Right NEast/Wrong NEast: Action News typo makes all the difference

By Shannon McDonald

Sure, reporters in a rush to get stories out often make small mistakes. This mistake involves only four letters, but makes a huge difference geographically and culturally.

A story from Action News this morning, which followed up on the death of a PHA carpenter who was shot on the job last month, reported that the shooting took place in Northeast Philadelphia. The story’s lede reads:

NORTH PHILADELPHIA – July 28, 2009 (WPVI) — A worker for the Philadelphia Housing Authority has died after a shooting last month in Northeast Philadelphia.

Given that the dateline says North Philadelphia – the true location of the shooting – it seems the reference to the Northeast is the result of a reporter’s haste – which says more about the station’s editing abilities than its geography skills. But still, we at NEastPhilly vow to point out even the tiniest of mistakes in an effort to do the Northeast proud. Sorry, Action News, it had to be done.

Outside media don’t care about the Northeast. We have all seen them misuse, misspell and mistake our neighborhoods and our streets, so we at NEast mag wanted to do something about it. When they get it wrong, we set it right in a segment we like to call Right NEast/Wrong NEast.