Here’s an interesting image I saw on my friend Nancy’s Facebook wall. I feel the imperative need to state here that I’m fairly certain that Nancy does not watch FoxNews EVER. Unless she’s in the mood for dark humor, then maybe.
"Graphic Folks at FoxNews Don't Know Much About Geography"
I cannot believe this was on the number one cable news network in the U.S.
Cannot. Believe. It.
Now. Can you fix this map?
WITHOUT using any outside sources?
Please say you can.
Please?
Know that not being able to fix this map is no reflection of your worth as a human being or how wonderful you are or blah-blah-blah, but REALLY-ARE-YOU-KIDDING-ME?!
I understand that mistakes happen and people accidentally mix up countries with which we are at war with those that we simply need in order to keep Brendan Fraser from starring in other movies besides The Mummy series, but a news network?!
I’m not sure if there’s more definitive proof that you shouldn’t believe everything you see on the news.
I’m also not sure why so many smart people in this country allow such stupid people to package the information they’re given.
And as long as we’re on the subject, I’m also not sure which was worse, The Mummy III or Inkheart .
Face palm over the unabashed display of total ignorance was courtesy of Doug Mataconis at “Outside the Beltway.”
P.S. Have you noticed the little Facebook “Like” button at the end of these posts? Okay. Just wondering.
“We are against the war in Iraq so we’ve omitted it from the map and replaced it with a nice song. And I raaaaaan, I raaaaan so far awaaaay!”
@Poppy, Lol. I love that bit.
Oh, Faiqa. There’s always been a reason I’ve called them Faux News. And it wasn’t just because of those shrieking harpies Glenn Dreck and Bill O’NoYouDidn’t. Sigh.
I often have to watch Faux News while at the gym, under duress (have pity on me, I live in bloody red Kansas) The other day, I about fell off the elliptical laughing at them.
@cagey, I’ve tried to watch it a couple of times, but I end up getting really upset.
And Egypt is on the other side in Africa. Oops, I knew that. I did! I did.
That map is just jacked all to poobuckets.
@Poppy, I know, it’s on the wrong CONTINENT. I mean, come on… the wrong continent?!
That would be hysterical, if it wasn’t so freaking terrifying!
@Sybil Law, Agreed.
That’s Texas, right?
@Angie [A Whole Lot of Nothing], Yep.
:::facepalm:::
I can’t with them. I just can’t.
@Robin, I know. Exactly.
Surely you can find something more recent than a mistake from a year and a half ago to give today’s haters? They deserve better! Bush is gone, Palin is but a memory and they need fresh meat! There are so many successful people and corporations to envy, er, I mean hate – especially the rich (but don’t hate Jobs, Oprah, Obama, sports figures, Soros or the rich Democratic Congresspeople)
@whall, I hate all of those people… except Obama. Also, I don’t think the age of this graphic diminishes the poignant symbolism that these nations are clumped together as “those people over there.” It may be a small error to you, but if you were Egyptian or Iraqi, I’m sure you wouldn’t see it that way. Egypt is in Africa, whall, AFRICA.
Lebanon! The map is missing Lebanon! What do I win?
@shiny, Development rights on the West Bank. Congratulations.
The other day I read a blog post talking about the wave of protests sweeping across the Arabian Peninsula. I guess he was referring to Tunisia and Egypt, which are, of course, in Africa. Maybe he meant to write “the Arab World”, but maybe he was just watching FOX News for his info.
Then again, Iraq isn’t part of that particular land mass even though it borders it. So maybe it was another botched graphic he was looking at.
Hmmm.
@B.E. Earl, Oops…part of Iraq IS on the Arabian Peninsula. But really…who the hell can tell where a peninsula begins and ends anyway? Sheesh.
@B.E. Earl, I agree… peninsulas are hard to determine. Also, any way you slice it, I’m pretty sure Tunisia and Egypt aren’t part of the Arabian peninsula.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Angie, Faiqa. Faiqa said: Native Born: Can You Fix This? http://bit.ly/fo54Yh [...]
