Seasons » 2015-16 » Everton News
Important: Correction and clarification
23 Comments ToffeeWeb would like to give notice of an important correction to a news item that we published earlier today regarding Muhamed Besic's most recent media comments, one that was unintentionally misleading to a large degree.
It has been pointed out to us that there was a vital discrepancy in a key quote attributed to Besic between a Press Association article on MailOnline and what was quoted elsewhere in outlets like the Liverpool Echo, possibly the original source. (Emphasis in each of the following quotes below is ToffeeWeb's.)
"That is the difference maybe this season in that we are afraid to play at home because we feel maybe it is better to defend and play on the counter." [MailOnline]
"That is maybe the difference this season not that we are afraid to play at home." [Liverpool Echo]
The original headline of the article that was run on ToffeeWeb, “Besic admits Goodison fear factor but eyes cup glory” was, unfortunately, partly based on the first quote in the PA/MailOnline article.
That was then compounded by a second error, namely the mistaken inclusion of a sentence written by the author of the PA piece describing how, “There is little positivity from the crowd and any mistake is greeted with groans.” This potentially damaging quote was erroneously attributed to Besic in our article and has since been removed.
We are aware of the important role and responsibility that ToffeeWeb has as a provider, aggregator and, sometimes, creator of news. While our status as an independent fan website means that we are never 100% free of bias, we do make every effort to be as fair and accurate as possible in our news reportage and we would never knowingly or deliberately set out to mislead in this way.
We would like to correct the above inaccuracies and apologise, both to our readers and Muhamed Besic himself, for the oversight and lack of accuracy reflected in the original piece.
Reader Comments (23)
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2 Posted 18/04/2016 at 17:14:24
3 Posted 18/04/2016 at 17:45:27
4 Posted 18/04/2016 at 17:50:54
5 Posted 18/04/2016 at 17:52:15
6 Posted 18/04/2016 at 17:54:02
Magnanimous of TW/Lyndon to print this apology – if only RM could show the same attitude towards the supporters.
7 Posted 18/04/2016 at 17:55:23
But I assure you, in case there's an assumption we were pressured into issuing the correction, if a mistake is made on this website, I/we will apologise for it and make the necessary corrections in good conscience and in the need for transparency without needing to be compelled to do so.
8 Posted 18/04/2016 at 18:02:23
9 Posted 18/04/2016 at 19:25:07
10 Posted 18/04/2016 at 19:26:43
11 Posted 18/04/2016 at 19:43:38
Hats off once again to Lyndon and Michael who continue to provide us all with such an excellent platform for discussing all things Everton. I am probably not alone in taking you guys for granted most of the time.
(Turns into RM): Indeed you display an outstandin' talen' which we have no seen since in the journalistic world since its discovery many years ago. The talen' that you have is (trails off, no-one is listening any more) ...
13 Posted 18/04/2016 at 19:51:07
Clearly the journalist, or the sub-editor, or who knows, has the 'liberty' to amend/edit the quote or, I supect, recreate it from notes... although surely now they all use voice recorders??
Perhaps one of our journalist readers can explain how the same person can generate different quotes in the press without those words being deliberately (or for editorial reasons) altered?
14 Posted 18/04/2016 at 20:01:08
In the end, the industry is completely rotten and as the so-called 4th estate, they are untouchable.
15 Posted 18/04/2016 at 21:31:00
16 Posted 18/04/2016 at 21:34:41
"We are aware of the important role and responsibility that ToffeeWeb has as a provider, aggregator and, sometimes, creator of news."
The word "aggravator" has been misspelt as "aggregator"! ;-)
17 Posted 18/04/2016 at 21:38:21
All credit to you and Lyndon (7) for responding so quickly to what my publisher used to call "a short and curly job", to which there's no answer but to apologise for the mistake.
Mind you, there are some people's quotes you just couldn't make up even if you tried... and Martinez doesn't half try.
18 Posted 18/04/2016 at 22:55:02
That surely means they can't be held culpable for any misquotes or misleading information they "re-post" from other news outlets.
But it sure shows a hell of a lot of class and journalistic integrity when they independently correct misquotes picked up "off the wire" from other outlets.
19 Posted 18/04/2016 at 23:14:48
20 Posted 18/04/2016 at 23:43:33
As Michael S.and Ged's responses above show, I think we're entitled to assume that the quotes are either verbatim or so close as not to change the meaning.
That was at the root of the whole flap over Leighton Baines's "chemistry" controversy – Martinez insisted the player had been misquoted or that his comments had been taken out of context but the Echo produced the transcript to prove the quotes were correct.
We don't have access to the raw quotes so we're at the mercy of those news outlets that do and, in this instance, I got burned by trusting the authenticity of the PA's report.
Jamie (18), as I mentioned in a comment below my article in question, I wasn't aware that the original quote had been taken off the Echo's site which is what I'm waiting to verify. Given the choice between the Mail and the Echo, I'm far more trusting of the latter – they get a rough ride by some fans but I stand by them when it comes to integrity – but, again, the Mail's piece was under a Press Association byline which should be a different story.
21 Posted 19/04/2016 at 03:27:45
22 Posted 19/04/2016 at 11:18:17
23 Posted 19/04/2016 at 11:36:17
24 Posted 19/04/2016 at 17:18:58
At a push you may even be able to tell if Bobby Boy was 'echando un ojazo' every now and then!
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1 Posted 18/04/2016 at 17:04:29