I hate reading stuff like this.

[Andrew]

From CNN:

"The nuclear program of North Korea -- South Korea's neighbor to the north"


Really? North Korea is north of South Korea?

It also bugs me to find blatantly obvious errors in newspapers - they have editors....I thought.

[RockyMtnHigh]

:lol::lol::lol:

Where's Rob, our resident editor?

[Andrew]

Here's another gem from MSNBC:

"Noggle said Tuesday that officer Dustin Bradshaw went to the girl's home after her mother called police woman called police."

[Rob]

It also bugs me to find blatantly obvious errors in newspapers - they have editors....I thought.

Not as many these days, thanks in part to the Internet. Virtually every newspaper in the country has cut staff this year, some more than once. And the layoffs began last year. Some have cut the number of issues

We're still putting out a paper seven days a week, 365 days a year, and trying to cover about the same geographical area, with far fewer editors, reporters and copy editors than we had last year or two years ago.

On top of that, many hourly newpaper folks have had their hours reduced and salaried employees have taken pay cuts. That's what's happening at my paper, and that's after two quarters of furloughs and pay cuts. I no longer have an assistant city editor, which means no one to give local stories a second content edit. And fewer eyes check local and wire service stories downstream from me, as we have fewer copy and design editors.

All this takes a toll. We've had to run more corrections in the past six months, as we lose people and those who remain are left to pick up the slack, than we ran all last year.

Hey, typos and errors bug me more than I can express. And there are any number of ways they can get into print, considering how many people and processes are in the stream, from the reporters all the way down to the press. What's amazing is that we don't have more typos and errors in the paper.

That said, as a city editor, I'm more concerned with making sure our locally produced stories are fair and balanced and don't contain errors of fact or libelous statements. And I try to ensure they're well organized and easy to read. But I don't catch every typo or grammatical error or redundancy or misplaced modifier, and I'm pretty darned good at what I do. And I do it for about 50 hours a week and that still isn't enough time.

Sometimes I think it would be nice to have a 40-hour-a-week job that's not under daily scrutiny by a reading public that's quick to criticize the little things. But then I remember that ours is the only newspaper that truly covers our town on a day-to-day basis and holds our city, county and school district governments accountable. And I realize that, for all the challenges we face, I'm still doing my best to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable, along with providing a valuable service to the thousands of people who read our paper every day.

Is that what you were looking for, Jock? :thunb:

[Andrew]

MSNBC is an online only publication, backed by quite a large corporation. Same with CNN.

So it's not like it's just the small papers.

There are some things that are understandable. But there are some which are so blatantly horrible that I just don't understand how they are not caught. It's not like I was scouring for misplaced prepositions or things like that.

I mean if it's just an AP feed that was plucked and slapped onto a page that's one thing. But there are things like that one on MSNBC where it's so obvious it's incorrect it's as if nobody bothered to read it after it was typed.

[Rob]

MSNBC is an online only publication, backed by quite a large corporation. Same with CNN.

So it's not like it's just the small papers.

There are some things that are understandable. But there are some which are so blatantly horrible that I just don't understand how they are not caught. It's not like I was scouring for misplaced prepositions or things like that.

I mean if it's just an AP feed that was plucked and slapped onto a page that's one thing. But there are things like that one on MSNBC where it's so obvious it's incorrect it's as if nobody bothered to read it after it was typed.

I'm with you on the online news outlets. A lot of what goes online these days (and sometimes that includes our online news) isn't edited. It's all about getting it first, not necessarily getting it right. For all that's good about the Internet, it's not always been a good thing for news.

And don't get me started with the Denver TV news stations. :D

[Mporter]

North Korea......south korea's western neighbor....DURP

[RockyMtnHigh]

Is that what you were looking for, Jock? :thunb:

A little wordy, but I think you nailed it! :lol:

[Medic-5150]

No wonder most employers are requiring a degree these days....Apparently you need one to be literate...High school is a thing of the past

[BlackRubi]

I are going to be an editor. :lol:

[Andrew]

No wonder most employers are requiring a degree these days....Apparently you need one to be literate...High school is a thing of the past

This is part of why things like this bother me. Our schools are doing a horrible job these days. But a lot of that is on parents too.