This reminds me of Michael Bay’s f-ed up geography from the second Transformers movie. You know, step out of the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in DC into the airplane graveyard in AZ. Or! Or! Oh! Oh! How about in the same movie, when Pete from “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” is on top of the Great Pyramid and he’s all “I can see ‘The Gulf’ from here!” and I’m all WTF?!? So, obviously, Fox and Bay are in cahoots and the whole world is screwed.
@Coal Miner’s Granddaughter, I have, thankfully, never seen those movies. But, clearly, you’re right.
Okay, I did have to look at a map, but I was right about Egypt and Iraq.
Not too good.
J.
@HoosierGirl, I appreciate that you bothered to look at a map, though.
Even if the average American can’t place the countries correctly (I’d hazard a guess that the average American can’t place all 50 states correctly either), any organization that is going to hold itself out to be informative is held to a higher standard.
@Avitable, I’m with you on the average American thing… but, um, dude, Egypt is in a whole other continent. I mean, that would be like saying California is in Canada. Or, no, like saying is next to Chile. Like that.
@Faiqa, Or saying that Pakistan is a part of the Arab world, ignoring the fact that the entire country is separated from the Arab world by the Persian Belt…..
Not that I ever heard that. Nope.
@cagey, Exactly… people who do that should try to say that TO a Pakistani and see what happens… (or, come to think of it, even the other way around would elicit a pretty hostile reaction).
@Faiqa, Regarding this topic?? I can report that I have been hostile, or at a minimum, mildly derisive, on the behalf of many a Pakistani.
@Faiqa, see, I knew that back when I studied geography, but I have no idea which countries are in Northern Africa and which are technically considered Asia. Just like I don’t know every single country that is in Eastern Europe vs. Western Europe. Or Central America vs. South America. I could take an educated guess, but I don’t know for certain.
It turns out I can! I’m as surprised as my high school social studies teacher would be had he asked this question.
@Lisa, I am TERRIBLE at geography. But, I know which countries belong on what continent.
I think this is from a couple of years ago? I remember seeing it a while back.
Not that I have any love for FOX “News”, but they are not the only “news” organization where you see stuff like this. Breaking stories comes at them so fast that embarrassing mistakes like this happen more often than you’d expect. And often times the person hired to do graphics was hired because of their ability to make things visually compelling rather than for their knowledge of geography. Still, you’d think “news” organizations would have people double-checking graphics like this before airing them. Even so, mistakes are still going to get through. Even though they may not act like it much of the time, the partisan hacks at FOX are human too!
@Dave2, Except. We’ve been in a relative state of war with Iraq for almost 20 years. AND that Egypt is in Africa. I appreciate your compassionate perspective, but I see absolutely no excuse for ANYONE to make a mistake like this. News organization or otherwise. (It’s from 2009, btw).
Oh my gosh, this is absolutely ridiculous!
@Becky, Sigh. I know.
This is why we can’t have nice things.
@SciFi Dad, EXACTLY.
This is what the world really looks like.
@RW, Oh, Australia… you’re so cute when you’re angry.
I can’t fix the map.
But, I mean, I also couldn’t fix it if it were a map of the midwest, so….
@Superjules, Top Secret: I’m shady on the midwest, too.
Hahahahaha….they just pissed over a few thousand years of history in the making. who do they think they are…the British?
I will say this– it’s probably a BIG deal for a majority of FOX viewers (and that includes the producer of that particular FOX show) to even visit different states within the U.S., let alone be interested in a place like Egypt. So, are we really surprised by this???
@tariq, I have to say that I was surprised.
Ok, i have been pouring over my geography textbooks for the past hour and i think i got it….
The “Iran” on the map was incorrect.
That SHOULD be “Kentucky”, right?
what do i win?
@Slyde, CONGRATULATIONS! Let’s see… bourbon? That seems fitting.
Plus, im pretty sure Syria is near Brooklyn…
@Slyde, Heh. I’m jealous… they have good food.
Never. Ever. Ugh.
Wow. When I landed in Baghdad and met Tom Brokaw, I had NO FUCKING IDEA that I was in Egypt!
i am awful at geography, AWFUL, but even i didn’t have to look long at the map to say, “i hope someone lost a job over that botched attempt at a map.”
seriously sad.
WOW! It’s all I can think of to say…wow. Seriously, wow.
[...] People rewrote geography. [...]