Proofreading can be a deadly job.

I once applied as a proofreader in a national broadsheet when I was still in college. I didn’t get the job because of conflicts with my school schedule. But never did I imagine that the job is dangerous, actually, it can be deadly lol.

Just look at the photo below. I saw this photo yesterday on Facebook and some blogs that I visited but I thought it was a hoax so I didn’t give it much attention. But on closer look, it was a scanned photo from the actual broadsheet.

If you didn’t get to see this photo and you don’t know what I’m talking about, then this is your chance. Just look at the caption of the photo below taken from a national broadsheet.

“With utmost care. Military honor guard carefully moves the coffin of President Arroyo out of the Manila Cathedral.”



According to the caption, it was not President Cory Aquino’s coffin that was being moved by the honor guard out of the Manila Cathedral but President Arroyo’s!

Some find it very funny; some find it irresponsible and disrespectful. I believe that this is just a mere human error, an honest mistake by whoever wrote the caption that was also overlooked by the proofreader and the section editor. But they just “killed” President Arroyo in the process.

They said that the controversial photo was published in the early edition but the section containing the photo was promptly removed from the newspaper sets after they discover the error. Is there anybody out there who still has a copy of this newspaper so we can verify if this is a hoax or not? This newspaper’s special edition may easily end up as a collector’s item, lol.

I pity the proofreader or the section editor. This mistake may just cost them their jobs.

So what do you think of this photo?

Photo credit.