Somewhere in West London this morning, a sub editor has been relegated to photocopying duty. In a great spot for Kath Arney on the You Do Too Much blog, an Independent hack has been caught out copying text directly from Wikipedia. The cosy friendship between hard-pressed journalists and the online encyclopedia usually goes unremarked – unless they accidentally copy toilet humour and/or mild swearing verbatim:
Although the Wikipedia article has now been corrected, revision histories clearly show a mischievous contributor changing the name of of a Herefordshire music festival to, erm, “Wanky Balls”. As Bitter Wallet puts it:
It won’t surprise you that Big Chill was never called Wanky Balls, Sweaty Nads, Greasy Schlong or anything else for that matter
That’s one way to make an impression your new proprietor.










17 Trackbacks
New post –> Independent sub-editor caught copying "wanky balls" from Wikipedia http://is.gd/ebroc (h/t @harpistkat)
RT @psbook: New post –> Independent sub-editor caught copying "wanky balls" from Wikipedia http://is.gd/ebroc (h/t @harpistkat)
Independent sub-editor copies "wanky balls" from Wikipedia | Political Scrapbook: http://bit.ly/aAATeh via @addthis
Ha! RT@psbook New post –> Independent sub-editor caught copying "wanky balls" from Wikipedia http://is.gd/ebroc (h/t @harpistkat)
RT @psbook: New post –> Independent sub-editor caught copying "wanky balls" from Wikipedia http://is.gd/ebroc (h/t @harpistkat)
RT @psbook Independent sub-editor caught copying "wanky balls" from Wikipedia http://is.gd/ebroc (h/t @harpistkat) BRILLIANT #news #media
RT @jamescheyne: RT @psbook Independent sub-editor caught copying "wanky balls" from Wikipedia http://is.gd/ebroc (h/t @harpistkat) BRIL …
RT @psbook Independent sub-editor caught copying "wanky balls" from Wikipedia http://is.gd/ebroc < Love this story
SERIOUSLY THOUGH, did it actually used to be called the Wanky Balls Festival? http://tinyurl.com/2wawxth
The festival I started has now been renamed Wanky Balls. thanks to Independent. Just as well I'm no longer involved! http://ow.ly/2nDdB
The festival I started has now been renamed Wanky Balls. thanks to Independent. Just as well I'm no longer involved! http://ow.ly/2nDmI
RT @petelawrence_: The festival I started has now been renamed Wanky Balls. thanks to Independent. Just as well I'm no longer involved! http://ow.ly/2nDmI
RT @chilledbynature: The festival I started has now been renamed Wanky Balls. thanks to Independent. Just as well I'm no longer involved! http://ow.ly/2nDdB
RT @psbook: New post –> Independent sub-editor caught copying "wanky balls" from Wikipedia http://is.gd/ebroc (h/t @harpistkat)
@fionacullinan my source was @mePadraigReidy – but if you look at the piece closely, you can see the AFP attribution: http://bit.ly/dtM2Sn
RT @petelawrence_: The festival I started has now been renamed Wanky Balls. thanks to Independent. Just as well I'm no longer involved! http://ow.ly/2nDmI
[...] Independent sub-editor copies "wanky balls" from Wikipedia …Aug 10, 2010 … It won’t surprise you that Big Chill was never called Wanky Balls, Sweaty … New post –> Independent sub-editor caught copying "wanky balls" … [...]