Shocking standards of Journalism

[Dominic]

This is the headline:

One in five teens in Cyprus, aged 14 to 18, use cannabis daily

This is the FIRST paragraph:

A shocking nine per cent of young people aged 14 to 18 use cannabis and one in five of these do so daily, the House Legal Affairs Committee heard on Wednesday.

Basically, the headline has overstated the figure by a factor of more than 10. Is this caused by a translation error, or are reporters really that divorced from reality?

https://in-cyprus.philenews.com/news/lo ... bis-daily/

[Dominic]

My point is the main headline says that one in five of ALL teenagers smoke pot daily.

[Kili01]

Yes, as you say that headline is just both inaccurate and misleading. Surely, someone is or should be employed to proof read the paper before it is printed?

Dee

[Firefly]

Sadly shocking headlines sell papers, the truth is often 'massaged' for financial gain.

[Aargent]

The figures don't actually mean anything unless you know how many teenagers there are aged 14 to 18. 1 in 5 of an unknown number is also an unknown number as is any percentage of an unknown number. I must agree that the standard of Journalism today, worldwide, is abysmal.

[Dominic]

It isn't meaningless at all. If I am told that one fifth of adults in Cyprus regularly drink and drive, I can make a point of being wary driving at night. I don't need to know how many drivers there are in total to come to that conclusion. That knowledge would be surplus to the equation. Now, if I was visiting a place I had never been to, and was given that news, then the total number would be useful. But when it pertains to an existing environment, I think the assumption that we have a rough idea how many kids are around, is a reasonable one.

[memory man]

Obviously NOT proof read

Taxi driver who has injured two policemen wanted

On Friday night, two policemen have been injured when a driver hit them in his effort to flee during a check. The culprit abandoned the scene on food and is wanted. A quantity of cocaine was also found at the scene.

The incident occurred just before 21.00 at Kapsalos area of Limassol. The two policemen stopped a car for a check. They asked the driver to switch off the engine and get out of the car. However, he increased speed, hitting the two policemen. In his effort to escape, the driver lost control of the vehicle, which finally stopped at a pavement. The driver fled on food.

According to the Police, the driver is a 53-year-old man and an arrest warrant has been issued against him.

https://in-cyprus.philenews.com/news/lo ... en-wanted/

[Chaddy]

A journalist friend of mine once said to me when i questioned an article he wrote,,,,,never let the WHOLE facts spoil a good story.

[Devil]

Obviously NOT proof read

One of the latter-day journalists who use a spellchecker and have an error in their vocabulary. A member of the old guard would never have made this mistake even once, let alone twice. Those who use a spellchecker should carefully monitor its results; some of its ewwors may be hilarious.

[memory man]

The original press report has been amended.


https://in-cyprus.philenews.com/news/lo ... en-wanted/

[memory man]

hot dog escape -

[Paul]

I worked in the printing trade for 40 years, and some of the mistakes that got through you would not believe.

In my early days I printed 20,000 two colour leaflets and on the last 1000 sheets to finish the job there was a spelling mistake noticed.

When they where typing the line they hit the W & E at the same time making the word wexactly Instead of exactly.

[DavidatLWH]

When they where typing

Oh, dear.

[cyprusmax47]

Another example yesterday: CMail:

Temperatures fall slightly, more cloudy over next few days
By Staff ReporterAugust 7, 20221 Comment953


"Sunday should see some increased cloud in the afternoon while the barometer is expected to come in at 37C inland, around 33C on the south and east coast, 31C on the west coast, 34C on the north coast and 28C in the mountains. It is likely to be quite windy along the coast as well."

You don't have to be an expert to know that with a barometer you measure pressure, not temperature

Max