Henne - 2 Stories
1) 10 ferier med futt (By Christine Baglo) 8 January, 2007
http://www.henne.no/php/art.php?id=363468
http://www.henne.no/php/art.php?id=363468
In this story the Norwegian journalist writes: "Men det beste er kanskje å være med på en guidet tur i sommerhalvåret, for eksempel i Kitimat Valley i den nordlige delen av staten" This is wrong. The province of British Columbia on the west coast of Canada is not a "state" as the journalist writes. Canada does not have, and has never had states. British Columbia is a province in Canada, and has been since 1871. Canada uses the French system of provinces and has been since Canada became a Royal Province of France in 1663. Provinces are different than states in how they function politically and legally. Countries like Canada, France, China, and several others use provinces, not states. Why would a Norwegian journalist use an American political term for Canada? Especially when Canada is a separate French and English speaking country located north of the USA? Mexico and the USA are the only two countries in North America that use states, Canada does not. Would a journalist not verify facts before they print a story? The story has never been corrected.
2) Tipsregler i 25 land (Christine Baglo) 29 May 2006
2) Tipsregler i 25 land (Christine Baglo) 29 May 2006
In this story, the Norwegian journalist writes about tipping in 25 countries around the world. In the story she adds Canada as part of the USA instead of giving a Canada (an independent country located in North America, neighbour to the USA) its own listing, as tipping in Canada is different because it is a different country from the USA. In addition, when she decided to add Canada as part of the USA, under the heading of "USA og Canada" there was NO INFORMATION AT ALL about tipping in Canada in the story anyway. So Canada is included as part of the USA for some reason, yet there is no information for tipping in Canada included. Did this journalist just make an assumption or guessed that the USA tipping is the same as for Canada? This is like a Canadian journalist writing a story about tipping in "Germany and Norway" and never mentioning a word about Norway, and applying Germany's tipping habits to Norway. It just doesn't make sense. This story is an excellent example of how Canada is poorly treated in the Norwegian press, and assumptions are made that Canada is just the same as the USA attitude by so many in the Norwegian media. How can someone assume so confidently that Canada is the same as the USA to just add Canada under the USA's habits? Why does this happen? Are some Norwegians so poorly educated that they have been taught that "Canada and the USA" is one country? Instead of doing research about Canada, and giving Canada it's own category that it deserves like the other 25 countries listed (Canada, despite its size and being a G-7 nation) receives less than equal treatment, and is just dumped under the USA. Why? This is poor and discriminatory journalism by the journalist. Just some assumption that it's "all the same" in Canada as in the USA. In the following BBC story, one can see that it is not the same. The below information is taken from the BBC story on tipping from various countries around the world, it shows the two countries tipping information and a clear difference of the two countries. If the BBC, and other internationalist journalists can do the research, why does Canada get such poor treatment by some in the Norwegian press? Why does Canada just dumped in with the USA when it is the neighbour to the USA and NOT PART OF THE USA??
Taken from the BBC: "Canada:Most service staff in Canada expect something in the 10-20% tip range, depending on what city, if it's French or English Canada, and the level of service. Tipping is expected for restaurants, bars, food delivery and taxis. You should not try to tip the police, especially the Royal Canadian Mountain Police - they will not appreciate it. 15% is a good tip in a restaurant. In Montreal, tips for a good meal at a good restaurant with good service should be tipped more. In most of English Canada, you would find it a lot harder to have the same experience, and anyway would not be expected to tip as much. On the other hand, you should not tip if service is bad. If the service is really bad, leave a nickel - they should get the message. There is no excuse for bad service - it's so easy to give! And if you work in the service industry, the little effort can gain you a personal reward - tips!"
