The Times of India does not publish the news. They prefer being the cause of it. December 1, 2007. Article on the front page, by Kavita Kukday. The reason for the furore?
"Credit card info on bhel wrapper"
The article went on to elaborately explain how a media professional found the complete details of a credit card on a bhel wrapper. Kavita also went on to claim that the details were for an American Express credit card. This was followed by the usual information, there was a name printed but withheld. Both the 16 digit card number and the 3 digit batch number were present.
No mistakes there right? Beeep! Wrong Answer! Classic case of lethargy in reporting. AmEx cards have 15 digits not 16. Their batch number is 4 digits not 3. I reiterate. How difficult is it to use Google? I really think that they have gone to enough lengths to make their interface as user friendly as possible.
If a Google search is not the problem, then what is? If you insist that the credit card number was 16 digits, then the card could not have been AmEx. If you claim that the card was AmEx and there were 16 digits noted on the paper maybe you should consider a course on spotting fraudulent credit cards.
A few must reads for Kavita:
An article with an almost exhaustive list of credit cards and ISO 7812 numbering scheme in Wikipedia
A similar article as above, without the list but explained in complete layman's terms. Fireworks Zone
I like the way the article starts. Perfect for people getting acquainted with credit cards.
I understand mistakes can happen. I make them too. I still subscribe to TOI.
Monday, December 03, 2007
Lethargic Reporting
Is there a loophole in the law that allows newspapers to put in all the wrong data in their articles? The Pune Times, a supplement of the Times of India, on November 20, 2007 had written an article titled 'Riding Their Dreams'. The TNN correspondent was Nozia Sayyed. I should commend them on their choice of fillers. If this is the kind of articles they are publishing, a typical work day just might resemble this:
"Hey we have a quarter page worth of free space left, what do we do about it?"
"Hmmm, when was the last time we ran a story on superbikes in the city? It's been a while right? Rearrange the words and just toss it in."
I have a request, please do not expect all your readers to be misinformed idiots! An excerpt from that article,
"Foreign bikes like Hayabusa, Harley Davidson, Honda CBR, Repsol, Kawasaki and Suzuki...".
Yes, very nice, you know the names of the manufacturers. You have definitely educated me. I mean here I was thinking that Repsol was a Spanish oil and gas company. I never knew that over the years of sponsoring the Honda MotoGP Class team they had gone ahead and started manufacturing their own motorcycles. My bad! I was not aware that slapping a paint job on a bike is enough to be placed in the Motorcycle Manufacturer's List.
I seriously cannot understand this. You type this out on a computer. Presuming your knowledge of computers is more than that of Superbikes, is running a Google or Wikipedia Search that difficult? I would be very particular about an article or photograph that carries my name in the byline.
If this is the level of initiative shown by TNN Correspondents, the terms 'news' and 'reporting' need to be redefined.
"Hey we have a quarter page worth of free space left, what do we do about it?"
"Hmmm, when was the last time we ran a story on superbikes in the city? It's been a while right? Rearrange the words and just toss it in."
I have a request, please do not expect all your readers to be misinformed idiots! An excerpt from that article,
"Foreign bikes like Hayabusa, Harley Davidson, Honda CBR, Repsol, Kawasaki and Suzuki...".
Yes, very nice, you know the names of the manufacturers. You have definitely educated me. I mean here I was thinking that Repsol was a Spanish oil and gas company. I never knew that over the years of sponsoring the Honda MotoGP Class team they had gone ahead and started manufacturing their own motorcycles. My bad! I was not aware that slapping a paint job on a bike is enough to be placed in the Motorcycle Manufacturer's List.
I seriously cannot understand this. You type this out on a computer. Presuming your knowledge of computers is more than that of Superbikes, is running a Google or Wikipedia Search that difficult? I would be very particular about an article or photograph that carries my name in the byline.
If this is the level of initiative shown by TNN Correspondents, the terms 'news' and 'reporting' need to be redefined.
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