't make sense or are incomplete.

What have you found?

To start it off from today's story on Oscar Pistorius being up for parole
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-65123142
Contains the statement: "The former amputee recently met Barry Steenkamp, Reeva's father, as part of a mandatory process known as "victim-offender dialogue"."

"Former amputee"? How does that work then?
Oh, the irony.
But Pistorius hasn't got an iron knee...

Monkeylegend

29,569 posts

262 months

Friday 31st March 2023
quotequote all
sociopath said:
Oh, the irony.
Don't let the omission of a key word spoil a good story hehe

MikeM6

6,088 posts

133 months

Friday 31st March 2023
quotequote all
QIOM said:
JamesW said:
Sky News isn't the only one.

Saw this on Monday and had to screen grab it

What's the issue here?
The picture made me chuckle

EdmondDantes

356 posts

172 months

Saturday 1st April 2023
quotequote all
Seems like the BBC is following in the footsteps of The Gurdian (The Guardian)

actionpotential

51 posts

115 months

Sunday 2nd April 2023
quotequote all
Screen grabbed this one some time ago...


Raccaccoonie

2,797 posts

50 months

Sunday 2nd April 2023
quotequote all
The constant Tory bum licking is enough for me.

TallPaul

1,524 posts

289 months

Sunday 2nd April 2023
quotequote all
Getragdogleg said:
"The Former sprinter, an amputee" would heve been more better.
Schadenfreude

Getragdogleg

10,293 posts

214 months

Sunday 2nd April 2023
quotequote all
TallPaul said:
Getragdogleg said:
"The Former sprinter, an amputee" would heve been more better.
Schadenfreude
wink