We took a lot of heat – and rightly so – for the recent “I have a deam” headline on the Editorial page.
Some readers and letter writers noted that the headline was just one of many bloopers that appear in the newspaper. They’re right about that, too.
So are these errors occurring because the people we hire to write and edit copy are poorly trained compared to people who sat in their chairs twenty years ago? Are we too short-staffed? In the too-frequent cases of subject-verb disagreement, do Telegraph staffers simply not care about the English language? Don’t we realize that misspelling a name makes readers wonder what else we might have wrong? In the end, don’t these mistakes, which at a minimum make us look sloppy, also affect our credibility?
One letter writer responding to the “I have a deam” headline allowed as how we all make mistakes and suggested we get on with matters of more substance.
I appreciate that reader.
But . . . some of us in today’s newsroom may not be as disciplined about language usage as our predecessors. Multitasking has meant a little less focus on one craft as we ply another; blogging and the instant posting of breaking news online doesn’t breed accuracy (Note my own use of pour instead of poor in a recent blog entry). Almost every editor in the country will say his or her newsroom could use more staff.
Still, journalists at the Telegraph do care about the English language and good grammar, and they care about accuracy. We are scared to death that we are hurting our credibility one garbled headline at a time, one wrong address or phone number at a time. No one gets a pass. All of us at the paper who touch copy – and there are many of us - need to be more careful.
Let me say it before the most cynical of you do (is there any one more cynical than a journalist?): You don’t care why it happens, you just want it to stop.
We agree. We’re going to work harder to prevent errors. And we’re going to do a better job of tracking errors – as a way of holding each other accountable and, most importantly, learning from our mistakes.
When we fall short, as we will, we expect you’ll let us know. That, too, should help set us on a better path.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Too many errors? Trying harder to get it right
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16 comments:
I think I've found the root of your problem: If the editor of the Telegraph can't even get the headline of her blog post about errors grammaticly correct, you know this newspaper is in a seriously sad state of disrepair
Just testing, you sharp reader, you.
Again, the newsroom staff, including the editor, will work harder to be "grammatically" correct.
I wrote professionally for about three years, so I know the sinking feeling a writer gets when he or she makes a grammatical error in print; sometimes, mistakes happen and there is no getting around them.
However, I think it is the job of the editors - both copy editors and page editors - to catch these mistakes. I know that copy goes through multiple hands before reaching the newsstand, so I believe that the errors are made because someone passes the responsibility to the next person in charge. If everyone - from the writer to the managing editor - would take pride not only in their own work, but in the work of their colleagues, I think that the errors would decrease.
I haven't read the Macon Telegraph in a long time because blogging and news from "real people" is far better. Newspapers and news stations, such as 13WMAZ, are dependant on pleasing their advertisers.
They pick and choose what stories are posted based on who they're going to tick off if they post a negative headline about the good old boy network.
I could care less about your errors in typing. What I would like to see is better stories that get to the heart of situations the media wants to avoid.
Ask Gene Rector and Travis Fain what I'm talking about.
Forget the errors (though that's a good thing to get right) and start publishing stories that aren't controlled by the "powers that be"
As a high school English teacher, I have found that the number of people who care about grammar has declined over the years. I think that there is a controversy over the best way to teach grammar, and I believe that a lot of teachers are afraid of grammar. I believe that not enough time is spent on grammar in school, and if anyone would care to look at the GPS standards for English, I think he'd find that there's not a lot of emphasis on grammar compared to the rest of the standards (or that the standards on grammar are too broad for anyone to teach). I'm glad that you have readers who care enough to point out your mistakes. However, I tend to agree with your readers who wonder about possible other mistakes you're making. I also agree with the previous poster who said that she'd rather read stories of stubstance. I think I'm going to print out your blog to show my students on Monday. I have to wonder, though, if any of them will care.
On another blog of yours about photos that offend readers, you have a grammar argument being fought. The last comment is mine. It says to one of your grammatically correct readers, "Proof reader, you chastised Anonymous for saying 'However, you may want someone to edit your prose' because you claimed it was a fragment. However, it is a complete sentence with an excellent use of a transition word. Perhaps YOU need to check out this website for help: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/574/02/" I'm pointing their grammar argument out to show that not all readers know their grammar rules.
Actually this is from Proof reader:
Hello Anonymous of February 17th,
Sorry, I didn't see your previous post regarding the use of the transitional word or conjunction "however," but I do stand behind my original instruction. The page you cite doesn't explain this conjunction's correct usage nor its punctuation; however,(note my usage)if you had looked a little further you would have found http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/
607/04/ punctuation
The correct complete formation of the sentence could have been accomplished in one of four ways.
1.) "Go ahead on the photos, and don't worry about sensitivity; however, you may want someone to edit your prose."
Let's look at what the writer is trying to say. His intended meaning for the word "however" is "but," which is a conjunction. A writer's goal is clarity. Unfortunately, beginning a sentence with a conjunction creates a question in the reader's mind because it links the clause that comes after it to nothing. Try this: Mentally erase the punctuated groups of words above and below the incomplete clause, and you will find that "However, you may want someone to edit your prose." is a fragment because there is no transition of thought.(Make sure you pause at the comma.) I do understand the writer's confusion, however,(note my usage)for it is frequently used this way; albeit, incorrectly.
Another appropriate choice could have been one of the following:
2.) "You may, however, want someone to edit your prose."
3.) "You may want someone to edit your prose, however."
4.) "You may want someone to edit your prose."
Each of these four suggestions are complete sentences holding a complete thought.
The only correct usage of "However" at the beginning of a sentence is when the writer is using the word as an adverb; example, "However did you manage that?" or "However you accomplish this task is up to you."
See, I do know my grammar rules, because I, too, was an English teacher. Now this poses the question: Do all high school English teachers know their grammar rules? I would have hoped!
To Proof reader (sic):
I find it amusing that you assume that the two comments above yours came from the same person, an English teacher.
I maintain that I was correct in saying that the sentence is not a fragment. Please see Diana Hacker's explanation at http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/rules5e/subpages_language/however.html for more information. I am not going to fill up space here simply to justfy my answer.
I agree with you, however, that the original sentence would have sounded better if if had been written as you suggested: "Go ahead on the photos, and don't worry about sensitivity; however, you may want someone to edit your prose."
However,I stand by my comment. Please note that my intended meaning is nevertheless, the same meaning the original poster had.
Do you have any further questions?
By the way, there are a couple of typos in my post above. Have fun finding them; I'm sure you will.
Glad to have made you smile! :-)
Proof reader
You guys posting anonymously are more entertaining than the Macon Telegraph.
And I thought lawyers were the only "species" that nitpicked how people write. *gri*
Can I start a sentence with "and"? Oh well, just did.
Hukked on fonix werked four mea.
Well, there you have it. I have typos too. Cool. I meant to type *grin* and I'm sure I have more typos but guess what? I don't care. lol.
I'm glad I made you smile. We all need cheer once in a while.
this blog was promo-ed from the home page...but no update in a month. again.
i enjoy reading the "viewpoints" section of the paper online. as a matter of fact, it's part of my morning ritual before I start my workday.
I would like to know why, many times, the viewpoints page is not updated from the day before. It's very annoying.
How bout trying harder to update this blog?
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