Confusing, isn't it?

Submitted by Sword of Islam (United Kingdom), Feb 24, 2006 at 10:51

Yes, I agree it is very messy. The Telegraph re-published the story with the correction having misquoted the story originally - probably because it was being quoted as being 'fact' by too many other people as evidence of Danish racism. I would therefore assume that the motive for this reprint was to correct the mistake.

You will note that nobody has actually questioned this re-translation so I've no doubt of it's legitimacy. Opportunism could also be cited as a potential motive but given the context of the rest of the speech I think it reasonably clear that the original phrase 'opposition' simply doesn't 'fit' with the other sentiments expressed in the speech. It just doesn't match up. I don't know much about the Danish queen but I know that she isn't a radical. She seems like a very educated, articulate person (much like the very few Danes that I've met). But at least you are given her the 'benefit of the doubt' which can only be a good thing. Too many people in this situation have rigid positions that they are unprepared to question so that's encouraging.

As for the BBC, I mention them purely because when originally covering the cartoon story they said that one of the 'false' pictures had actually been published without properly checking the facts. Laziness.

As a whole, I am sure that both institutions are normally reliable but the mistake of one journalist can radically inflame a situation as so many of us automatically believe anything that we see on TV or read in the newspaper.

Let's educate each other.

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