WWII 'tank' recovered after 74 years underground

[Black Knight]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-56944032

 

tank = a Buffalo

 

Edit:  see a message below about the news article getting a name change. The original article called the Buffalo a tank and just referred to it as that

I'll not change the title here cos it'll make nonsense of some of the replies below

[Mr T]

It's boxy and got tracks=tank in the mind of a journalist. In the article, it does accurately describe what it is and what it was used for. However the pictures still insist on calling a tank. 

Same as in Gulf War 1 when large US aircraft taking off are described by the journo as bombers (big jet planes with star and bars so must be) when they were KC135s, presumably taking off to support the strike packages. 

I did ask my sister in law why they never think to ask someone who might have an idea, or even buy the Ladybird book of modern military planes, but she didn't think it matters very much to the great unwashed public. 

Edited April 30, 2021 by Mr T

[Lummox]

May well be part of the general dumbing-down malaise in society, but I don't think that misidentification is necessarily a new phenomenon. Wasn't every German tank encountered in Normandy a Tiger?

[spitfire]

My dad always talked about Royal Tigers and spandow machine guns in France.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Radpoe Spitfire]

I'm only making an assumption, but it's probably more to do with the press & generalization.

 

To be honest, it seems to joe public, that every model kit is an "Airfix kit", while to many of us older ones, a vacuum cleaner is "a Hoover"  - irrespective of who manufacturer is- in the first place. 

 

The same goes for the generalisation of many things, so the assumption is "it's a military vehicle with tracks,  so it's a tank".

 

Edited May 1, 2021 by Radpoe Spitfire

[Mr T]

I think what makes me concerned about the sloppiness in what stuff gets called is if the reporter cannot be bothered to get it right, what else can't they bothered with

I am sufficiently old fashioned to believe that the news media have some sort of duty to get things right. We are already in the position where some 'newspapers' serve up major stories where the whipped up froth of a headline is based on very shaking foundations of accuracy or even down right lies. If you are effectively too lazy to get it right, what else goes out the window in the longer term? The excuse that the public don't care or it doesn't matter is weak if you think it through properly. 

Rant over, part of a professional life dealing with shoddy thinking takes it toll

Edited May 2, 2021 by Mr T
Spelling

[Kitescreech]

This annoyed me, but I think if the article said "WW2 Amphibious transport" it wouldnt be picked up on by "the General Public".

[Paws4thot]

Agreed with all.

 

One particularly bad case was in Gulf 2, when the USMC (IIRC service correctly, or it was US Army) were using an M-88 (probably M-88A1) to pull down a statue of Saddam Hussein. A BBC "reporter" was standing next to the Sargent involved whilst the rest of the crew rigged the statue to pull it down. This "reporter" kept burbling away to camera about how "this tank would be used to demolish the statue" when he could have done a live interview with one of the vehicle crew.

[treker_ed]

Not too interested in AFV's but the BBC article has been changed to now reflect what it is actually called, and all references to a "tank" have been removed.

 

"Crowland WWII Buffalo LVT dug up after 74 years underground"

 

I must admit, it annoys me when they cant get information correct. A few weeks ago they had an article talking about USAF aircraft, but the picture they had illustrating the said journalistic piece was a French Dassault Rafale! Quick email to the editorial team complaining about their accuracy and pointing out the glaring error, and about an hour or so later, it had been changed to an F-15E Eagle!

Edited May 2, 2021 by treker_ed

[Bullbasket]

On 02/05/2021 at 08:33, Mr T said:

We are already in the position where some 'newspapers' serve up major stories where the whipped up froth of a headline is based on very shaking foundations of accuracy or even down right lies.

I think that every newspaper editor has it written, indelibly into his soul, "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story".

 

John.