Pick holes in this ...
 

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[Closed] Pick holes in this - shouldn't take you long!

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[url] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-33652194 [/url]

Dreadful reporting.


 
Posted : 10/08/2015 9:51 pm
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When I read it, it blew my mind.


 
Posted : 10/08/2015 9:57 pm
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deadlydarcy - Member
When I read it, it blew my mind.

You haven't exactly picked it apart the way I hoped someone would...


 
Posted : 10/08/2015 10:01 pm
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I know a song about orchids.


 
Posted : 10/08/2015 10:04 pm
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When you see how it gets picked apart, you'll be amazed.


 
Posted : 10/08/2015 10:06 pm
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Is there a grocer's apostrophe in there somewhere?


 
Posted : 10/08/2015 10:08 pm
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The season for the project's fieldwork is past its halfway point, but there is much more data still to collect. Some of the 29 orchid species on the list are yet to flower at all.

That's a badly worded paragraph to start with 😉


 
Posted : 10/08/2015 10:10 pm
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There are not 29 orchid species still to flower at this time of year, the Green-winged (not green-wing) Orchid and the White Helleborine are NOT rare (probably the commonest orchids in Britain after the Common Twayblade)...

The article about the Frog x Common-spotted Orchid in Cumbria was much more exciting - do try to keep up!


 
Posted : 10/08/2015 10:19 pm
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There are not 29 orchid species still to flower at this time of year, the Green-winged (not green-wing) Orchid and the White Helleborine are NOT rare (probably the commonest orchids in Britain after the Common Twayblade)...

The article about the Frog x Common-spotted Orchid in Cumbria was much more exciting - do try to keep up!


The Green-winged and White Helleborine are more common than Common-spotted, Early Purple and Pyramid?
I know of one site alone where I can find Common Spotted, Early Purple, Pyramid, Frog, Fly, Lesser Butterfly, Twayblade and Marsh Helleborine, but I don't know of anywhere that White Helleborine grows, or Green Winged, so I would suggest that they're perhaps not as common as the Common-spotted, Early Purple and Pyramid.
At the right time of the year I only have to cross the road from where I work on an industrial estate in Chippenham to see Bee Orchids growing in serious numbers, with some Pyramid Orchids thrown in for good measure.


 
Posted : 10/08/2015 11:13 pm
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Just had a look at bsbi.org, and the distribution maps for a couple of orchids; first the White Helleborine:

[img][url= https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3691/19848154244_a222a1129c_o.pn g" target="_blank">https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3691/19848154244_a222a1129c_o.pn g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/weUYKW ]White Helleborine distribution[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/countzero1/ ]Adrian Hillier[/url], on Flickr

Then the Pyramid Orchid:

[img][url= https://farm1.staticflickr.com/392/20284150909_66701ff124_o.pn g" target="_blank">https://farm1.staticflickr.com/392/20284150909_66701ff124_o.pn g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/wUrznP ]Pyramid Orchid distribution[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/countzero1/ ]Adrian Hillier[/url], on Flickr
It's pretty clear which has the wider distribution, which would suggest more common as a result...


 
Posted : 10/08/2015 11:33 pm
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There are not 29 orchid species still to flower at this time of year, the Green-winged (not green-wing) Orchid and the White Helleborine are NOT rare (probably the commonest orchids in Britain after the Common Twayblade)...

It doesn't say that there are 29 yet to flower. It says that some of the 29 species on its list are yet to flower.

So, your definition of 'dreadful reporting' is using the term 'rare' instead of 'less common'? You should email the science team with your outrage.

I used to come across this attitude quite often. Instead of welcoming the fact that a major news organisation is taking an interest in a subject close to your heart and bringing it to a wider audience, the immediate instinct is to nitpick the hell out of it.


 
Posted : 11/08/2015 8:08 am
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i know nothing about botany. I read the article, the Orchid that looks like a twisted ear of wheat looks ace.

what was the question?


 
Posted : 11/08/2015 9:18 am
 Spin
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So, your definition of 'dreadful reporting' is using the term 'rare' instead of 'less common'? You should email the science team with your outrage.

It's not the content but the quality of the writing and that's the issue here. It looks like an explosion in a comma factory.


 
Posted : 11/08/2015 9:40 am
 Spin
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Instead of welcoming the fact that a major news organisation is taking an interest in a subject close to your heart and bringing it to a wider audience, the immediate instinct is to nitpick the hell out of it.

If it's an important enough or interesting enough to publish it deserves better reporting. Clearly the writer doesn't give a toss and it hasn't been checked before publication. Shame on you BBC.


 
Posted : 11/08/2015 9:42 am
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Yes, shame on you for using a couple of extra commas, BBC. Shame on you for talking to two leading scientists in the field, plus the president of the BSBI, then writing an interesting piece that publicises their project. Clearly the reporter doesn't give a toss. 🙄

If it's an important topic and this is such a crucial error in it, I take it someone has contacted the science news desk at the website to complain and ask for a correction?


 
Posted : 11/08/2015 9:55 am
 Spin
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Shame on you for talking to two leading scientists in the field, plus the president of the BSBI, then writing an interesting piece that publicises their project.

As I said before the content isn't the issue, you're arguing at cross purposes.

Given the choice, would you rather see a topic you are interested in presented in a clear, easily readable, grammatically correct piece or as garbage like that?


 
Posted : 11/08/2015 10:03 am
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I had no trouble understanding and appreciating it for what it is - an interesting science news story, written to a relatively short timescale. If a few extra commas cause you that much difficulty and angst, you must really struggle on a day-to-day basis.

Still, at the risk of repeating myself, if it offends you as much as your tone suggests:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/contact-us/editorial


 
Posted : 11/08/2015 10:10 am
 Spin
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Still, at the risk of repeating myself, if it offends you as much as your tone suggests:

I'm assuming in that vein that you've written to congratulate them on it?


 
Posted : 11/08/2015 10:28 am
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Nah, just came on here to slag off the somewhat OTT criticism from the OP and others. Orchids aren't really my bag. 😀


 
Posted : 11/08/2015 10:31 am
 Spin
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Nah, just came on here to slag off the somewhat OTT criticism from the OP and others. Orchids aren't really my bag.

I think we're reading from the same hymn sheet. 😉


 
Posted : 11/08/2015 10:39 am
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ahwiles - Member

i know nothing about botany. I read the article, the Orchid that looks like a twisted ear of wheat looks ace.

what was the question?


My mum gets loads of them appearing in her lawn about this time of year. They're pretty cool. No idea what they are or of they're rare though.


 
Posted : 11/08/2015 10:50 am
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Well, I'd have to admit, I never saw this coming.

An attack on the BBC through the medium of Orchids. 8)


 
Posted : 11/08/2015 11:00 am
 Nico
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Pyramidal, not Pyramid, Shirley?


 
Posted : 11/08/2015 11:08 am
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Could've done with this research a few years ago when I used to play Sabre Wulf.


 
Posted : 11/08/2015 11:27 am

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