Thursday, April 16, 2009

Irony and lousy editing

On Page 1 of the Metro section, 14 April, there is this sentence: "Ray Diaz, 46, was pronounced dead on arrival at Earlanger hospital after police responded to 1653 Fernwood Circle on a domestic disorder call and found Mr. Diaz laying unresponsive in the front yard."
The story doesn't say what kind of direct object "unresponsive" is, whether it's like a brick or an egg.
Right above, in a story of a fatal traffic accident, is this sentence: "Neither the driver, who was not wearing a seat belt, nor the boy were identified by police."
"Neither ... were" is, of course, more semi-literate writing and/or editing.
Here's the irony: On the back page of the Life section is a story by James Yolles of Columbia News Service; its headline is, "Obsessive about possessive's? Youve got company out there (sic)"
The story refers to, among other errors, the common mistake of making plurals by adding apostrophe s ('s). (You see it a lot in genealogy circles and on mailboxes: The Smith's, the Johnson's, the Jones's. It is, I believe, further evidence the American republic is doomed.)
Apparently SOMEone at the TFP knows the rules of punctuation, and apparently even has a sense of humor.
Too bad that someone isn't given more to do, since obviously the TFP is in desperate need of someone who knows how to edit.

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous10:18 PM

    Our government schooling system at work!
    J.T. Katt

    ReplyDelete