As first noted here at TCG on Thursday, The Columbia Journalism Review sets itself as the watchdog for the media. And yet CJR can't even watch over its own spelling. CJR pounds away at Fox News' Steve Doocy, but it does so in a singularly incompetent way. It misspells his name as "Doocey," and then repeats the error six times in the piece. And that piece was posted two days ago!
Yup, it was on Thursday morning that the erroneous article appeared. And now, two days later, as of Saturday morning, neither Liz Cox Barrett, nor her editors, have bothered to fix the error. Imagine, two full days after the pot called the kettle black, the pot is still black, and not only that, but the pot is fully oblivious to its own blackness, either through complacency, or arrogance or both.
It wasn't supposed to be this way: Here's CJR's ambitious"mission statement":
Columbia Journalism Review’s mission is to encourage and stimulate excellence in journalism in the service of a free society. It is both a watchdog and a friend of the press in all its forms, from newspapers to magazines to radio, television, and the Web. Founded in 1961 under the auspices of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, CJR examines day-to-day press performance as well as the forces that affect that performance. The magazine is published six times a year, and offers a deliberative mix of reporting, analysis, criticism, and commentary. CJR.org, our Web site, delivers real-time criticism and reporting, giving CJR a vital presence in the ongoing conversation about the media. Both online and in print, Columbia Journalism Review is in conversation with a community of people who share a commitment to high journalistic standards in the U.S. and the world.
Reading those high-minded words, The Cable Gamer might be induced to think that CJR was a cut above those relentlessly partisan (and Fox-bashing) outlets such as Media Matters. Yes, of course, TCG knew that CJR often used the guise of "media criticism" to blast conservative positions--especially the Iraq war, see the cover above, for example--but hey, that goes with the territory; this is the Ivy League after all, and Columbia U. was the school that invited Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to dispense his incendiary wisdom on campus.
But in addition to being liberal and partisan, CJR has also proven itself to be just as careless and incompetent in their writing craft.
Or maybe they're just lazy.
I report, you decide.
PS: TCG assumes, eventually, that CJR will correct this error. But just to help immortalize that error, TCG just did a Google search, using the search terms "steve doocey liz cox barrett." And of course, Google came back and asked "Did you mean: steve doocy liz cox barrett?" And I said "no thanks," of course, because I want "Doocy" spelled the way CJR spells Doocy. And of course, the first article that came up with the wrong-spelled search was Barrett's piece in CJR.
So if there's any justice on the Net, the CJR blunder--unfixed for two days and counting--will be cached forever inside Google, there to remind everyone that the mighty CJR has feet of clay--and quality control that's no better.
UPDATE: As of Sunday morning, the six errors are still not fixed! Mabye CJR is proud of itself for being stupid when it comes to Fox.
