What do you expect, it's just the NYT [LWN.net]

What do you expect, it's just the NYT

Posted Oct 13, 2003 7:43 UTC (Mon) by raph (guest, #326)
In reply to: Got it wrong again! by rdtennent
Parent article: Copyright Lawsuit Is Turnabout for SCO (New York Times)

This article is just more evidence that the corporate media is completely unable to do even a mediocre job covering technology. Among the additional errors:

* Gets the name of MontaVista Software wrong.

* Quotes Laura DiDio as a credible source. Well, at least he didn't quote Enderle.

* By using the phrase "copyright infringement that is at the heart of SCO's claim against I.B.M.", he promotes the misunderstanding that SCOX has actually brought a copyright claim against IBM. In fact, it has not brought any such copyright claim.

* By using the phrase, "the Unix operating system", he promotes the misunderstanding that there is one such beast and that SCOX owns it.

I'm sure others can find more such errors. These seem like the kinds of mistakes a novice reporter, fresh out of J-school, would make, but in fact John Markoff is one of the more highly regarded technology "journalists" in the field. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but readers of LWN and Groklaw get authoritative technology news and research into SCOX. Compared to what the Net, at its best, can provide, the NYT is looking tatty indeed.

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What do you expect, it's just the Press

Posted Oct 13, 2003 12:53 UTC (Mon) by cpm (subscriber, #3554) [Link]

"This article is just more evidence that the corporate media is completely unable to do even a mediocre job covering technology."

I've seldom been in a posistion to have first hand facts about
anything being covered by the "press". Those very few times,
the "press" wasn't even close to on track with the actual facts.

Have you ever known the press to accurately report on anything
that you had first hand facts on? No one I know has, I never
have.

I really wonder what it is exactly, that the press thinks
it does for a living.

What do you expect, it's just the Press

Posted Oct 15, 2003 11:56 UTC (Wed) by raz (guest, #16034) [Link]

I really wonder what it is exactly, that the press thinks it does for a living.

Lots of people get this wrong.

What the press does for a living is gather audience attention and sell it to advertisers. Contrary to popular belief, the press views readers not as customers, but as product.