Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Mea Culpa: under the way and over the pass

John Rentoul’s regular round-up of errors and omissions

Saturday 08 May 2021 21:30 BST
Comments
<p>A confusing description of a Mexican train crash</p>

A confusing description of a Mexican train crash

In our report of a train crash in Mexico, we wrote: “The concrete subway overpass partially collapsed, and images and videos from the scene showed parts of a train hanging in mid-air for hours.” As Henry Peacock pointed out this was confusing. A “subway overpass” is a curious combination of up and down, a bit like the sign on the Whitechapel Underground platform in London that says “Overground” with a sign pointing down the stairs.

A simpler way of saying “subway overpass” is “railway bridge”, because a subway is American for metro (or Underground if you’re from London) and a more natural way of saying “parts of a train” is “carriages”. I am also not sure what the difference is between a partial collapse and a collapse.

Insignificant digits: Spurious accuracy is something to which we journalists are prone. In our hunger for facts and our eagerness to pass them on, we sometimes get lost in detail. Last week we reported: “More than 145,765 Covid infections have since been detected that would not have otherwise been found, the health department says.” If it is more than that number, the precise number is irrelevant. Even if the precise number were relevant, my rule of thumb is that three significant digits is all that you can expect the reader to absorb. “More than 145,000” gives the reader more than enough information to make sense of the story. Thanks to Roger Thetford for pointing this out.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in