BBC Blows One

[warren]

http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20170824-the-us-land-lost-in-canada
I believe they are talking about the northernmost point in the contiguous United States. Not the continental United States. Alaska is indeed on the same continent as the all the other states excepting Hawaii.
I mention this only because BBC can be pretentious and it's not often I've caught such a simple mistake. It's very early in the morning to be feeling so smug! :nana:

 

[davet]

It reminded me of Campobello Island, a Canadian island only accessible by car through Maine. Roosevelt liked it :mrgreen:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campobello_Island

 

[mso489]

I'm always amused at the way BBC handles U.S. geography, and also the gingerly way they sometimes mispronounce the names of states and cities. I must admit, I am totally unclear about regions and especially accents of the different regions of Britain. They have several "presenters" with profound regional British accents, but I have no means of knowing where they are from. Yorkshire? Wales? Some of them are amazingly ungainly, but included to demonstrate that BBC isn't being elitist or classist, I guess. French broadcasters used to pronounce Waco, TX, as "Wacko." U.S. broadcasters have language problems as well. They've completely lost track of the difference between "less" and "fewer" at all levels. It's fewer if you can count it, but most now just revert to less. Less people. Less cars. Both of which you can easily count. Hawaii was recently referred to, by a member of Congress, as "some island," as if the speaker didn't know it was a state. Oh well, ignorance abounds all about.

 

[mawnansmiff]

The BBC is no longer the news broadcaster it once was. It was at one time amongst the most respected of news gathering and reporting organizations in the world, alas it is no more.
News reporters nowadays have little or no understanding of basic English syntax and even worse pronunciation. It makes one wonder where they learned their trade...if indeed they did.
We have 'libry' for library, 'seckertry' for secretary, 'febury' for February, 'parlyment' for parliament...the list goes on.
It never used to be like this.
And they wonder why the kids of today are unable to speak correctly!
Regards,
Jay.

 

[warren]

BBC was easy to pick on. There are many, MANY, US companies which confuse contiguous and continental. Many! Try getting free shipping to Alaska from a company which states, continental US only.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Saying "lower 48" makes it pretty clear. Not everyone knows what contiguous means!

 

[warren]

Not many people know exactly what "lower 48" means either. And, either word excludes the District of Columbia. A few people would aver the "DC" is included without being specified. But, a lot of Americans firmly believe Puerto Rico is a state. Even more believe Alaska and Hawaii are both islands, located just off the coast of Mexico, just below California.
Surely, a BBC editor or, their "fact checker," knows the correct word!

 

[woodsroad]

Even more believe Alaska and Hawaii are both islands, located just off the coast of Mexico, just below California.

We all know that Alaska is indeed an island, but located off the coast of Russia. Hawaii is near Guam, right? New Jersey is off the coast of Pennsylvania.

 

[lazar]

You might be surprised at how many Americans don't know that New Mexico is a state.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I was thinking that Alaska was somewhere above Russia. New Mexico? What state is that in?

 

[agnosticpipe]

Years ago I worked with a girl who asked some visiting friends from Alaska how they got here. (California) They said they drove. She says how did you do that? With a confused look, they said in their car. She said, no I mean didn't you have to take a boat first?

She actually thought that Alaska was an island off the coast of the US! Where did she get that idea?
From many US maps that look like this. She probably doesn't know where Mexico is either would be my guess. How do get out of high school not knowing this stuff?

 

[tuold]

It's the copy editors who catch these types of errors and they were the first to be cut when the Internet started undermining the news business. I imagine very few news agencies these days employ copy editors. Reporters are more valued for their Web, photo and video editing skills than having a working knowledge of the art of communication.

 

[mawnansmiff]

"Reporters are more valued for their Web, photo and video editing skills than having a working knowledge of the art of communication."
How very true. The job of proofreader at most news (printed, broadcast & web based) outlets is a thing of the past. When they were employed you never noticed of course but since they are no more it becomes glaringly obvious.
Regards,
Jay.

 

[deathmetal]

It was at one time amongst the most respected of news gathering and reporting organizations in the world, alas it is no more.

I agree, but this is true of most media. Part of that is the internet reducing their profit margins. You do not get top-notch talent by paying them peanuts, and if you select your top talent by clickbait and popularity, you get idiots.