Ode To Proofreaders

The DTV transition education campaign may or may not have problems, but a couple of press release gaffes from both sides of the issue Tuesday illustrated the difficulty in relaying accurate information, even about the issue of relaying accurate information.

That National Telecommunications & Information Administration, in issuing a release on the progress of its DTV converter coupon program, briefly sent folks to the wrong URL, DTV transtion.org. The missing "i" in "transition" was important, since instead of sending surfers to its real site for more info, it instead steered them to a site with links to a host of DTV products and services, obviously an attempt to corral errant surfers and pitch them on various products, including satellite and cable service.

NTIA  quickly fixed the URL citation on its home page, though the e-mailed press release to a host of journlalists, issued before an eagle-eyed scribe who shall remain nameless noted the mistake, contained the error.

But to show that everybody makes mistakes, House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.) talked, in a release criticizing the progress of the DTV transition campaign, of TV sets that "stop functioning Feb. 19." 

A corrected version issued shortly after pointed out that that date should have been Feb. 18.

Having proofed a magazine at the end of a 17-hour day, I know full well the slips that can occur between the word and the deed. The speed with which both corrected the error is to their credit.