And yeah there is the big rush to be first - if it's not right you can just print a correction in -50 point font using invisible ink the next day. I just don't think that is the right thing to do. I have seen stories break that have been very detrimental to a person/business, and the truth and correction nobody ever sees. I guess you could always sue for libel but that takes money.

I also think that part of these issues is due to the pervasiveness of things like texting and twitter and other nonsense. When I have kids they won't be needed a cell phone in the 3rd grade! They can have one of those that dial like 3 preset numbers and 911 but that's all they need. I saw some kid who had to be in the 6th-8th grade with an iPhone. And that's when the iPhones were just coming out.

[Medic-5150]

This is part of why things like this bother me. Our schools are doing a horrible job these days. But a lot of that is on parents too.

And yeah there is the big rush to be first - if it's not right you can just print a correction in -50 point font using invisible ink the next day. I just don't think that is the right thing to do. I have seen stories break that have been very detrimental to a person/business, and the truth and correction nobody ever sees. I guess you could always sue for libel but that takes money.

I also think that part of these issues is due to the pervasiveness of things like texting and twitter and other nonsense. When I have kids they won't be needed a cell phone in the 3rd grade! They can have one of those that dial like 3 preset numbers and 911 but that's all they need. I saw some kid who had to be in the 6th-8th grade with an iPhone. And that's when the iPhones were just coming out.

I agree on the texting part. It ruins people's grammar. Everyone's become lazy. Even just typing....I hate the u, wer, sry, all the tiny little abbreviations. Just type it out....People are way too addicted to their cell phones. It's a phone and should be used to make a call, in my opinion. It's nothing more. I don't want the internet, I don't want 9 million applications, I don't want a touch screen, and it damn well better not ahve more processing power than my computer!

[Andrew]

haha, yeah my GF has her teaching credential and subbed for a while. People would turn in work that had those text abbreviations in them!! I couldn't believe that.

I'd get fired as a teacher because I'd give the students F's on anything like that - hence being insensitive to their needs as a young adult, and creating a hostile learning environment in which I actually would require learning to take place. The school doesn't like failing students because they want their money.

[Medic-5150]

haha, yeah my GF has her teaching credential and subbed for a while. People would turn in work that had those text abbreviations in them!! I couldn't believe that.

I'd get fired as a teacher because I'd give the students F's on anything like that - hence being insensitive to their needs as a young adult, and creating a hostile learning environment in which I actually would require learning to take place. The school doesn't like failing students because they want their money.

So true!!! I'm reading a book called Verbal Judo. It's written by an ex cop/English teacher. The guy's first assignment as a teacher was teaching a reading/writing class in New York. When he was hired, they never told him that the last teacher had been beaten and hospitalized. His first day in class, he handed out a book he thought all the students would like. Shortly after doing so on the the class members, a senior, stood up and ripped the book in half. The author, slightly taken aback asked the young man why he had the authority and power to rip up another man's work. The student responded with something along the lines of we don't need no books, I'm a mechanic and the best around. The teacher said is that so? And the student responded the best in town. the teacher then told the student that if this were true, then tomorrow he would be responsible for teaching the class all about carburetors. After all, he was the best in town. The next day, the student came into class with a carburetor still dripping with gas. (It was later discovered the student had taken it off another teacher's car that morning). Regardless of where it came from, the student got up in front of the class and taught them all everything he knew, and did it with passion. The teacher then told him he would be on again in a month to teach about racing carburetors. Student said he knew nothing about it, and the teacher suggested the library. The student said I don't go to the library. The teacher then said I don't care where you get your information, just get in. Sure enough when the presentation day rolled around the kid showed up with note cards. Since the teacher hadn't said anything about note cards, he asked why he had them. The student replied the librarian said they may help my presentation. By the way, did you know that they have a whole aisle on automotive in that thing?

