Friday, December 30, 2011

NBC Nightly News: The Year In Mistakes (Part I)

As the year winds down, I thought it would be nice to take a look back at the spelling, math, grammar and factual errors made by the Nightly News producers, anchors and correspondents in 2011. So as a year-end tribute to the stupidest producers on television, The Nightly Daily proudly presents the 2011 Nightly News Year In Mistakes (these are only the ones I happened to notice--feel free to add others in the comments section below):

Jan. 2--The Nightly News producers start the year off with a bang by misspelling Pennsylvania as "Pennslyvania". I bet Chris Matthews and Gov. Ed Rendell (who took a position as a political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC shortly after leaving office) were not amused.
Jan. 4--In a story about Cornelius DuPree (who was released after 30 years in prison before being vindicated by DNA evidence), Lee Cowan never revealed that DuPree had actually been paroled six months before the DNA evidence cleared him. Cowan intentionally withheld that information to make the story appear more dramatic.
Jan. 5--In a story about Ted Williams, the homeless man with the golden voice, a video clip of Williams was attributed to the "Columbus-Post Dispatch [sic]". There is no such paper (there is, however a Columbus Dispatch). And if such a paper did exist, it would be the "Columbus Post-Dispatch", not the "Columbus-Post Dispatch".
Jan. 10--During a transcript of comments by Glenn Beck, a Nightly News graphic spelled his name as "Glen" Beck.
Jan. 14--During a story about the shooting of Gabby Giffords, Mike Taibbi told us that Jared Loughner had purchased his bullets at a Walgreens, when he had actually bought them at a Walmart.
Jan. 23--In another story about Gabby Giffords, Professor Geoffrey Manley was identified in a Nightly News graphic as "San Francisco General Hospital Chif [sic] of Neurosurgery". Also on this broadcast, Lester Holt pronounced the word "larynx" as "larnyx".
Jan. 24--Brian Williams introduced Andrea Mitchell as the NBC News "Chief Foreign Correspondent". She is actually the NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent. Richard Engel is NBC News's Chief Foreign Correspondent.
Jan. 30--In two Nightly News graphics that appeared only a minute apart, we were shown two different spellings for the Arabic-language news network: "Aljazeera" and "Al-Jazeera".
Feb. 2--Brian told us that 30 states were affected by a huge ice storm, while an accompanying map highlighted 31 states. Also, the city of Sana'a was spelled as "Sanaa". Whenever Nightly News covers Sana'a, they indiscriminately alternate from "Sana'a" to "Sanaa" (once they even spelled it as "Saana"), sometimes in the same broadcast.
Feb. 4--During a story about the Super Bowl in Dallas, an Arlington Convention and Visitors Bureau spokesperson was identified as "Decmia" Cooper. Her name is actually Decima Cooper.
Feb. 16--Brian introduced Richard Engel as NBC's "Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent". (See Jan. 24)
Mar. 6--In a "Making A Difference" story about people who volunteer to hold sick infants in hospitals, Dr. Philippe Friedlich of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles was identified as Dr. "Phillippe" Friedlich.
Mar. 7--In an "Education Nation" report, NEA President Dennis Van Roekel was identified as Dennis "Von" Roekel. Does anyone else see the irony of misspelling a name in a story about education?
Mar. 17--In two separate stories that aired ten minutes apart, NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko was alternately identified as "Gregory Jaczko" and then "Gregory B. Jaczko".
Apr. 3--In a story about sex slavery in the U.S., correspondent Richard Lui told us that sex slave brothels existed in at least 25 states, but an accompanying map only highlighted 24 states.
Apr. 19--In a story about Alzheimer's disease, the phrase "Mild Cognative [sic] Impairment" appeared on screen. The correct spelling is "cognitive".
Apr. 26--Twice on this broadcast, the Nightly News producers used AK as the abbreviation for Arkansas. AK is the abbreviation for Alaska. AR is the correct abbreviation for Arkansas.
Apr. 27--In a story about identity theft and the hacking of Sony Playstations, Brian said "relevations" instead of "revelations".
Apr. 28--In a story about the tornadoes that hit Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Thanh Truong told us about Jessie Strickland, who lost three friends that day. However, a graphic spelled the name as Jessie "Stickland".
Apr. 29--Lester Holt told us that 230 tornadoes hit seven states, while an on-screen graphic said the number was 320.
Apr. 30--In a story about the Republican presidential candidates, Mitt Romney was identified as the former governor of "Massachussetts".
May 3--In a story about the killing of Osama bin Laden, Abbottabad was spelled as "Abbotabad".
May 5--A Nightly News graphic identified a Pakistani man as "Daniel Markey--Council on Foreign Relations". Markey had actually appeared a minute earlier.
May 20--Randy Pausina of the Louisiana Dept. of Wildlife and Fisheries was identified as Randy "Pausinn".
May 22--Martin Indyk was identified as a "Former U.S. Anbassador".
June 1--Alameda (CA) Fire Chief Michael D'Orazi was identified in a graphic as "Michal" D'Orazi.
June 3--A Nightly News graphic informed us that former President Clinton was in "Toldeo" Ohio.
June 8--A "Making A Difference" story about a New Orleans chef cooking a meal for Joplin residents identified the chef, Greg Reggio, as a "Chef and Restauranteur [sic]". There is no "n" in "restaurateur".
June 26--William C. Thompson was identified as the New York City Comptroller although he had already been out of office for 18 months. In a story about a Des Moines Register poll, a Nightly News graphic spelled Michele Bachmann's last name as "Bachman".
June 30--In a story about a man with fake airline boarding passes, a Nightly News graphic informed us that his luggage "contained over 10 boarding passes in various individual's [sic] names." As a plural and a possessive, it should have read "individuals'".

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