Fox News anchor David Asman just made a little slip, referring to the emergency telephone number "nine one one" as "nine eleven," without correcting himself. I'm not going to spin it because this blog is most certainly a no-spin zone, but I'll let you decide whether the mistake is at all telling of Fox News psychology.
Update: He just did it again. And here's some 4/11 on the accepted pronunciation and orthography of 9-1-1 and why it's used by responsible news organizations:
When the 9-1-1 system was originally introduced, it was advertised as the "nine-eleven" service. This was changed when some panicked individuals tried to find the "eleven" key on their telephones (this may seem bizarre and amusing, but it is important to remember that in emergencies people can easily become extremely confused and irrational). Therefore, all references to the telephone number 9-1-1 are now always made as nine-one-one — never as "nine-eleven" (See September 11, 2001 attacks). Some newspapers and other media require that references to the phone number be formatted as 9-1-1; 911 is still used occasionally but less so since the coining of 9/11 to refer to the September 11 attacks. (Wikipedia)
Fox News: inciting confusion and fear whenever possible.
Update 2: I just emailed David Asman about this matter. You should, too, if you've got nothing better to do. You might save a life. I'm pasting my email message to Mr. Asman as a comment to this post.
Date: 30 Mar 2005 13:08:17 EST
ReplyDeleteFrom: Christopher J. Bateman
Subject: It's "9-1-1", not "9/11"
To: david.asman@foxnews.com
Twice on the midday program today you referred to the emergency telephone number as "nine eleven" without correcting yourself. The accepted pronunciation is "nine one one," and with good reason:
When the 9-1-1 system was originally introduced, it was advertised as the "nine-eleven" service. This was changed when some panicked individuals tried to find the "eleven" key on their telephones (this may seem bizarre and amusing, but it is important to remember that in emergencies people can easily become extremely confused and irrational). Therefore, all references to the telephone number 9-1-1 are now always made as nine-one-one -- never as "nine-eleven" (See September 11, 2001 attacks). Some newspapers and other media require that references to the phone number be formatted as 9-1-1; 911 is still used occasionally but less so since the coining of 9/11 to refer to the September 11 attacks. (Wikipedia)
Did you just make a mistake twice here without correction, or is it a policy of Fox News to pronounce 9-1-1 as "nine eleven"? I should hope Fox News has no such policy, as that could incite significant confusion and fear.
Sincerely,
Chris Bateman
Date: 30 Mar 2005 13:14:17 EST
ReplyDeleteFrom: Christopher J. Bateman
Subject: It's "9-1-1", not "9/11"
To: david.asman@foxnews.com
P.S. I've publicized this issue on my blog, which gets a few hundred readers a day:
http://thelittlegreenblog.blogspot.com/2005/03/9-1-1-now-911.html
It should be noted that many people refer to the date of the terrorist attacks as "nine-one-one" and not "nine-eleven." Confusion is understandable.
ReplyDelete