Hat tip to Adam, who directed me to this link: BBC News Item or Death Race 2000 Remake? and added, “The Ministry of Truth springs to mind.”
The reporter, BBC Bristol’s Chris Kelly, or someone else concerned with the preparation of the original version of this story, failed to spot that a certain claim made in the body of the story and supported by a quote is ridiculous to anyone who knows about the subject. A blogger wrote in to set them right. Commendably, the mistaken claim of fact was corrected, although it remains on other BBC stories. But now, oh dear, the quote is no longer usable. What to do? Change the quote, of course.
It is reasonable to assume that the quote was changed with the consent of the speaker, as it would only take a moment to ring her up and ask for a new quote. In fact since her original words make her look silly I expect she was anxious to have the quote changed. Even so the whole procedure – an invisible rather than visible correction of both story and quote – lacks frankness. Bloggers do better.
This story is not political. (The blog from which it comes, Confusability, seems to be largely focussed on computer usability issues, accompanied by very occasional left-leaning anti-war comment, and a delightful post about tracking the popularity of knitting blogs.) However the tale of the appearance and subsequent disappearance of the Great M4 Massacre does not increase one’s confidence in the BBC’s treatment of matters of controversy.
Verity,
I didn’t know you left. Where are you now?