The teacher did this with several other students as he learned their special abilities. Including a pool player who was failing math....despite his knowledge of angles, friction, and so on. Within a couple months the class was reading and writing, something none of the students had ever done before.

Long story short, we need more teachers like this. People who can adapt to their students and see their needs and how to reach them. No one is the same as anyone else, we all learn a little differently. Teachers need to learn how to motivate their class, not talk at them.

[Andrew]

I agree. My high school algebra teacher was the worst.

All she did for the whole time was take out her pre-done notebooks, and copy the information she had written in there probably 20 years ago onto the overhead, and we had to copy down what she copied into our own notebooks and turn them in to be graded on whether we copied things down. And that was supposed to be learning. It was a joke and probably why I am not so good at math (besides my horrible dyslexia with numbers).

Another teacher in drivers ed of all things had us highlight the DMV handbook saying we should highlight important parts as we went through the book. I don't learn jack that way, but I highlighted some stuff anyway. Well after the first time we had to turn in the handbook for a grade I didn't get an A on it and she commented that I hadn't highlighted enough things. I responded by highlighting the entire book from cover to cover - everything on the page, including the pictures. Oddly enough, I couldn't recite the book from cover to cover after doing that, nor tell you anything about half of what I highlighted since I hadn't read it yet.

[Medic-5150]

I've had teachers just the same. And then I've had teachers like my accounting teacher. For anyone who's taken accounting, it's incredibly boring. This guy made it fun and I learned a lot, not just about accounting but life in general

Most people don't do well with the "copy and paste" form of teaching. Seems like most people are visual learners

[Andrew]

I learn stuff by doing it. You can tell me how to do something all day, but until I do it myself you won't get anywhere fast for the most part.

[4runner freak]

Some errors are really funny though. :)

[Funrover]

Sadly many of the major papers are only written at a 6th grade level. So many mistakes are not noticed.

[Rob]

The world needs more students like this guy:

This is an actual essay written by a college applicant to NYU.

Question: Are there any significant experiences you have had, or accomplishments you have realized, that have helped to define you as a person?
I am a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. I have been known to remodel train stations on my lunch breaks, making them more efficient in the area of heat retention. I translate ethnic slurs for urban refugees, I write award-winning operas, I manage time efficiently.
Occasionally, I tread water for three days in a row.
I woo women with my sensuous and godlike trombone playing, I can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, and I cook Thirty-Minute Brownies in 20 minutes. I am an expert in stucco, a veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru.
Using only a hoe and a large glass of water, I once single-handedly defended a small village in the Amazon Basin from a horde of ferocious army ants. I play bluegrass cello, I was scouted by the Mets, I am the subject of numerous documentaries. When I’m bored, I build large suspension bridges in my yard. I enjoy urban hang gliding. On Wednesdays, after school, I repair electrical appliances free of charge.
I am an abstract artist, a concrete analyst and a ruthless bookie. Critics worldwide swoon over my original line of corduroy evening wear. I don’t perspire. I am a private citizen, yet I receive fan mail. I have been caller number nine and have won two weekend passes. Last summer, I toured New Jersey with a traveling centrifugal-force demonstration. I bat 400.
My deft floral arrangements have earned me fame in international botany circles. Children trust me.
I can hurl tennis rackets at small, moving objects with deadly accuracy. I once read "Paradise Lost," "Moby Dick" and "David Copperfield" in one day and still had time to refurbish an entire dining room that evening. I know the exact location of every food item in the supermarket. I have performed several covert operations with the CIA. I sleep once a week; when I do sleep, I sleep in a chair. While on vacation in Canada, I successfully negotiated with a group of terrorists who had seized a small bakery. The laws of physics do not apply to me.
I balance, I weave, I dodge, I frolic and my bills are all paid. On weekends, to let off steam, I participate in full-contact origami. Years ago, I discovered the meaning of life but forgot to write it down. I have made extraordinary four-course meals while using only a mouli and a toaster oven.
I breed prize-winning clams. I have won bullfights in San Juan, cliff-diving competitions in Sri Lanka and spelling bees at the Kremlin.
I have played Hamlet, I have performed open-heart surgery and I have spoken with Elvis.
But I have not yet gone to college.

