Whether we were overjoyed, confused, or infuriated about President Obama’s receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize, it was an event that warranted an incredible amount of media coverage. I read the first article I could get my hands on which happened to be via MSN.com. The article was entitled “Obama: Nobel Peace Prize ‘a call to action’” and was contributed to by The Associated Press and NBC News.
On the second page of the article I found an egregious typo in a quote from Archbishop Desmond Tutu: ‘”It’s an award coming near the beginning of the first term of office of a relatively young president that anticipatesanevn gratr onriutontoars akngou wrl asaerplacefo all,” Tutu said.’
I was absolutely stunned. My writing and editing skills kicked in and I just couldn’t let it go.
I emailed MSNBC immediately and made them aware of the mistake. It was 6am US Pacific time and I thought maybe they could correct the mistake before this coast got to read it at least. I checked back later and the Tutu quote has been removed from the article altogether.
Because the flub didn’t happen in the headline it isn’t classified as a crash blossom, but it was still a typographical error regarding one of the biggest stories in the world.
Happy reading,
Amber
Whether we were overjoyed, confused, or infuriated about President Obama’s receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize, it was an event that warranted an incredible amount of media coverage. I read the first article I could get my hands on which happened to be via MSN.com. The article was entitled “Obama: Nobel Peace Prize ‘a call to action’” and was contributed to by The Associated Press and NBC News.
On the second page of the article I found an egregious typo in a quote from Archbishop Desmond Tutu: ‘”It’s an award coming near the beginning of the first term of office of a relatively young president that anticipatesanevn gratr onriutontoars akngou wrl asaerplacefo all,” Tutu said.’
I was absolutely stunned. My writing and editing skills kicked in and I just couldn’t let it go.
I emailed MSNBC immediately and made them aware of the mistake. It was 6am US Pacific time and I thought maybe they could correct the mistake before this coast got to read it at least. I checked back later and the Tutu quote has been removed from the article altogether.
Because the flub didn’t happen in the headline it isn’t classified as a crash blossom, but it was still a typographical error regarding one of the biggest stories in the world.
Happy reading,
Amber
I read this book when I launched my freelance writing and editing career two years ago. Believe it or not I found three typos in the book…I’m not kidding. Don’t worry though, I sent an e-mail to the publisher and made them aware of the faux pas. I can only hope the irony was not lost on them. 
Dear Writers of Portland, OR,
If you haven’t heard already, Portland Community College has an incredible line-up of Community Education classes, not least of all their writing classes.
Some of the classes instruction on: freelance writing, memoir, grammar, fiction and non-fiction, and children’s lit. I’ve taken a class from PCC before and I recommend them highly. A lot of their classes (maybe not the writing classes, but I would check on that) can be taken online. So if you’re out of state, you may still be able to benefit from these affordable ($89ish) and informative classes.
Happy learning!
Amber
Welcome to A. James Editing!
My name is Amber James and I help businesses, organizations, and individuals promote themselves. I achieve this promotion by copywriting, editing, or proofreading any print or web-based materials that you might generate. Such materials include articles for web publication, newsletters, website content, surveys, and brochures to name a few.
Please click on one of the links above for more information about what exactly it is I do and how I can help you achieve a higher level of promotion.
Whether we were overjoyed, confused, or infuriated about President Obama’s receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize, it was an event that warranted an incredible amount of media coverage. I read the first article I could get my hands on which happened to be via MSN.com. The article was entitled “Obama: Nobel Peace Prize ‘a call to action’” and was contributed to by The Associated Press and NBC News.
