Unintelligibly illiterate BBC News article link text

magentaflame · Post by **magentaflame** » Sat Jun 18, 2016 6:39 pm

Heard our federal treasurer come out with... im not going to be commentating on commentators commentating on their commentating..

You know when you hear something and your head does the double take toward the television? (the more astute would know we are in the middle of federal elections)

Post by **spot** » Sun Jun 19, 2016 10:15 am

It is thought the girls are among the youngest people in the UK to have fallen ill after taking the drug.

Greater Manchester Police is investigating how they got hold of the tablets and believe they may have been "supplied by a third party".

Girls, 12, ill after taking 'Teddy' ecstasy in Salford - BBC News

Short of one of them being a very precocious organic chemistry student I think we might be allowed to assume that as a given.

What possible information content is that second sentence supposed to contain.

Post by **spot** » Sun Jul 24, 2016 7:42 am

Sgt Darron Bishop of Northamptonshire Police posted photos of the scene on Twitter, describing the aftermath as "carnage".

'Carnage' after Wollaston Co-op cash machine ram-raid - BBC News

Umm.

Carnage.

The killing of a large number of people.

Slaughter, massacre, mass murder, butchery, bloodbath, bloodletting and gore are notably absent from the scene in question.

Munich, San Bernadino, Utoya, Baghdad, Nice and Kabul represent carnage, unlike the Wollaston Co-op crime scene. The Wollaston Co-op crime scene lacked corpses.

Perhaps Northamptonshire Police has a remedial course in Basic English suitable for pretentious young sergeants.

Post by **spot** » Tue Aug 02, 2016 3:05 am

Eww.

Not safe for work!

There ought to be a law against it.

Anglers land thresher shark in Cornwall - BBC News

Bruv · Post by **Bruv** » Tue Aug 02, 2016 5:25 am

Mr Lane, a garage owner from Washford in Somerset, said when they got the shark on board they measured it and took photographs before letting it back into the water.

Post by **spot** » Tue Aug 02, 2016 6:28 am

The tattooed gentleman with the lurid t-shirt appears to have done rather more than just that.

Bruv · Post by **Bruv** » Tue Aug 02, 2016 6:56 am

I have no idea what you are talking about.

Post by **spot** » Tue Aug 02, 2016 8:17 am

The chap in the photo is neither measuring it, photographing it nor letting it back into the water.

Bruv · Post by **Bruv** » Tue Aug 02, 2016 8:35 am

spot;1499508 wrote: The chap in the photo is neither measuring it, photographing it nor letting it back into the water.

He is 'containing' it.

It's not a good idea to let a shark thrash about randomly on a boat deck.

Post by **spot** » Tue Aug 02, 2016 8:48 am

He should have left it in the water to begin with then. I'd happily see recreational and commercial fishing made a criminal offence, and pastoral farming too.

Bruv · Post by **Bruv** » Tue Aug 02, 2016 12:39 pm

spot;1499512 wrote: He should have left it in the water to begin with then. I'd happily see recreational and commercial fishing made a criminal offence, and pastoral farming too.

What was it I said ?

Yes.....you have a very unique way of looking at the real world.

FourPart · Post by **FourPart** » Wed Aug 03, 2016 5:40 pm

I was listening to an article on the local radio about this instance this morning. Apparently the weight cannot be officially recorded, as these have to be weighed on land, due to weighings on boats being understandably inaccurate. By which time, the creature would dead. In this instance it was merely photographed & released, just as it should have been.

Post by **spot** » Sat Aug 06, 2016 1:33 am

He also organised contacts for Virginia Hall, a one-legged spy who would defy the odds to become the Gestapo's most wanted agent in the whole of France.

Unknown WW2 secret agent buried in Cardiff cemetery - BBC News

I winced. The heroine in question was not an agent of the Gestapo.

Post by **spot** » Sat Aug 06, 2016 1:41 am

Good lord, what is it about the BBC's writers that they can't organize a sentence to mean what it actually says?Scuba divers have used a giant inflatable balloon to raise a wagon once used to transport Welsh slate more than 110 years ago from the bottom of a lake in Snowdonia.

Anglesey divers recover slate wagon from Llyn Padarn - BBC News

The wagon was obviously not used to transport Welsh slate more than 110 years ago from the bottom of a lake in Snowdonia. I think sometimes these people just do it for amusement.

Post by **spot** » Thu Aug 18, 2016 2:57 am

Star snapped before and after nova explosion - BBC News

What an utterly bogus use of the word "snapped".

The only photographic use of the word implies a throw-away split-second unconsidered shot. They're called snapshots. They differ in that sense from posed, thought-out deliberate photographs.

Working out in what sense a star can possibly snap and eventually looking in order to find out is sheer click-bait.

Stars do not snap. Neither do multi-million-pound astronomical observatories.

