Herald Audit Finds Apology Passed Through Four Publications Before Reaching Tottenham Commuter In Drizzle
Philippa Crane · Media Editor · Reading time: one pint
The audit also established that the apology ran to four paragraphs, the same number as the publications that carried it, a coincidence the Herald declines to explain.
The Herald has completed an audit of the route taken by one apology on its way to one Tottenham commuter, and can confirm it passed through four publications on a damp Tuesday morning before arriving on a handset.
The statement was issued by Yang Min-hyeok on social media, following remarks made to The Korea Times after South Korea beat Japan 1-0 in the Asian Games final. It was relayed by The Standard, carried via Football.London and then republished by Spurs Web. The Herald counted each handover personally.
The headline on the final version ran to eleven words, one of which was hyphenated and therefore, in the view of our auditors, arguably two.
The word controversial, or a close relative of it, appeared three times across the headline, the opening paragraph and a caption. The apology itself ran to four paragraphs. The man who read it counted them with his thumb.
I only wanted to know how many times it said controversial. It's three. I've counted twice and got three both times.
The audit further found that the page displayed one sofa advertisement, which reloaded when the commuter scrolled, and a link to a separate article concerning an 8/10 performance by Andy Robertson. The man opened it, read the headline, and returned to the apology to check he had not lost his place.
The 8:12 was nine minutes late, giving him a total reading time of eleven minutes and forty seconds. The Herald's auditors consider this the first reliable figure produced in the entire exercise.
He has since put the phone away and looked at the board.
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