Does This Mean That Gary Mason Will Now Get Kicked Out Of The Club?

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HowManyMistakes
CanOneLedeHoldVille



Kicked out of the official 'Supreme Court Journalists Club' I mean.

Why do I ask?

Well, if you look closely you will note that Mr. Mason makes two errors of fact in his latest lede.

First, he says that the Ledge Raids occurred more than seven years ago.

They did not.

They actually took place in December of 2003, which means they took place more than SIX years ago.

Second, Mr. Mason says that the accused in the RailGate trial were charged more than six years ago.

They were not.

Instead, they were charged approximately a year after the original Ledge Raids which means that event occurred more than FIVE years ago.

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Now, probably by the time you read this on Tuesday (I'm writing late on Monday evening), a lowly Globe copy editor, appropriately chastened after being roused in the middle of night, will have fixed the errors cited above.

And, of course, both errors, while somewhat glaring for those who have actually been paying attention, are, ultimately, trivial.

So, why am I making such a fuss about them?

Well, just last week the proMedia's 'Gang of Four' refused to grant long time Citizen Journalist Robin Matthews press accreditation for the upcoming trial.

And one of the reasons offered-up for the refusal by the VSun's Neal Hall was the fact that Mr. Mathews had erred in suggesting that all four members of The Press Gang (a.k.a. The Supreme Court Media Accreditation Committee) work for CanWest organs when, in point of fact, apparently only three of them do (the other works for BellGlobeCTVRDSCHUMTSNEverythingElseUnderTheSunMedia).

And as such, anyone who makes trivial errors in fact like that shouldn't be admitted to the club.

Or some such stupid thing.

Sheesh.

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