The long and short of it

Word Count is your friend.

So is diff.

In this case, the diff is easy to do. This was how the VOCM news story read on their website on Wednesday:

Gros Morne Off the Table

He said all along it wasn't the preferred route of getting Lower Churchill power across the island, but today Premier Danny Williams has made it known there will be no transmission lines through Gros Morne National Park. The Premier addressed the Energy Council of Canada today. He says he was only kidding about erecting lines through the world heritage site but would need federal help to go around. Williams says he's had to make some tough decisions as Premier, and in the interests of cost he was prepared to put transmission lines through the park. He's heard the criticism of going through the UNESCO world heritage site and creating an eyesore in one the our greatest tourism attractions. The Premier is now examining other possible routes to go around the park, but a longer transmission route means a higher price tag to be paid. He says they are looking for federal help. Williams says indications from across Canada are this is a good project for the country, and whatever way the feds wish to help the development will benefit everyone involved.

And this is how the same URL reads on Thursday:

Gros Morne Off the Table

It means a longer, more expensive route, but Premier Danny Williams has nixed the idea of building transmission lines through Gros Morne National Park. A number of residents and tourism groups voiced concerns earlier this year when Williams acknowledged a route through the park would be the easiest and cheapest way to get Lower Churchill power to the island. The Premier says he's heard the concerns about what that could mean for the park's designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and its impact on the unique sky-line. However, in avoiding the national park, Williams says now, more than ever, the federal government needs to step up to the plate. Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador is pleased with the Premier's decision. President Bruce Sparkes says he's pleased that advocacy groups like his own, and resident's pleas alike were heard.

It would appear that He was just kidding about kidding – even if the ink-stained wretches are now running the line, and in quotation marks, too.

There is one curious similarity between the write and the re-write, though.

In the write, VOCM says, “a longer transmission route means a higher price tag to be paid”. In the re-write, VOCM says, “[i]t means a longer, more expensive route”

Well, that depends on what your definition of “longer” is. However, in classical Euclidean geometry, the alternative route is only “longer” than the Gros Morne route on Opposite Day, and in Danny Williams’ fertile imagination.

If VOCM isn’t going to whip out a ruler and check facts and do other hard newsy-reporty stuff, then perhaps Dawn Dalley at Nalco(r) (737-1315, ddalley +at+ nalcorenergy.com) or Tracy Barron in Nalco(r)’s political wing (729-5282, tracybarron +at+ gov.nl.ca), can save them the trouble.

How about it?

Dawn, Tracy: how long, in kilometers, miles, or smoots, are the Gros Morne routing, and the various alternative routings for the imaginary transmission line outlined in outlined in Nalco(r)’s environmental filings?

(In your answer, you will ideally use the same unit, whether kilometers, miles, or smoots, for each of the possibilities.)