Replacing "snapped" with "seen" (or, if space allows, "observed") makes the headline a great deal more meaningful.

Post by **spot** » Fri Aug 19, 2016 8:06 am

Rio Olympics: Lochte apologises for 'robbery' saga - BBC News

"Lochte apologises for 'robbery' saga"?

Where? When?

If anyone's seen an apology for the 'robbery' saga from Mr Lochte perhaps they could direct me to it, because I haven't - least of all in that BBC item.

Bruv · Post by **Bruv** » Fri Aug 19, 2016 8:25 am

Begging your pardon Spot but.......Saga a long, involved story, account, or series of incidents.

You have obviously joined the saga late.

Post by **spot** » Fri Aug 19, 2016 8:44 am

On the contrary, I've been watching it daily since it fired up. And if you've seen an apology for the 'robbery' saga from Mr Lochte perhaps you could direct me to it. All I've seen is a self-satisfied attempt at exculpation from the fellow without even acknowledgement of what he's been criticized for.

Bruv · Post by **Bruv** » Fri Aug 19, 2016 10:10 am

So how does the apology or lack of one, come under the heading 'Unintelligibly illiterate BBC News.....ect' ?

Post by **spot** » Fri Aug 19, 2016 10:50 am

The blatant abuse of the word "apologises", of course.

Bruv · Post by **Bruv** » Fri Aug 19, 2016 3:09 pm

spot;1500136 wrote: The blatant abuse of the word "apologises", of course.

So every other news source is quoting an 'apology', why pick on the BBC ?

(That's just us 2 keeping this forum alive today......keep it up.)

Wandrin · Post by **Wandrin** » Fri Aug 19, 2016 3:58 pm

His "apology" reminded me of a politician trying to weasel out of something that he said on tape. He "apologized" for "not being more careful" when explaining his apparently fictional robbery. He hasn't admitted, yet, that he was drunk, destructive, and dishonest.

And yes, all of the networks are calling an apology.

Post by **spot** » Sun Aug 21, 2016 4:21 am

Here we are...Mr Lochte told Globo TV, Brazil's largest broadcaster, that he had not lied over what happened.

"I wasn't lying to a certain extent," he said. "I over-exaggerated what was happening to me."

Swimmer Ryan Lochte says sorry to Brazilians over robbery claim - BBC News

What a contemptible embarrassment the chap is.

Bruv · Post by **Bruv** » Sun Aug 21, 2016 5:31 am

spot;1500165 wrote: What a contemptible embarrassment the chap is.

Who is he embarrassing ?.................Not I

Post by **spot** » Sun Aug 21, 2016 5:57 am

Himself and all his fellow Americans.

Bruv · Post by **Bruv** » Sun Aug 21, 2016 9:33 am

spot;1500170 wrote: Himself and all his fellow Americans.

They are used to it.

Post by **spot** » Mon Aug 22, 2016 9:26 am

Ryan Lochte: Speedo sponsorship ended over Rio account - BBC News

An Australian company, Speedo.

I wear mine when a suitable moment presents itself, though I've never been sponsored to.

Next time he might check what an apology consists of before speaking to the press.

Bruv · Post by **Bruv** » Mon Aug 22, 2016 9:50 am

spot;1500202 wrote: I wear mine when a suitable moment presents itself, though I've never been sponsored to

Give them a call.......they may sponsor you not to wear them.

Post by **spot** » Mon Aug 22, 2016 10:57 am

You occasionally harbour hurtful thoughts. I may sulk.

Ryan Lochte: Speedo and Ralph Lauren end sponsorship - BBC News

I have never herd of Mr Lauren but he appears rich enough to personally sponsor a US athlete and he, too, has now withdrawn his patronage.

ZAP · Post by **ZAP** » Mon Aug 22, 2016 11:08 am

Bruv;1500205 wrote: Give them a call.......they may sponsor you not to wear them.

:yh_rotfl

ZAP · Post by **ZAP** » Mon Aug 22, 2016 11:09 am

spot;1500208 wrote: You occasionally harbour hurtful thoughts. I may sulk.

:yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl

Bruv · Post by **Bruv** » Mon Aug 22, 2016 12:51 pm

spot;1500208 wrote: I have never herd of Mr Lauren but he........................

So....you have never 'rounded up' a Ralph ?

Post by **spot** » Mon Aug 22, 2016 11:58 pm

The older I get, the more I phoneticize.

Bruv · Post by **Bruv** » Tue Aug 23, 2016 5:11 am

spot;1500233 wrote: The older I get, the more I phoneticize.

I suspect the BBC news team are all the same.

Post by **spot** » Tue Aug 23, 2016 5:44 am

Bruv;1500236 wrote: I suspect the BBC news team are all the same.

