What’s in a name? Bauer bungles Richard Wilkins profile piece
Mistakes. They’re easy to make – particularly in publishing and when a magazine empire is crumbling around you.
Such was the case when a profile piece of Nine personality Richard Wilkins and his son, Christian, went to print in The Australian Women’s Weekly, which – amongst other errors – referred to Richard as Rachael.
The standfirst also muddled the family name, calling them ‘Wilkinson’, while the article referred to Richard’s (or Rachael’s) other child Estella as Estelle.
It appears the article also got actors Russell Crowe and Joel Edgerton confused.
Dr Mumbo will leave the last word to Richard/ Rachael, who said “Easy mistakes to make”.
Update: August 14, 1:56pm – Nicole Byers, group editor-in-chief/associate publisher for The Australian Women’s Weekly, provided this comment regarding the article: “There is no excusing these mistakes, which were, unfortunately, the result of human error. We extended our sincerest apologies to Richard and Christian, and they took it in the good humour for which they’re known. This is certainly not reflective of the high journalistic standards to which The Weekly holds itself, and we have re-evaluated the processes to avoid this happening again in the future.”
For a site that is supposed to support the publishing industry, shouting this out is poor form. For once, just once, would be good to consider the subbing team, especially the overworked one at Bauer that’s probably gone through hell recently.
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That’s what happens when sub-editors are gone.
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Sad to see these great mag titles completely trashed. AWW used to be an icon. This is the direct result of getting rid of sub editors.
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I don’t think mumbrella is supposed to “support” anyone. It’s news and commentary.
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Step back – I disagree with your comments. Supporting an industry does not mean censoring the news based on the feelings of an editorial team. AWW sells magazines to customers who have a right to higher standards than this. Maybe cost cutting is the real culprit here, and I’m sure we all feel for the subs, but every writer, sub-editor, editor and anyone else who read this story before print should feel embarrassed. It’s way worse than just a typo that was missed by tried eyes.
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That’s true @Step_Back, but it clearly shows all the cut backs (like firing sub-editors) that have happened due to place formerly known as Bauer have affected the overall quality of AWW (and other titles under the stalemate).
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Not even the local community newspaper was that unfortunate with making such errors.
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Are you joking? Editorial standards have slipped. Grammar, spellings ng. But not only. Ever since Helen McCabe has left the, magazine is a bore. Why don’t you study what she did to make it enjoyable. The stories, the style of writing. Not just what is written but how it’s written. Much to learn. Much to improve.
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What sort of vacuum do they live not to know who Wilkins is while writing an article about Wilkins. Auto correction because there are too many articles in the AWW about Wilkinson (Lisa), perhaps? If you are not interested in Australian show biz whilst working on a story about this very subject….. get a job at RSPCA, an abattoir or as a hotel security guard.
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my publisher continually asks ‘explain again why we need a sub editor’, when they ask again, I am just going to flip them this article as I am sick of having to justify it.
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