You are Fired!!
Chinese-president Xi Jinping is on a high profile visit to Pakistan and our media is full of reports about the activities and meeting between the the Chinese President Xi Jinping and Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif.
It is not easy for various Urdu speaking anchorpersons and journalists to pronounce the name of members of Chinese delegation and sometimes it is amusing to see how many variations of the same name are aired on TV.
I remember that Chinese President had visited India a few months back. An Indian channel Doordarshan news reader mistakenly pronounced Xi Jinping as Eleven Jinping on air as XI is eleven in Roman numerals.
Though it was a gaffe, and most people felt at the end of the day just a simple error while reading news live on television . However, Doordarshan chief executive sacked the anchorperson which was quite unfortunate.
It is never easy reading names of foreign dignitaries or celebrities and it must be terrible to lose a job over such a minor mistake. For quality purpose, some homework on the part of news anchors can prevent such blunders but do you think the news reader deserved to be sacked?
(As an aside question, how many of you have difficulty pronouncing my name LOL?)
Read more about it here:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-29274792
Image Credit » http://pixabay.com/en/television-remote-control-525705/ by RonPorter
Comments
WordChazer wrote on April 20, 2015, 3:50 PM
As a wordnerd and namechazer, no, I think I had your name off correctly the first time I tried to say it. But I deal with people all the time who can't get my married name right and who struggle even more with the extended version which includes my maiden name in the mix.
MegL wrote on April 20, 2015, 4:09 PM
I thought newsreaders always practised difficult names before reading them out.
Feisty56 wrote on April 20, 2015, 4:29 PM
I'll be the first to admit I likely don't pronounce names correctly all the time. When I am in a position where I have to introduce someone, I make it a point to learn the proper pronunciation before the introduction needs to be made. It seems harsh to lose a job as a newsreader over a single error such as that, but I would guess part of the professionalism of the job is to learn tricky pronunciations before doing the broadcast.
maxeen wrote on April 20, 2015, 4:30 PM
I think it was too awful to get the sack for what I consider a 'nothing'.
bestwriter wrote on April 20, 2015, 9:23 PM
Yes. She deserved to be sacked. They have to do their homework including protocol and all. I remember one of the secretaries where I was working forgot to mention to her boss that it was a stag party. He took his wife along obviously terribly embarrassed. The secretary was instantly demoted.
rosepetal wrote on April 20, 2015, 11:59 PM
I have to admit, I'm probably guilty of pronouncing some name incorrectly. But to be fired over it, ouch!