An otherwise interesting article in the NYT on Taiwan's e-industries contains this boner:Taiwan's rise as a communications workhorse is part of a decade-long transformation under way on this Chinese Nationalist-controlled island south of the mainland. Already the world's biggest producers of computer components, Taiwan companies like Compal Electronics, in addition to Hon Hai and Quanta, have used their expertise to branch out into new markets that use many of the same products.
Oops!
UPDATE: NYT sent out to those of us who wrote in:
Correction: July 19, 2007 Because of an editing error, an article in Business Day yesterday about the growth of communications equipment manufacturing in Taiwan misidentified the controlling political party there. The Democratic Progressive Party captured the presidency in 2000 and was re-elected in 2004; Taiwan is no longer controlled by the Chinese Nationalist Party. (A coalition led by the Chinese Nationalist Party still has a majority in the Taiwanese legislature.) Also because of an editing error, the article misidentified Taiwan's geographical location. It is an island east of China, not south.
The reference was added without the knowledge of the writer.
[Taiwan]
Hi Mr. Turton,
ReplyDeleteSoon to be arriving Fulbright ETA reading up on Taiwan here. Great fan of your blog and your humor. Just wanted to ask, is an error as significant as that one something you take the time to point out to the NYTimes staff, or are these blunders so numerous and the inconsistent classification of Taiwan both politically and as a nation too pervasive to comment on? Seems like such a big error that it should be pointed out; not only is some reporter missing basic conceptual knowledge of Taiwan, but fact checkers and editors are also oblivious. How can non-experts be put in charge of foreign or international topics? The general American seems to be that far removed from the real world, I suppose.
It's a horrible mistake, but look at the other article that Ken Belson has written. He mostly writes for New York and region. Of course, he still should have done his research better.
ReplyDeleteI saw that too and immediately thought of your blog.
ReplyDeleteRegardless, a pretty good article illustrating how Taiwan's economy has been quietly slinking up the tech ladder. Funny how there's no mention about the recent woes of BenQ's CEO. That would've been a fun little tangent....
ReplyDeleteThey didn't even send an e-mail thanking me for pointing out the mistakes! At least the BBC does that - indeed they're quite apologetic.
ReplyDeletedalbanese --
ReplyDeletethe newspapers generally do an excellent job of getting the facts they present correct. The major problem is the slant, and what they leave out. For example, when they write on Ma Ying-jeou, he is generally and correctly identified as the former KMT chairman and former mayor of Taipei who studied at Harvard. However, his service as private secretary to a dictator, and his support of the authoritarian KMT state, as well as the allegations of student spying during his student days in the US, never appear in the foreign media. The foreign media's sins are usually sins of omission, not comission.
Michael
NY Times made a correction today.
ReplyDeleteProbably a confusion with the term "ROC" which used to be synonymous with KMT.
ReplyDelete