« Double jeopardy? | Main | Read this »
Irony
By Steven | October 31, 2010
Something sounded funny to my ear on this morning’s episode of MediaWatch on Radio NZ National. Colin Peacock referred to the Listener’s Quips and Quotes column, which had quoted the following journalistic aphorism and told readers it was attributed to the City News Bureau of Chicago:
If your mother tells you she loves you, check it out with two independent sources.
Like anyone who’s spent more than five minutes at an American journalism school, I’d heard this before, but I’d heard a shorter, punchier version:
If your mother tells you she loves you, check it out.
I don’t actually know which is right, and it’s conceivable that they both are, since one is a shortened version of the other. But the longer version sounds to me as if it’s a stitching-together of two ideas. I’m guessing the Listener’s source was Wikipedia, though this entry doesn’t give any direct source for its information.
The irony? It doesn’t seem that the Listener has a second independent source. Google returns all of six websites mentioning the quote in its long version, and they all in turn seem to be sourced from Wikipedia. (There are nearly 9000 sites quoting the shorter version, many of which also attribute it to the Chicago City News Bureau).
Topics: Media ethics | 50 Comments »
50 Responses to “Irony”
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.
November 2nd, 2010 at 9:27 pm
It’s conceivable, Steven, that Google doesn’t have the answer to everything.
It’s conceivable, Steven, that your guess about Wikipedia is wrong.
So instead of guessing, why not do what most Berkley j-school grads would do: just ask them? But make sure you get two independent answers.
November 8th, 2010 at 5:03 pm
Fair point, though if you meant the City News Bureau of Chicago, it closed 5 years ago. I called The Listener a couple of days ago, but they haven’t responded.
June 4th, 2020 at 12:53 pm
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More Info here on that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
July 20th, 2020 at 4:53 pm
… [Trackback]
[…] Here you will find 84734 additional Info to that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
July 29th, 2020 at 3:17 pm
… [Trackback]
[…] Read More Information here to that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
August 1st, 2020 at 7:04 pm
… [Trackback]
[…] Information to that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
August 7th, 2020 at 3:15 am
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More Information here to that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
August 30th, 2020 at 3:42 am
… [Trackback]
[…] Information to that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
September 1st, 2020 at 5:33 pm
… [Trackback]
[…] Read More here to that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
September 26th, 2020 at 7:35 am
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More on that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
October 8th, 2020 at 2:34 am
… [Trackback]
[…] There you will find 1201 more Info to that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
October 11th, 2020 at 5:22 am
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More Information here to that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
October 18th, 2020 at 3:49 pm
… [Trackback]
[…] Read More to that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
October 27th, 2020 at 2:22 pm
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More here on that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
October 30th, 2020 at 7:30 pm
… [Trackback]
[…] There you will find 37297 additional Info on that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
November 26th, 2020 at 12:42 pm
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More Information here on that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
December 23rd, 2020 at 1:58 pm
… [Trackback]
[…] Read More here on that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
December 23rd, 2020 at 3:05 pm
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More Information here on that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
December 29th, 2020 at 1:20 am
… [Trackback]
[…] Read More on on that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
January 17th, 2021 at 10:19 am
… [Trackback]
[…] Read More on that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
January 22nd, 2021 at 12:15 am
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More on that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
January 25th, 2021 at 1:20 am
… [Trackback]
[…] Information on that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
March 6th, 2021 at 12:22 pm
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More Information here to that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
April 6th, 2021 at 4:25 pm
… [Trackback]
[…] Information on that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
April 20th, 2021 at 5:47 pm
… [Trackback]
[…] There you can find 8198 additional Information on that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
May 19th, 2021 at 3:12 pm
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More Info here on that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
May 22nd, 2021 at 7:12 am
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More on that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
June 1st, 2021 at 11:24 am
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More on on that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
June 2nd, 2021 at 9:14 am
… [Trackback]
[…] Here you will find 3937 additional Information on that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
June 6th, 2021 at 12:25 am
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More Information here on that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
June 28th, 2021 at 12:40 pm
… [Trackback]
[…] Read More here on that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
June 28th, 2021 at 11:03 pm
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More here on that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
July 2nd, 2021 at 10:33 pm
… [Trackback]
[…] Info to that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
July 3rd, 2021 at 7:56 pm
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More Info here to that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
July 3rd, 2021 at 10:19 pm
… [Trackback]
[…] Read More to that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
July 14th, 2021 at 8:11 pm
… [Trackback]
[…] Here you can find 86332 more Information to that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
July 31st, 2021 at 11:24 am
… [Trackback]
[…] Info on that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
September 30th, 2021 at 5:27 pm
… [Trackback]
[…] Info on that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
September 30th, 2021 at 5:43 pm
… [Trackback]
[…] Read More Information here to that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
October 2nd, 2021 at 3:15 pm
… [Trackback]
[…] Information on that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
October 10th, 2021 at 3:03 pm
… [Trackback]
[…] Info on that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
October 22nd, 2021 at 4:21 pm
… [Trackback]
[…] Read More Information here to that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
November 3rd, 2021 at 2:39 pm
… [Trackback]
[…] Read More on that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
November 9th, 2021 at 6:54 am
… [Trackback]
[…] Information on that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
December 11th, 2021 at 2:40 am
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More Information here on that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
December 19th, 2021 at 1:49 pm
… [Trackback]
[…] Read More here to that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
January 8th, 2022 at 6:10 pm
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More Information here to that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
January 20th, 2022 at 1:27 am
… [Trackback]
[…] Read More Info here to that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
February 26th, 2022 at 12:51 am
… [Trackback]
[…] Information on that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]
March 19th, 2022 at 3:04 pm
… [Trackback]
[…] There you can find 92020 additional Info to that Topic: medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=401 […]