Jack Schofield 

Economist fails Topsy test

I was going to blog an Economist article puffing Linux until I got to the end and found the phase: "even if its sales grow like topsy". From the lower case it's obvious that The Economist doesn't have a clue who Topsy (a little girl) was, or why she supposed she'd just growed. The capitalist weekly's lack of bylines hides the identity of the guilty party, but whoever it is should be locked up for a week with Uncle Tom's Cabin. Yes, I know a lot of journalists make the same mistake, but then, most of them never got past Topsy and Tim. The Economist is supposed to get these things right.
  
  


I was going to blog an Economist article puffing Linux until I got to the end and found the phase: "even if its sales grow like topsy". From the lower case it's obvious that The Economist doesn't have a clue who Topsy (a little girl) was, or why she supposed she'd just growed. The capitalist weekly's lack of bylines hides the identity of the guilty party, but whoever it is should be locked up for a week with Uncle Tom's Cabin. Yes, I know a lot of journalists make the same mistake, but then, most of them never got past Topsy and Tim. The Economist is supposed to get these things right.

 

Leave a Comment

Required fields are marked *

*

*