Claim: MSNBC's web site displayed unfortunate ad placement after the
Status: Undetermined.
Origins: When I worked in the advertising department of a newspaper many years ago, trying to keep advertisements (especially full-page ads placed by national agencies) away from antithetical editorial material was the bane of our department. No matter how carefully we laid out the day's paper, no matter how many warnings to the newsroom and composing staff we put on the dummy sheets, it seemed like at least once a week we had a cigarette ad run directly opposite a prominent article about the latest cancer discoveries and warnings. Since we were a fairly small paper, having to run make-goods for full-page ads was a habit we could ill afford.
So, this brings us to the following screen shot, which reportedly appeared on the News section of MSNBC's web site sometime on
Since this screen shot was sent to us by someone else, we can't absolutely guarantee its authenticity, but it does match the format of MSNBC's
Another reader forwarded us a screen shot (also of unknown provenance) which, if real, demonstrates that CNN has a bit of a problem with geography:
(The country labelled "Switzerland" is actually the Czech Republic. Switzerland itself doesn't even appear on this map, although its northern tip is visible just below the French-German border.)
Last updated: 7 April 2008