I sometimes check the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) 'just in' news page to see what's current in the media.
Today I decided to click a link I never looked at before, Corrections and clarifications. Some of these 'errors' give a much different spin on a story than the truth, and how many people ever see these corrections? Not many I would say.
Here are a few examples:
Syrian aid
News Online: On June 15, in a story about the Syrian conflict, the ABC reported that “United States says it is only providing ‘non-lethal’ aid.” In fact, the US has moved to assist Syrian rebels by providing military support, which is understood to include the supply of some lethal materials.
Prostitute murder
Victoria 7pm TV News: A clarification on our news coverage from 3 July concerning the murder of Mr Chartres-Abbott. A report wrongly stated that the former Director of Police Media Stephen Linnell had been accused of and pleaded guilty to tipping off two detectives implicated in the death of Mr Chartres-Abbott. ABC acknowledges that Mr Linnell was not accused of tipping off the police about the murder investigation and apologises to him.
Indian crime
News Online: When reporting on the rape and death of a woman in New Delhi, several News Online articles stated “Official figures show that 228,650 of the total 256,329 violent crimes recorded last year were against women". However, this was wrong, as not all of the 228,650 crimes against women were categorised as “violent” crimes.
Worth checking these things if we are relying in any way on mainstream media for our information. Then again, these people are essentially paid to lie, so why would the correction be any more true than the error?Chernobyl disaster
7pm TV News and The World This Week: On 28 November and 1 December in stories about a huge dome being placed to contain radioactive remnants at the Chernobyl power station, the ABC incorrectly reported that “thousands of people died”. The official death toll resulting from the actual blast or radiation exposure at the time was much lower, however thousands were exposed to radiation.