I am such a frigging geek. As some of you may know there is an election campaign under way in Britain. As a Brit and a political junkie (although not on the scale of Walter Mondale) I take inordinate pleasure in the existence of the BBC News website, especially their election coverage.
Last Friday I was meandering through the list of constituencies (akin to a House District, Ameri-chums) reading about the history and political trends in various places I have lived. I was reading the in-depth review of Norfolk North when I stumbled across an error. I imediately contacted the BBC:
"Country: US (Late of Norfolk)
COMMENTS: In your description of the North Norfolk constituency on your election website you wrote: "The seat itself covers a large area, curling around the top bend of East Anglia.... The pace of life is slow, and the inhabitants, of whom a good many are pensioners, have seen little change since the days of Arthur Ransome and his Swallows and Amazons"
Swallows and Amazons is mostly set in the Lake District; Coot Club is Ransome's Broads entry into the series.
Thanks
Dan B, Pedantic North Norfolk partisan."
Setting aside the fact that I have deep genetic and emotional roots in a region described as slow paced and stuffed with the nearly-dead (I was back there last summer: fair enough comment there, Mr. BBC) why should I care that they attributed the wrong book to my region? Because they are the bloody BBC! The anchor of civilisation! The elegant bandage that keeps the vicious beating heart of anarchy bound up in the chest cavity of humanity! Or similar! If the BBC is wrong, there can be no moral absolutes... Luckily they wrote back to say they had fixed it:
"Dear Dan
Pedantry is good - in my book anyhow. Thanks for spotting that one. These slips do happen, I'm afraid.
Regards
Dominic Casciani
BBC News general election website"
Hooray for me! Hooray for the BBC! All is now once again right in the world and I can sleep at night (until the next error strikes...)
9 comments:
God Bless the BBC, I am certainly of the opinion that it is a liberal institution that should be abolished. Which really means that it should definately be preserved!
"Definitely".
DAn, before we go crazy over this i want you to know that I cherish the BBC as the liberal heart beating within a manipulated and contradictory media establishment. I love the way that a left government thinks it's a conservative machine whilst the tories view it with the deepest suspicion. The people I know who work (or have worked) for the BBC are generally sound people who don't take themselves too seriously. I also love radio 4.
Just in case anyone thought my previous post had me down as a fascist.
of course i can f**king spell. sometimes i just choose not to.
Just keeping within the spirit of the post.
before clicking on the comments section, i noticed that there were 5 of them. i thought to myself, "i guarantee that all 5 of these comments are between bowles and weasel!" i'm so glad that you guys are so predictable!
carry on with your british ways, gentlemen.
there's a general election going on, we're political junkies, what do you expect? (by the way weasel, did you see charles kennedy has had a baby. nice)
Gosh Listmaker, you condecending tone is so neat! Maybe I can get more comments if I too carried on like a hipster Regis Philbin and ranted about soap :)
Leave me alone: my car is broken.
a hipster regis philbin? wha? i love it!
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