"United States: Restaurants in the USA usually call for a 15-20% tip, however, if your server is a complete jerk, you aren't expected to give them a dime of your pocket-money. Of course, you may have the misfortune of going to a restaurant that automatically includes a 15% tip in the check, but for all those US males out there who pull out their little calculators every time they receive the bill, having the tip already indicated for them can save a lot of embarrassment. In pubs, you are expected to put a dollar or two into the pot at the bar. However, since you usually pay only at the end (rather than for each drink as you go), this does not get too excessive! In most states of the US the tax is around 7-8%, so you just tip twice the tax - a little more or less depending on the service you got. Easy-peasy lemon-squeezy. However, some people just don't understand what the big deal is with figuring out what 15% of the total is... You just take ten percent of the total, divide that by two, and then find the sum of both figures!" If the BBC can do the research and report accurately on these two countries, why can't some in the Norwegian press? My guess is that the journalist did what many other Norwegian journalists do and just assumed that Canada is the same as the USA. In fact, one would almost get the impression from Norwegian reporting and journalist responses that many in fact may be a little uncertain if Canada is in fact a separate country in North America. It may seem far fetched to say this, but from the numerous times Canada is lumped into USA stories or data, one would think that there is confusion as to whether or not Canada is a separate independent nation in North America by some Norwegian journalists. Why is it when Canada is added into some USA stories does the journalist not even hesitate about what they have written before they go to print? This journalist didn't, and what was even worse was the several e-mails sent to the journalist and magazine to get the story corrected. Despite pointing out the errors it took many e-mails to "convince" the magazine there was a mistake. That would be like a Canadian journalist always including Norway under the information or heading for Sweden or Germany and then when told of his mistake, not really being convinced that Norway deserves its own recognition and information because the Canadian journalist is convinced Norway is some part of Sweden or Germany and it's all the same. What Norwegian would find that acceptable?
Taken from the BBC: "Canada:Most service staff in Canada expect something in the 10-20% tip range, depending on what city, if it's French or English Canada, and the level of service. Tipping is expected for restaurants, bars, food delivery and taxis. You should not try to tip the police, especially the Royal Canadian Mountain Police - they will not appreciate it. 15% is a good tip in a restaurant. In Montreal, tips for a good meal at a good restaurant with good service should be tipped more. In most of English Canada, you would find it a lot harder to have the same experience, and anyway would not be expected to tip as much. On the other hand, you should not tip if service is bad. If the service is really bad, leave a nickel - they should get the message. There is no excuse for bad service - it's so easy to give! And if you work in the service industry, the little effort can gain you a personal reward - tips!"
"United States: Restaurants in the USA usually call for a 15-20% tip, however, if your server is a complete jerk, you aren't expected to give them a dime of your pocket-money. Of course, you may have the misfortune of going to a restaurant that automatically includes a 15% tip in the check, but for all those US males out there who pull out their little calculators every time they receive the bill, having the tip already indicated for them can save a lot of embarrassment. In pubs, you are expected to put a dollar or two into the pot at the bar. However, since you usually pay only at the end (rather than for each drink as you go), this does not get too excessive! In most states of the US the tax is around 7-8%, so you just tip twice the tax - a little more or less depending on the service you got. Easy-peasy lemon-squeezy. However, some people just don't understand what the big deal is with figuring out what 15% of the total is... You just take ten percent of the total, divide that by two, and then find the sum of both figures!" If the BBC can do the research and report accurately on these two countries, why can't some in the Norwegian press? My guess is that the journalist did what many other Norwegian journalists do and just assumed that Canada is the same as the USA. In fact, one would almost get the impression from Norwegian reporting and journalist responses that many in fact may be a little uncertain if Canada is in fact a separate country in North America. It may seem far fetched to say this, but from the numerous times Canada is lumped into USA stories or data, one would think that there is confusion as to whether or not Canada is a separate independent nation in North America by some Norwegian journalists. Why is it when Canada is added into some USA stories does the journalist not even hesitate about what they have written before they go to print? This journalist didn't, and what was even worse was the several e-mails sent to the journalist and magazine to get the story corrected. Despite pointing out the errors it took many e-mails to "convince" the magazine there was a mistake. That would be like a Canadian journalist always including Norway under the information or heading for Sweden or Germany and then when told of his mistake, not really being convinced that Norway deserves its own recognition and information because the Canadian journalist is convinced Norway is some part of Sweden or Germany and it's all the same. What Norwegian would find that acceptable?
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