ABC's 'Sic' Choice Suggests Belief in Afterlife an Error

NewsBusters ^ | Mark Finkelstein

[governsleastgovernsbest]

sic: thus; so. Used to indicate that a quoted passage, especially one containing an error or unconventional spelling, has been retained in its original form or written intentionally. - Answers.com definition

Adding religious insult to mortal injury, ABC's coverage of the death of the 3000th US service-person in Iraq seemed to suggest that there was something odd or erroneous in the expression of a traditional belief in the afterlife.

Today's "Good Morning America" focused on the death of Army Specialist Dustin Donica of Texas, believed to be that 3000th serviceman lost in Iraq. Narrating the segment, ABC's Jonathan Karl stated: "The MySpace page he left behind bears the tributes of those whose lives he touched." The screen then displayed the message [shown larger-than-normal here for clarity's sake] from one of those friends:

"You were one of my best friends and I'll never forget you. All my prayers go to your family and I'll see you again." (sic)

There can be no doubt that the friend was expressing his expectation to see Dustin again in the world to come. That the reference to seeing Dustin again was prefaced by a mention of the family being in the friend's prayers emphasizes that religious faith was being expressed.

But for ABC, traditional religious belief is so odd or erroneous as to require it to add its condescending little sic.

Mark was in Iraq in November. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net

[Mrs. Don-o]

"Sic" does not mean "straight in copy," (where'd you get that?); it indicates an error in spelling or grammar which appeared in the original. Scare quotes (" ") are quotation marks placed around a word or phrase when you, the writer, wish to express your view that the word is odd or inappropriate for some reason, or just plain wrong. You see this all the time in biased journalism:

This is an example of Bush's "compassionate" conservatism.
Meaning, I the writer don't call it compassionate.

The Senator indicated her opposition to "partial-birth" abortion.
Meaning, I the writer consider the term "partial-birth" to be questionable.

The defiant nuns are being investigated for "heresy."
Meaning, but ha-ha, what is "heresy" anyway?

I think ABC used sic the same way writers use scare quotes: to indicate that the referenced phase was dubious or erroneous.

[RightWhale]

The sic merely means those are the literal words and spellings, not that there is an error.

[em2vn]

The following meaning is from a smaller copy of the Oxford English Dictionary,eleventh edition,2004, than the compact version I used previously and this is the only definition given; (after a copied or quoted word)written exactly as it stands in the original. - Origin L.., lit. 'so, thus'.
The usage is certainly not archaic.
Furthermore, providing proof isn't incumbent upon me. The proof is required of the one who made the initiial charge that I questioned. I'm not seeking to prove anything, only to offer a plausible explanation that might disprove the charge.

[TN4Liberty]

These are 60's liberals who don't believe in religion that are now in control of the media. Of course they would say this. They are Godless.

I watched the final moments of the New Years Celebration at Times Square. The NBC/MSNBC reporters were droning on about GOP scandals and the new era of politics in DC, I couldn't help noting the last song that was played at Time Square for 2006, in this, the heartland of the mainstream media.

It was "Imagine" by John Lennon, a tribute to life without God and without country. I wonder how much this reflects the beliefs of the typical (not all, of course) New Yorker and the media leaders who live in that environment.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Argh. You just refuse to understand. YES, sic does mean "written exactly as it stands in the original." But it is only employed when the reader might otherwise think that the transcriber had made a mistake. It's the transcriber's way of saying: "I didn't make the mistake; the original author did."

In the current context, it's ABC's way of saying, "yes, the friend really did say that he'd see SPC Donica again, as odd as that sounds."

[kitkat]

***ABC News (sic).***

That says it all.

[expatguy]

I would say that the online disctionary is not completely correct with the definition.

Depending how "sic" is used, I believe it has another meaning one that is often used whereas sic is on brackets such as the following :

"But he has handsome words of praise for Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf. The US has seldom found an ally better than Musharraf...[sic]"

The used of sic above refers to a quote ~ sic is used to "quote the quote" meaning "said in content"

Im not saying that is how the network used it ~ Im just saying that [sic] has another meaning.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Sorry, but I can't agree. The 'sic' in the example you provide would mean "as odd as it sounds, the author of the sentence really did say that the US has rarely found an ally better than Mushafraf."

[aruanan]

ABC's 'Sic' Choice Suggests Belief in Afterlife an Error

Used to indicate that a quoted passage, especially one containing an error or unconventional spelling, has been retained in its original form or written intentionally.

"especially" is a qualifying word. It doesn't indicate that this is the only way that sic is used. The primary use is to indicate that what preceded it was the text exactly as found. It is also to indicate that any errors that were made, especially in spelling or punctuation, were as found and not done by the one doing the quoting.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

"The primary use is to indicate that what preceded it was the text exactly as found."

ABC had put the friend's statement inside quotation marks. So it was already clear that the quote was verbatim. The only purpose of the 'sic', therefore, was the second one you offered: that any error was that of the original author, not of ABC.

[Coleus]

Mark Finkelstein is a Knight?

He's probably in the Knights of Pythias.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Mark Finkelstein is me, governsleast. I write articles for NewsBusters and cross-post them here. You'll note that at #4 I asked my fellow FReepers to ping this article to appropriate religiously-themed ping lists. Alaninsa graciously did just that.

[aruanan]

ABC had put the friend's statement inside quotation marks. So it was already clear that the quote was verbatim. The only purpose of the 'sic', therefore, was the second one you offered: that any error was that of the original author, not of ABC.

No, even when quoting, the sic can be used to show that the quote is exactly as found.

[Coleus]

I write articles for NewsBusters and cross-post them here. You'll note that at #4 I asked my fellow FReepers to ping this article to appropriate religiously-themed ping lists. >>>

cool, I didn't know that, thanks...

Happy New Year

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Can you provide a clear-cut example of 'sic' ever having been used in that way?

[em2vn]

Now who's confused?

[governsleastgovernsbest]

You are. But I've concluded that it is not feasible to conduct a constructive dialogue with you. Have a good New Year in any case.

[em2vn]

It seems that you are taking extreme liberty with what you assume the transcriber meant. Argh, if that helps move things along.

[Robert A Cook PE]

It was "Imagine" by John Lennon, a tribute to life without God and without country. I wonder how much this reflects the beliefs of the typical (not all, of course) New Yorker and the media leaders who live in that environment.

Oh absolutely!

"Imagine" (sick) is EXACTLY the way the liberal/socialist/atheist society type WANT their world to be.

[Centurion2000]

Sic can also mean that this passage was verbatim.

Sic is a Latin word meaning "thus", "so", or "just as that". In writing, it is italicized and placed within square brackets — [sic] — to indicate that an incorrect or unusual spelling, phrase, punctuation, and/or other preceding quoted material is a verbatim reproduction of the quoted original and is not a transcription error.