We Americans are just not that good with Muslim names. But then, we parents and grand parents are just not that good with our own kids names on occasion.
Hell, even though my kids are half Mexican-American, I cant get my tongue to do that rolling thing to get some words right in Spanish.
As long as we are dealing with those damned human beings in the news business, human mistakes are going to happen. But it is fun to feel superior while insulting others over their mistakes. Nearly as much fun as the language nazi’s on these boards making spelling mistakes while correcting others.

Hey Krak!
Slow news day, huh? Cheer up…things will get better….or worse….

GO YANKEES!!

I’ve always been more concerned with Fox’s proclivity to run chyrons identifying indicted or otherwise in trouble Republicans with a (D) next to their name.

It could make innocent mistakes like this seem more than they are when considering the source.

It is a sign of our arrogance and ethnocentrism not to attempt to learn the proper pronunciations of foreign names. One of the questions I was asked by the judge when I became a naturalized citizen was whether I wanted to change my name. I replied “to what? Smith?” He could see the humor in the answer and absurdity in the question.
I don’t think Geraldo meant anything by it. A slip of the tongue happens to all of us. But there has been a tendency from some in the air waves to use a man’s name as a pejorative to isolate them from “us”. It is deliberate malevolence and used to be divisive. It’s so obvious that it would be redundant to point out the guilty ones.

Ah, Fox. The dark dungeons of Murcuh shine forth in all their intellectual splendor. And the rancid masses do love it so. Yup.

Everybody makes mistakes….gosh I remember when Obama said he had visited 57 states.

i remember when Kennedy called obama osama.

i think after 8 years of Osama Bin Laden it is almost impossible to not have a slip up. They do it in Italy too, on the news and talk shows.

Nachi says:
October 30, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Ah, Fox. The dark dungeons of Murcuh shine forth in all their intellectual splendor. And the rancid masses do love it so. Yup.

MURDOCH… say it with me now, Nachi… MUR-DOCH.

Funny that while posting your latest Dungeons and Dragons-esque screed against… um, rancid people (I guess)… because of a mistake of the tongue… you (once again) can’t figure out how to spell MURDOCH correctly. So… tell me more about this “intellect” you apparently think you have.

I can’t believe Geraldo is still covering the middle east.I think the last time I watched him he was drawing a line in the sand and getting in trouble for it.But he is a full pro middle eastern scholar now! I’m sure we all are much more informed now.Something is sad tho,for years and years we still can’t get over the begining’s of the war that don’t matter that much now.

I bet it’s embarrassing writing stories like this. The headline, no doubt, implies some sort of nefarious actions that are unique to Fox News. Then you end by saying, there’s no evidence that it was anything but an accident and that you have several clips of other news organizations making the same mistake.

Okay. Well, why the headline? Why single out Fox in the story (oh no, not again!), and why are the only embedded videos from Fox? You link to other mistakes from NBC and others, but you no doubt realize that few viewers will watch the linked videos.

Sort of makes you look like a Fox hater. You decrease your possible audience by alienating most Fox News viewers, and you alienate those who like fair commentary online, because this certainly isn’t at all fair.

I dunno, I write for my own small website, so maybe it’s different to work for a larger organization. I think I’d probably be embarrassed to even turn a story like this in.

**as seen on another site’s comment thread**
..”Look’s like Jerry Rivers is just as dimwitted as ever!”

Sheesh!

I think this is not new. Previously a remember a few Obama’s name is in news because of his name. But why this thing is repeatedly happening? I sometimes think that this news readers are making this blunder knowingly to attract attention. Hope not so.

vitamins

Here’s a suggestion. Try preceding the uttering of his name with the word ‘President” with a capital ‘P’.
President Obama. It’s not rocket surgery.

homie says:
October 31, 2009 at 1:14 pm

homie… where were you when Olbermann referred to “Mr. Bush” instead of “President Bush” EVERY SINGLE TIME?!

Double standard?

As for when commenting about the President… I don’t think it’s a sign of disrespect, rather just one less word we have to type. Not a big deal…