Niklas' blog

As I’ve written, svt.se (the site of the TV-channels run by the Swedish state) posted this article about the pope being dead a month ago. Only one day off from noting Now, does this mean something? Are SVT heretics, or did they just manage to screw up? Hm. I think I’ll better ask them. Here is a copy of the e-mail I just sent to their ombudsman (at svt-ombudsmannenATsvtD0Tsee):

Hej, Ombudsmannen!

För nästan en månad sedan (2005-03-03) publicerade ni på er site att påven hade dött (här följer en skärmdump av hur det såg ut: http://niklasblog.com/wp-content/2005-03-03-deadpope.gif ). Eftersom påven dog nästan på dagen en månad senare, undrar jag:

1. Är ni kättare med förmåga att se in i framtiden?
2. Gjorde ni bara bort er och råkade publicera en anka i förtid?
3. Utesluter punkt 2 egentligen punkt 1?

Jag väntar med spänning på ert svar!

Med vänliga hälsningar,

Niklas

…which translates as:

Hello, Ombudsman!

Approximately a month ago (2005-03-03) you published a claim on your site, stating the pope had died (here follows a screen-copy of what that looked like: http://niklasblog.com/wp-content/2005-03-03-deadpope.gif ). As the pope died almost on the day a month later, I wonder:

1. Are you heretics with the ability to see into the future?
2. Did you just muck something up and happened to publish your claim prematurely?
3. Does item 2 really exclude point 2?

I am eagerly awaiting your answer!

All the best,

Niklas

Anything that happens, I’ll let you know.

edit, 2005-04-05, 21:43:

Six hours and twenty minutes after sending my e-mail, I received a reply. Here it is:

Hej, Niklas och tack för ditt mejl.

Visst har SVT många skickliga medarbetare som duktiga att förutse skeenden.
I fallet med publiceringen av Påvens död var det naturligtvis ett misstag.
När det gäller stora personligheter finns det hos SVT, liksom hos andra stora nyhetsförmedlare, förproducerat material att använda om personen hastigt avlider.

mvh
Peter Larsson
bitr. SVT-ombudsman

…which translates as:

Hello, Niklas and thank you for your mail.

For sure SVT has a lot of skilled co-workers who good [sic] at predicting events.
In the case of publicising the Pope’s death it was, of course, a mistake.
When it comes to big personalities there exists at SVT, as well as with many other big news-intermediaries, pre-produced material which can be used if the person hastily passes away.

Yours sincerely,

Peter Larsson
Assistant SVT-ombudsman

I think that’s quite professional of them! Thanks, SVT.