Don't believe everything you hear....

The redoubtable Andrew has posted a cautionary tale about placing trust in what you hear on the radio. It is a valid point. I've long realised that not everything stated on the radio is correct especially (and I suppose obviously) on those commercial stations that rely on 'shock jocks' to inform their listeners.

For the most part I've assumed that Australia's public broadcaster the ABC is more reliable and cautious about the information it broadcasts. For years I've admired Margaret Throsby who has a morning program on the Classic FM network.

Margaret Throsby

Margaret's program where she talks to a guest and discusses their work/life with the guest's personal selection of musical items interposed has always struck me as brilliantly researched. But even the formidable Margaret makes mistakes. I was listening last weekend to a podcast of a recent broadcast where the guest, a Singaporean artist, selected a tune from the musical 'Chess'. At least twice Margaret referred to 'Chess' as an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical which it is not. Now this is not a major piece of misinformation in the broader scheme of things but I thought it a surprising mistake from such an experienced broadcaster.