Stavanger Avisen - 8 Stories

1) Mistet konas håndveske med 6,5 mill i (Bjarne Bringeland) 30 March 2006
http://www.stavangeravisen.com/art.asp?id=27845
In this story the journalist writes: "Han kan ikke ha det lett den kanadiske mannen som mistet konas håndveske med 6,5 millioner i smykker i....." That amount is wrong. To be correct, the journalist should have written: "Han kan ikke ha det lett den kanadiske mannen som mistet konas håndveske med 5,6 millioner i smykker i....." The amount stated in the story - 6.5 million Norwegian Crowns (NOK) is not correct. It is 5.6 million NOK. The amount was $1 million in Canadian currency (CAD), not American currency (USD). For some strange reason the journalist took the Canadian currency amount from the Canadian story and used a foreign (USD-NOK) currency exchange rate to calculate the amount for the $1 million to Canadian currency (CAD-NOK). He should have used the CAD-NOK exchange rate. How does a Canadian story with a Canadian currency amount get changed to the USA's currency in this story? Does the journalist actually think American money is used in Canada? Do Norwegians use the Swedish Crown or Euro in Norway? No, so why would Canada use the USA's currency? How do mistakes in Canadian stories like this not get checked before they are printed? Is it obvious many Norwegian journalists do not know Canada. In a reply back from the journalist he writes: "...Har vært i USA og Canada et par tre ganger. Kjentfolk i Detroit [USA] og besøker (til) Windsor [Canada] på andre siden..." This journalist has been in the USA travelling and decides to come to Windsor, Canada while on holidays. That means he would have have driven down to the Canadian border, would have been stopped and been cleared through Canada Customs and Immigration, and asked by Canadian officials for a passport upon entering Canada. If while visiting Canada he spent any money, he would have seen that the currency in Canada was Canadian currency. Despite the actual fact of being in Canada, possibly spending Canadian money, the story still gets published using the USD-NOK exchange rate for Canadian currency. How much closer to Canada does on have to get to really understand and take note that in Canada the currency is Canadian, and has a different exchange rate that other countries? The story was corrected after an e-mail was sent pointing out the mistake. When Norwegian journalists write a story from New Zealand do they convert the amount with the Australian dollar exchange rate? When Norwegian journalists write a story from Australia do they use the New Zealand exchange rate? So why do they so often (as one can see from other stories on this website) make this mistake with Canada? The reality is that Canadian currency is one of the stable and traded currencies on world markets, more than Australia or New Zealand, and up there near the top with other international currencies, yet it seems like many Norwegian journalists think we use USA currency in Canada. How many Norwegians will show up in Vancouver, Canada in 2010 for the Winter Olympics with USA currency, thinking we use USA currency in Canada? My guess is that more Norwegians will come to Canada with USA currency than Canadians coming to Norway the next time Norway hosts the winter Olympics, with Swedish currency.
2) Lå fastklemt under tre i 6 dager (Bjarne Bringeland) 24 December 2006

http://www.stavangeravisen.com/art.asp?id=32444In this story the Norwegian journalists writes: "I seks dager lå en 59 år gammel mann fasklemt under et tre en av verdens største nasjonalparker, Stanley Park i Vancouver Canada." Stanley Park in Vancouver, Canada is a city owned park, owned by the City of Vancouver in Canada. The Norwegian journalists writes it is a national park, that is not correct. It is not a national park, only a city park. An e-mail was sent to the journalist to correct the story, but a reply was never received, and the mistake was never corrected.
3) USA feirer uavhengighetsdagen (Bjarne Bringeland) 4 July 2008

http://www.stavangeravisen.com/art.asp?id=42514

This is an excellent example of how Canadian information, not labelled Canadian in this story, and not clarified, can be made to look American by Norwegian journalists. In this story about the USA's national holiday - 4th of July, the Norwegian journalist writes: "Store offentlige forestillinger med fyrverkeri som er kjente er East River i New York, Chicago på Lake Michigan, Boston på Charles River og i St. Louis på Mississippi River. En av de største fyrverkeriene står Windsor, Ontario for over Detroit River." This is wrong. There was no fireworks in Windsor, Canada on July 4th for the USA national holiday. Canada does not celebrate the USA's national holiday. Why would Canadians celebrate a foreign holiday? The 4th of July is not part of Canada's history or experience. Canadians celebrate their national day - 1st of July - when Canada negotiated independence peacefully from Great Britian in 1867. What the Norwegian journalist writes needs clarification because to most Norwegians it will read as though Canadians are celebrating the USA's national day in Canada (that is if they realise Windsor, Ontario is actually in Canada). This of course would be like Canadian journalists writing Norwegians celebrate Germany's or Sweden's national holiday. If you know Canadian geography, you will know the Canadian city of Windsor is location just south of the city of Detroit, Michigan, USA. The USA's national day - Independence Day - is the 4th of July. Canada's national day - La fête du Canada / Canada Day is the 1st of July (as proclaimed by Canada's Parliament when independence from Great Britain was received from Great Britain's parliament, and Queen Victoria - Queen of Canada in 1867). Each country, just by happenstance, celebrates their national day in the month of July. There is no connection. In 1959, the Canadian city of Windsor in collaboration with the American city of Detroit (across the international Canada - USA border from each other) created an international festival called "The Freedom Festival" making the 2008 event the 49th festival. The highlight of the festival is the fireworks display held on the Wednesday before La fête du Canada / Canada Day. It is, in fact, one of the two largest fireworks shows in North America with over 113,000 kilograms of fireworks being used. The fireworks are shot off from barges on the Detroit river between the two countries (the international Canada-USA border lies in the middle of the river between the two countries). "The event used to be called the Detroit-Windsor International Freedom Festival, but they don't call it that anymore. It is a joint celebration honouring Canada Day (July 1) and July 4. This year it starts on June 19th (in Windsor they set up a carnival down by the river, etc., for the whole course of the event). The actual Target fireworks this year is Monday, June 23rd, which, like another reader stated, is a switch from the Wednesday that they usually have it on. If you go to www.summerfestwindsor.org, they will give you all the info, including the fireworks (at least regarding what's happening in Windsor) Many Americans come over to the Windsor [Canada] side to watch the fireworks." On-line comments from Yahoo Questions from a Canadian resident of Windsor, Canada. The festival is held between two different cities, in two different countries, celebrating each countries freedom. This celebration is an international celebration, and of course, there's no mention of this in the Norwegian story, and no mention that it's to celebrate Canada's independence from Great Britain. This should help to clarify to Norwegian readers what the Norwegian journalist did not explain; helping to clarify the mistake that Canadians do not shoot off fireworks on July 4th in Canada that this Norwegian journalist states we do. What the Norwegian journalist has written in a misrepresentation of Canada; a problem common in much of the Norwegian media regarding Canada. After e-mailing this journalist several times about this mistake, a reply was never received, nor a correction to his mistake. It is so easy to see from a Canadian perspective that many Norwegian journalists do not know much about Canada, and this extends into their reporting in their respective newspapers; print or on-line.
4) Åtte lik funnet i Ontario (Bjarne Bringeland) 8 April 2006

