Reuters Misspelled My Name

Reuters did a great article on the Mobile Web Best Practices. Too bad they misspelled my name, misquoted me and got about 2 out of 4 facts wrong. Now I know that I have a name that invites misspelling, but honestly I expected better from Reuters. BBC news didn’t seem to have any problem with it, although they did quote me out of context and in opposition to (Sir) Tim Berners-Lee, which was a bit irksome. On the factual side, the W3C has 405 members – maybe Reuters meant the W3C Mobile Web Best Practices working group, but I guess that’s too subtle a distinction for professional journalists. Also, I didn’t say that “cookies do not work on cellphones.” I said that cookies do not work on some phones (oh – there’s that subtlety problem again). There are some good parts of the article though. The word “mobile,” for instance, is used correctly.

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3 Comments on “Reuters Misspelled My Name

  1. I felt that the tone of the Reuters article made it seem that is was a commercial initiative rather than a global standards one. I know that there was great support and a drive from the companies involved but at heart it is a standards based piece of work.

  2. True — that’s because the journalist covering it was a wireless industry reporter, not a Web reporter. When I spoke to her, it was clear she didn’t know what a browser was, let alone what the W3C was. This will be a general problem as these spaces begin to converge, and converge they will.

  3. Also – apparently, I’ve been promoted as I’m now a Vodafone Executive (at least according to Reuters). Unlikely, since I never wear a tie. Still, I look forward to my pay rise and company car upgrade.

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