Consult an expert

[Inky_Wretch]

Yeah, climbing is a niche sport. But there are plenty of experts who can keep errors like this from happening.

Emily Harrington Did Something Amazing. Then the Press Blew It.

 

[SixToe]

Based on what we know, you're surprised so many got it wrong? I'd bet somewhere there was a discussion about Capitan needing to be changed to Captain.

 

[Alma]

Yeah, that's a factual miss.

Also, it feels like the extreme climbing industry keeps coming up with new routes to stay in the news and make good on their sponsors' financial support. I mean, it's an understandable mistake, in a sense. How many routes do you want the news media to keep track of?

 

[stix]

I still can't decided between RBI and RBIs.

One thing at a time.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

I've actually found a really effective way to avoid this kind of mistake: don't cover esoteric bull**** like "Emily Harrington is the first woman to free-climb Golden Gate in a day."

Anybody who cares, knows.

 

[Pilot]

I've actually found a really effective way to avoid this kind of mistake: don't cover esoteric bull**** like "Emily Harrington is the first woman to free-climb Golden Gate in a day."

Anybody who cares, knows.

I’m sure it builds on itself, right? This is more noteworthy because of Free Solo and The Dawn Wall.

In a few more years this is back to not making the cut for AP.

 

[playthrough]

It can be tiresome to make these nitpicky distinctions, but this media cycle has proven the consequences of not hiring journalists who are climbers to write stories about climbing.

I'm not defending the error either but ... c'mon, man.

 

[maumann]

That smacks of the famous "you don't know anything about (insert sports here) because you never played the game."

The role of any media professional is as a translator. We're there to explain complex issues or topics in a way that informs and enlightens people who don't know anything or little about the subject.

Hopefully, we sift through the information and turn jargon into actual English words. I don't have to have chalk dust and carabiners in my pants pockets to write about rock climbing. But I do need to ask the right questions if I'm trying to describe the context of an historical event and use the correct terminology.

The ball got dropped somewhere along the way, and of course, today's technology (and reliance on content aggregation) just compounds the misteak.

If you do your homework and ask the right people, you can write or speak intelligently about nearly any topic. I took Basic Auto Shop in high school, but all I needed to do was to ask very specific questions of Doug Yates to help explain exactly why fuel injection was a big deal for NASCAR.

I didn't have to tear down the carburetor myself. (Although when I did in 1975, I somehow ended up with a couple of springs and two small screws left over.)

 

[Sam Mills 51]

Keep firing copy editors.
Keep consolidating desks.
Keep ignoring institutional knowledge.
Keep thinking that it's all about the bottom line and running as lean as humanly possible ... then go leaner than that.

This happens. Along with far too many other avoidable errors.

 

[SixToe]

Keep ignoring institutional knowledge.

I always love this one, when the entity sheds experienced staffers. Then it has the inevitable dropoff in stories, or solid depth in what stories it does get.

 

[stix]

I've actually found a really effective way to avoid this kind of mistake: don't cover esoteric bull**** like "Emily Harrington is the first woman to free-climb Golden Gate in a day."

Anybody who cares, knows.

Your last sentence is going to be my journalism epitaph. I say that all the time and subscribe to it closely.

 

[Liut]

That smacks of the famous "you don't know anything about (insert sports here) because you never played the game."

The role of any media professional is as a translator. We're there to explain complex issues or topics in a way that informs and enlightens people who don't know anything or little about the subject.

Hopefully, we sift through the information and turn jargon into actual English words. I don't have to have chalk dust and carabiners in my pants pockets to write about rock climbing. But I do need to ask the right questions if I'm trying to describe the context of an historical event and use the correct terminology.

The ball got dropped somewhere along the way, and of course, today's technology (and reliance on content aggregation) just compounds the misteak.

If you do your homework and ask the right people, you can write or speak intelligently about nearly any topic. I took Basic Auto Shop in high school, but all I needed to do was to ask very specific questions of Doug Yates to help explain exactly why fuel injection was a big deal for NASCAR.

I didn't have to tear down the carburetor myself. (Although when I did in 1975, I somehow ended up with a couple of springs and two small screws left over.)

Awesome take!

 

[Shropshire Slasher]

Should one still consult a doctor after a 4-hour boner?

 

[Mr. X]

Here's what I suspect happened. A publicist sent in an email to the appropriate Associated Press bureau. Editor in charge decides a story should be written on this. Person assigned to write story writes it off the email in a few minutes, thinking El Capitan, which is at least somewhat well known, can substitute for Golden Gate, which isn't. Person editing copy, who is also unlikely to be an expert on climbing or the particulars of El Capitan, spends a few minutes editing it, basically making certain the writing is OK. After he or she is satisfied with how the story looks, he or she sends it to the wire.

I think it would be a longshot at any general interest outlet to have someone who is an expert on climbing or El Capitan to write or edit this story. That would also have been the case 10, 20 or more years ago.

How many people reading the thread would have caught that mistake?

 

[swingline]

I didn't have to tear down the carburetor myself. (Although when I did in 1975, I somehow ended up with a couple of springs and two small screws left over.)

(Don't worry. Those pieces are extra, just in case you need them.)