http://www.stavangeravisen.com/art.asp?id=28020

In this story the Norwegian joournalist writes: "Vi betraketer dette som selvmord, sier politiets talsmann Dough Graham til CBS News." and "...melder CBS News." This is not correct. Doug Graham stated this to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), not to the USA's Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS). This is a Canadian story, where the spokesperson for the Ontario Provincial Police spoke to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC in Canada, BBC in Britain, NRK in Norway), and yet, somehow the Canadian - CBC - gets reported as the USA's CBS. How can a Norwegian journalist even after reading the Canadian story, and link to a Canadian news agency like the CBC, and then write he spoke to the Columbia Broadcast System (CBS) in the USA? Why does the Canadian CBC get written as the CBS from a foreign country? After contacting the journalist, the first part, the link was changed to CBC, but the bottom part of the story was never changed and still states CBS from the USA. This is a Canadian story, so how did CBS get involved? The problem here is many Norwegians think they know Canada, when in fact they don't, so they just assume or guess, and apply what they know about the USA to Canada, either guessing or assuming it must be the same. Unfortunately many Norwegians treat Canada the same way they don't like being treated when so many journalists write Norway must be in Sweden, or part of Sweden. What has beein written in this story is like a Canadian news media outlet reporting NTB or ANB is Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå (TT) from Sweden, or NRK radio as Yleisradio from Finland.
5) Arbeidsløs alenemor vant 150 millioner kroner (Bjarne Bringeland) 1 July 2008

http://www.stavangeravisen.com/art.asp?id=42439In this story the Norwegian journalist writes: "Arbeidsløs alenemor vant 150 millioner kroner." This is wrong. The Canadian won $25 million Canadian dollars, or about 125 million Norwegian Crowns. The exchange rate at the time is $25 Million CAD x 5NOK = 125 million NOK. Perhaps the journalists was usuing the USA-NOK, not realising we use Canadian money in Canada, not American money? He also writes "kanadiske avisen Canadian Press." The Canadian Press not a newspaper. "The Canadian Press along with its French-language counterpart, La Presse Canadienne, is Canada's not-for-profit, multimedia news agency. We have been keeping Canadians informed and telling people the story of their country for almost 90 years." Similar to Norway's ANB and NTB. This is an example of how many Norwegian journalists don't pay attention to details when reporting about Canada, and just either guess or assume. How can the exchange rate be off by 25 million Norwegian Crowns? That's a difference of $5 million Canadian dollars!
6) USA tar avskjed med Reagan (By StavangerAvisen.com) 11 June 2004
http://www.stavangeravisen.com/art.asp?art=17996
In this story about the death of the USA's president Ronald Reagan, Stavanger Avisen writes: "Den tidligere kanadiske presidenten, Brian Mulroney, beskrev Ronald Reagan som mannen "som forandret verden." Canadian president?? This is not correct. First, Canada does not have a president, it has a Prime Minister just like Great Britain and Norway. Second, Brian Mulroney is the former Prime Minister and has not been in office since 1993. Mexico and the USA are the only two countries in North America with presidents; Canada is a Constitutional Monarchy, and not a republic, so it does not have a president.
7) Canada hjelper bilfabrikkene (Bjarne Bringeland) 21 December 2008
http://www.stavangeravisen.com/art.asp?id=45886
"Canada hjelper bilfabrikkene" "Canada hjelper bilfabrikkene i Canada""Regkeringen i Canada har annonsert en pakke på 4 milliarder dollar som skal gå til de amerikanske bilfabrikkene i landet."
8) USA: Mann overlevde Niagara Falls (By Bjarne Bringeland) 12 March 2009
http://www.stavangeravisen.com/art.asp?id=47424
This story the Norwegian journalist identifies as taking place in the USA - wrong country. This story took place in Canada, not in the USA. Wrong country. To be correct, the heading should say: "Canada: Mann overlevde Niagara Falls." Later the story states: "Mannen i slutten av 30 årene hoppet frivillig ut i det store vannfallet uten verneutstyr, opplyser kanadisk politi." This event took place in Canada, the man was taken to a Canadian hospital, rescued by Canadian police, and yet, the story is titled as taking place in the USA. Canada is the a neighbour country to the USA, not located in the USA. After e-maling the journalist a correction has not been made.