I have never, not even once, criticized their spelling or their grammar. I often question their abuse of vocabulary and their suspect judgement.

FourPart · Post by **FourPart** » Tue Aug 23, 2016 3:08 pm

You should listen to 5 Live on a Sun Night / Monday Morning where they discuss the nature of English Grammar. This is one example. It gets quite funny sometimes when they need to contradict themselves in order to explain a point.

Post by **spot** » Wed Aug 24, 2016 2:36 am

Speaking on US talk show Today, Lochte said: "I made a mistake and I definitely learned from this. They put on a great Games... and my immature, intoxicated behaviour tarnished that a little."

Ryan Lochte: Speedo and Ralph Lauren among four to end sponsorship - BBC News

Other sponsors to withdraw their largesse are "skin care firm Syneron-Candela and Japanese mattress maker Airweave"... why on earth does a swimmer warrant mattress sponsorship? Who benefits from that? Mr Lochte's immature intoxicated performances on the mattress left everyone breathless?

"They put on a great Games... and my immature, intoxicated behaviour tarnished that a little"? No, Mr Lochte, you didn't tarnish a great Games, you merely tarnished the reputation of your country - though American tourists abroad never had much of a reputation in the first place.

Post by **spot** » Thu Aug 25, 2016 6:15 am

Microsoft's Excel has been blamed for errors in academic papers on genomics.

Microsoft Excel blamed for gene study errors - BBC News

Cobblers. Sheer unadulterated twaddle.

Firstly, I doubt very much whether the researchers whose report is being cited made any such claim.

Secondly, the "error" is the untrained incompetent use of Excel by the academic papers on genomics - and, I have no doubt, on many other academic papers too. I don't think Microsoft can be blamed for the abuse of Excel by untrained incompetent computer-illiterate postgraduates who most certainly should have been educated in the use of the tool.

Had the headline been true this would have been the scandal of the century. The headline isn't true, it's yet another deliberate conscious BBC click-bait lie.

Post by **spot** » Fri Aug 26, 2016 2:15 am

Brazil police charge Lochte over robbery claim - BBC News

A very small tip of an iceberg gesture toward asymmetric US international legal obligations, every single one of which screams American Exceptionalism.

Post by **spot** » Wed Aug 31, 2016 1:22 am

"May hosting Chequers Brexit brainstorm"

No, BBC. "May" is inadequate identification. I see the link and immediately wonder why the chap off Top Gear has been called in to fix a political strategy, and if it's not him, why an astrophysicist?

The letters "PM" work, the surname-only "May" doesn't. Surname-only never does.

James May would come up with more long-term beneficial solutions at that meeting. So would I, come to that.

Bruv · Post by **Bruv** » Wed Aug 31, 2016 8:23 am

Who else but PM May would be brainstorming Brexit at Chequers ?

Post by **spot** » Fri Sep 09, 2016 5:27 am

Radio 4 gave a news summary this lunchtime with the bizarre claim that people had spent the night in immobilized cable cars "20,000 feet above Mont Blanc". It's not good enough.

Firstly they meant 12,000 feet.

Secondly they were referring to the altitude, not to the height above ground. Cable cars do not yet operate alongside cruising commercial passenger aircraft.

Bruv · Post by **Bruv** » Fri Sep 09, 2016 5:36 am

Have you got a radio licence ?

Post by **spot** » Fri Sep 09, 2016 8:45 am

Bruv;1500974 wrote: Have you got a radio licence ?

I had to dig to the back of the drawer to check.

It even has a helpful bit of advice - "If power for the working of the wireless receiving station is taken from a public electricity supply, whether or not a battery eliminator is used, no direct connexion should be made between the supply mains and the aerial". Those few words have saved more lives than penicillin.

Bruv · Post by **Bruv** » Fri Sep 09, 2016 12:23 pm

'Connexion' ?

Post by **spot** » Fri Sep 09, 2016 3:54 pm

That's what the licence says, yes. The only other context in which I know the word is as a part of the Methodist structural hierarchy so it was a perfectly good word in the 18th century.

Bruv · Post by **Bruv** » Fri Sep 09, 2016 5:06 pm

You are a tease.......(in my best Dick Emery voice) I like you.

G#Gill · Post by **G#Gill** » Sat Sep 10, 2016 7:48 am

Don't forget the heavy-handed push on the shoulder, Bruv !

Bruv · Post by **Bruv** » Sat Sep 10, 2016 1:07 pm

G#Gill;1501008 wrote: Don't forget the heavy-handed push on the shoulder, Bruv !

OK OK.................But I am not doing that silly walk

Post by **spot** » Fri Oct 14, 2016 6:46 am

I merely quote in an appalled manner from the Guardian story headline...

BBC sorry for showing footage of gorilla instead of Nicola Sturgeon.

How low will this national broadcaster sink?