Archives: News & Magazines

Because of the short deadlines involved, newspapers and magazines are often filled with proofreading errors which otherwise might have been quickly caught...

Bush Seeks $87Bn in Anti-Terrot Gund New!: From an Associated Press article posted on ABCNews.com in September of 2003. One must admit that it sounds surprisingly like a Bushism, even though it isn't.
Allston has long been seen as a future locust of science research New! — found by Alison Miller: From the January 12, 2007 edition of The Harvard Crimson. Doesn't sound like much of a compliment to Allston when it's put that way...
New York State Departmentportationion and Finance New! — found by ms_cucumber: Now there's a department I've never heard of before. From the online version of The New York Times on September 19, 2006; interestingly, this error was not in the printed version.
Steelers win; Ward named MPV New!: If the Athens Banner-Herald was to be believed, Georgia's own Hines Ward became a minivan after the 2006 Super Bowl.
94,400 pounds of frozen ground beef panties: Originally pointed out in this post at BoingBoing.net and also picked up by Regret The Error, this Reuters gaffe was just too hilarious to ignore.
Star Wars fans shows appreciation after Atlanta premiere: Yep, we fans sure does shows appreciation, all right. From The Macon Telegraph, May 12, 2005.
Wayward Cessna Triggers Massive Security Repsonse — found by Paul McCord: At least it didn't trigger a massive security response... From the Los Angeles Times, May 11, 2005.
Former governor's says he will still work to change country: From The Macon Telegraph, February 19, 2004. Former governor's what? Don't leave us hanging!
From snowboarders to executives, men prove their strong enough to purl — found by poppinjaye: But what about their strong enough to purl? This one's since been corrected, but as always, I've captured a screenshot of what the headline originally looked like when it was first posted.
Senators Block Initiative to Band Same-Sex Unions: From the New York Times, a typo that makes the headline mean the opposite of what it should.
U.S. continues to tightens security: The Macon Telegraph goes to infinitive and beyond in this headline typo. (Awful pun, I know...)
Study Exmaines How Schools Can Ease Asthma — found by linguafranca: Ex-Maines... does that have anything to do with that Dixie Chicks singer?
The girl rests on her father's soldier... — found by kymster: From a CNN.com article. Reminds me of a misheard lyric of mine: ♪ And I'll be your cryin' soldier... ♪
Broadway shines bright for other fist-timers — found by king_duncan: From newsday.com. Fist-timers... sounds like something that might be used in the boxing ring.
...those willing to pay Russian roulette with the copyright police... — found by PsychoticSarah: From washingtonpost.com. Last time I checked, one played Russian roulette, though one might pay a high price in doing so...
Preventing false alarms can be prevented — found by rainbow_goddess: From the Victoria (BC) Times-Colonist. I'd prefer to prevent false alarms rather than to prevent their prevention...
...the Doom worm currently reeking havoc across the globe — found by Kat: From a Techworld.com article. I suppose you could say that, in a way, these computer viruses stink.
...military couples rush to exchange vowels...: From a news article at News 14 Carolina that still hasn't been corrected. I suppose such a custom might be useful with consonant-heavy Slavic names...
Did single animal spread moneypox?: For those who didn't keep track of the news, there was a disease called monkeypox that was spread by certain animals. I think the disease mentioned in this MSNBC typo is more intriguing, however.
Pacers don't relish boy-boy image: From a February 2002 article on MSNBC which was corrected shortly afterward. The headline was supposed to read "bad-boy", but MSNBC's typo lends an entirely different meaning to the article!
Kasparov, Computer Tie in Chest Match: An AP article via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Funny, I'd have thought Kasparov would win since computers don't have chests...
Most were runwaways — found by Nyperold: Once again, a typo makes its way into a rather prominent headline.
Holly and Frazier fur decorate a Forsyth home: From the Macon Telegraph some time in December of 2002. Perhaps plants and animals aren't so different after all...
...he was running run for president... — found by JalendaviLady: An interestingly redundant typo from a headline that appeared on the New York Times website on 13 January 2003.
Colorado remained four behinds behind... — found by LuckyWizard: Another rather redundant typo, this one from the Denver Post site. I suppose one does quite often fall on one's rear in hockey, but I think the authors probably meant "games".
...scored two girls... — found by veegee: From the Glenwood Post in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. I wish I could be that lucky! ;-)
Questions emerge in kipnapping: This error remained in a headline on the Macon Telegraph's website for an entire day. You'd think it would have been corrected far sooner, but no...
Downdown buildings burned again: Another error from the Macon Telegraph's website, this one was corrected within a few hours of its posting.
Teach our children reading, writing, arithetic... — found by Paul McCord: Methinks the protester depicted in this file photo doesn't realize the irony inherent in the sign he's holding.
Pubic School: From a newspaper phone-in column. Further proof of that variation of Murphy's Law stating that all corrections to grammatical or spelling mistakes will have an error in themselves... (And while we're on the subject, wouldn't a pubic school actually be quite private? *groan*)