The BBC being absolutely on the button.

[rachel@norfolk.social]

The BBC being absolutely on the button. Their Cyber correspondent had never even heard of php before? Really??? ‍️

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/ckgel5xp2xv9t

#php

[katiefenn@front-end.social]

@rachel This is hilarious and also extremely credible. Journalists come from a very rarified in-group culture, and get moved around briefs as they get promoted. They get hired straight from top universities, they have no experience working in the sectors in which they cover, or specialist publications.

[pikesley@mastodon.me.uk]

@rachel many such cases

[nobody@mastodon.acm.org]

@rachel
Media talking to the experts be like
@mothninja

[oneeyedman@frikiverse.zone]

@rachel WOT??

[catch56@kolektiva.social]

@rachel their chief political correspondent had never heard of anarcho-syndicalism a few years ago either.

[m@martinh.net]

@rachel Tech correspondents right now frantically asking ChatGPT how is website made?

[bashstkid@mastodon.online]

@rachel Being Bloody Clueless.

Imagine being called a military correspondent if your first piece to camera was “I’ve discovered these things called guns, they’re great, now listen to my opinions on wars”

[erik@mastodon.infrageeks.social]

@rachel How about instead of “Cyber Correspondent” they try talking to “Run of the mill sysadmin”?

While I realize we aren’t generally as photogenic, they might actually have a clue

[remittancegirl@mstdn.social]

@rachel I am not a programmer, I just had a couple of Word Press websites and even I know what PHP is.

How badly is the BBC paying these days.

[butterflyoffire@mstdn.fr]

@rachel 🤭

[pikesley@mastodon.me.uk]

@Nickiquote @rachel

I am reminded of when a "tech journalist" (I think for the BBC, but my memory is hazy) discovered that WhatsApp groupchats have a limit of 1024 members, and rather than thinking "oh yes that's 2^10, nothing to see here", seemed genuinely puzzled why they'd picked such an arbitrary number

Not knowing what PHP is, is arguably worse, but...

[alisonw@fedimon.uk]

@rachel
If your 'expert' doesn't know of the existence of something basic to their field of alleged expertise then maybe they aren't the 'expert' you pay them to be!

[eviloatmeal@floppy.peepee.party]

@rachel

[gudenau@hachyderm.io]

@rachel HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW PHP IN THAT POSITION???

Man we are so cooked.

[helle@tacobelllabs.net]

@rachel He was too busy cybering. — Vi

[mjr@masto.bike]

@erik @rachel but many of us may fail to stop ourselves sighing or rolling our eyes when the presenter says something especially wrong and mad. I still resent them cutting the Click Online / Click / Digital Planet teams - many know what #php is, and I think most would know at least who to ask.

[bez_lightyear@crispsandwi.ch]

@rachel "Cyber Correspondent" = some BBC bigwig's son who has shown another BBC journalist a TikTok clip.

[chapter1@mastodon.social]

@rachel Please don't show this to Ed Zitron

[erik@mastodon.infrageeks.social]

@mjr @rachel Agreed. This is part of why I stopped watching TV, especially “news” as it was just enraging me on every topic that I have any experience with.