shlo.co.uk

can you believe anything in the media ?

Recently, during an appearance on BBC Radio 3 programme The Verb, I was described as multi-lingual, able to speak many languages including Arabic and Aramaic.

I was slightly bewildered as this is not true, but the interview had already moved on before I had a chance to interject.

When I got home my wife pointed out the source of this mistake: an entry on wikipedia. The error is actually ‘referenced’ to an interview with Foreign Beggars on the community run website ukhh.com. If you read the original interview you can see that the Beggars are clearly joking (Pavan claims to be able to speak 83 languages and Metropolis says he has a ‘degree in Klingon’).

It’s one thing to have something said as a joke on a website, but I find it quite unnerving to then hear it presented as fact by a respected broadcaster like the BBC.

Makes you wonder how much of the media’s ‘knowledge’ has been researched from similarly unreliable sources?

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This entry was posted on Sunday, October 26th, 2008 at 8:21 pm. It is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

  • http://www.primitiv.be/ Primitiv

    That is all the media today, there is no media but mythdia, and media is not lonely to suffer of this desies, all our civilisations dimentions are suffering of myth.

  • http://www.primitiv.be Primitiv

    That is all the media today, there is no media but mythdia, and media is not lonely to suffer of this desies, all our civilisations dimentions are suffering of myth.

  • Mark Splinter

    Ahhh cute, you only just found out that the BBC copypastes from wikipedia and you’re all surprised n’ shit. Awwww :)

    You do know Iraq had no WMD, right?

  • Mark Splinter

    Ahhh cute, you only just found out that the BBC copypastes from wikipedia and you’re all surprised n’ shit. Awwww :)

    You do know Iraq had no WMD, right?

  • shlomo

    now now mark, did you forget to take your sarcasm pill this morning?

  • shlomo

    now now mark, did you forget to take your sarcasm pill this morning?

  • TyTe

    It’s happened to me before. You read stuff but when it’s out there – especially on the Web – it’s often too late to get it back…

  • TyTe

    It’s happened to me before. You read stuff but when it’s out there – especially on the Web – it’s often too late to get it back…

  • http://www.foreignbeggars.com/ Pavan

    dude, I can speak 83 languages

    bless

  • http://www.foreignbeggars.com Pavan

    dude, I can speak 83 languages

    bless