Minnesota TV Station Doesn’t Know Where Highway-14 Is
There are a lot of highways in Minnesota, but, come on, you don't know where Highway-14 is?
That was apparently the case Monday for one Twin Cities TV station. Now, I've worked at both radio and TV stations throughout my broadcasting career and now how hectic and harried your day can sometimes be-- especially when you're covering a breaking news story. And sometimes, in the heat of trying to get the story out, mistakes make it on the air and into your story.
But that doesn't really look like it's the case for the WCCO-TV story that appeared on their website Monday afternoon. It was about the groundbreaking set for Friday on the $108-million dollar expansion of Highway-14 between Dodge Center and Owatonna.
Except, according to WCCO, the groundbreaking isn't happening Friday on Highway-14-- it's happening on "Highway 41." Now ordinarily, I'd just chalk that rather blatant mistake up to a typo, right? You're working quickly and you accidentally transpose 14 into 41. That would explain the wrong headline on the story that says, "Groundbreaking This Week For Highway 41 Upgrade."
But, they did it a SECOND time in the story too. "The 12 1/2 mile segment of U.S. Highway 41 to be expanded to four lanes is the final link in improving the well-traveled highway between Rochester and Mankato," the story said.
Yeah, that's not correct, WCCO. And, while the story was first published Monday afternoon at 1:37 p.m., it's still on their website (as of Tuesday morning anyway) with the errors still there. Oops.
There is a Minnesota State Highway-41, in Excelsior, as well as several different county roads numbered 41 in Minnesota, so perhaps that explains their mix-up. But, come on, WCCO, Highway-14 isn't just a Minnesota highway, it's a U.S. Highway too-- running clear across Wisconsin, Minnesota and South Dakota. Maybe figuring out where it is would be a good thing. ;)
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