[Rob]

Some errors are really funny though. :)

You're not kidding.

Here's a collection of bad headlines from 2002:


Crack Found on Governor's Daughter

Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says

Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers

Iraqi Head Seeks Arms

Is There a Ring of Debris around Uranus?

Prostitutes Appeal to Pope

Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over

Teacher Strikes Idle Kids

Miners Refuse to Work after Death

Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant

War Dims Hope for Peace

If Strike Isn't Settled Quickly, It May Last Awhile

Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures

Enfield (London) Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide

Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges

Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead

Man Struck By Lightning Faces Battery Charge

New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group

Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft

Kids Make Nutritious Snacks
　
Chef Throws His Heart into Helping Feed Needy

Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half

Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors

[Rob]

And here are some more classics:

Newspaper Headlines (collected by journalists)
==================================================
1. Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says
2. Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers
3. Safety Experts Say School Bus Passengers Should Be
Belted
4. Drunk Gets Nine Months in Violin Case
5. Survivor of Siamese Twins Joins Parents
6. Farmer Bill Dies in House
7. Iraqi Head Seeks Arms
8. Is There a Ring of Debris around Uranus?
9. Stud Tires Out
10. Prostitutes Appeal to Pope
11. Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over
12. Soviet Virgin Lands Short of Goal Again
13. British Left Waffles on Falkland Islands
14. Lung Cancer in Women Mushrooms
15. Eye Drops off Shelf
16. Teacher Strikes Idle Kids
17. Reagan Wins on Budget, But More Lies Ahead
18. Squad Helps Dog Bite Victim
19. Shot Off Woman's Leg Helps Nicklaus to 66
20. Enraged Cow Injures Farmer with Ax
21. Plane Too Close to Ground, Crash Probe Told
22. Miners Refuse to Work after Death
23. Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant
24. Stolen Painting Found by Tree
25. Two Soviet Ships Collide, One Dies
26. Two Sisters Reunited after 18 Years in Checkout Counter
27. Killer Sentenced to Die for Second Time in 10 Years
28. Never Withhold Herpes Infection from Loved One
29. Drunken Drivers Paid $1000 in `84
30. War Dims Hope for Peace
31. If Strike isn't Settled Quickly, It May Last a While
32. Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures
33. Enfields Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide
34. Red Tape Holds Up New Bridge
35. Deer Kill 17,000
36. Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead
37. Man Struck by Lightning Faces Battery Charge
38. New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group
39. Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft
40. Kids Make Nutritious Snacks
41. Chef Throws His Heart into Helping Feed Needy
42. Arson Suspect is Held in Massachusetts Fire
43. British Union Finds Dwarfs in Short Supply
44. Ban On Soliciting Dead in Trotwood
45. Lansing Residents Can Drop Off Trees
46. Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half
47. New Vaccine May Contain Rabies
48. Man Minus Ear Waives Hearing
49. Deaf College Opens Doors to Hearing
50. Air Head Fired
51. Steals Clock, Faces Time
52. Prosecutor Releases Probe into Undersheriff
53. Old School Pillars are Replaced by Alumni
54. Bank Drive-in Window Blocked by Board
55. Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors
56. Some Pieces of Rock Hudson Sold at Auction
57. Sex Education Delayed, Teachers Request Training
58. Include your Children When Baking Cookies
59. 4-H Girls Win Prizes for Fat Calves

[CR]

Good ones Rob:lol: