Are there any more "professional" writers?

[Otto the Orange]

It seems every day on the internet and in print I see more and more typos, spelling errors, bad grammar, etc. on supposedly "professional" websites / sources.

Do people not care about this anymore in the texting age with shorthand and texting keyboard typos, etc.?

Or are people just more unprofessional now?

Do editors and whatever not actually review / proof read anymore?

I'll start listing ones I see here, any others feel free to join

If I am being petty let me know

[Otto the Orange]

For example: From Condoleeza Rice's GOP Convention speech

"Wen the world looks at us today they see an American government that cannot live within its means," she said.

From fox news website www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/08/29/rice-warns-republicans-that-us-standing-in-world-endangered/

And please, no comments on how foxnews is not "real" news anyway (this is a not a left vs. right issue)...cnn, msnbc and all the others have this problem too

[Reckless Roselia]

I am amazed how such educated people can make silly spelling mistakes.

I was reading a novel by one well known crime author and I did find some spelling mistakes that another reader highlighted with a pen. Now I don't know who or what to blame, i.e. is it the editor or publisher or the author to accuse for such carelessness.

[Deleted]

DH and I frequently find them in the paper. He majored in English and still does some freelance work writing press releases; I'm an actuary but I'm a spelling geek with a solid grounding in grammar. DH says "Editors" don't edit anymore. And don't get me started on FaceBook, where I see fractured spelling by people who have clearly only heard a word or expression and never read it. Yesterday I saw a posting on a cruise board by a guy who said that on fancy-dress nights he would sometimes wear a dress shirt and "kackies".

The London Times is still pretty good. The papers where I've found the least grammatical and spelling errors have been the English-language papers in India. Sad but true.

[Otto the Orange]

Here's one from MSN TV buzz blog...not sure this would count as "real", but it is currently lionked to the msn homepage, so you would think someone would edit it

It's from an interview with Ricki Lake

"I haven't talk to her about it yet, because I want to have it be a spontaneous and authentic as possible."

I think it's supposed to be "as spontaneous...."

social.entertainment.msn.com/tv/blogs/tv-buzz-blog.aspx?blog=2080&feat=09a3b7e9-cf28-411a-95aa-717487b7bae1

[hoops902]

They're online because news is essentially "instant" now and in a rush to be the first one with the story, there's far less editing/proofing going on. It's basically spellcheck and whatever that catches.

We've gone from a media where you might attend a press conference and have a deadline of later that day to hand in the story for the newspaper to a media where you attend the press conference and sit on your laptop typing the story on-location because it needs to be online 10 minutes after the conference ends. Something's gonna give, and with spellcheck, it's going to be grammer and non-spell-checkable errors.

[Formerly SK]

Aug 30, 2012 8:44:27 GMT -5 hoops902 said:

They're online because news is essentially "instant" now and in a rush to be the first one with the story, there's far less editing/proofing going on. It's basically spellcheck and whatever that catches.

We've gone from a media where you might attend a press conference and have a deadline of later that day to hand in the story for the newspaper to a media where you attend the press conference and sit on your laptop typing the story on-location because it needs to be online 10 minutes after the conference ends. Something's gonna give, and with spellcheck, it's going to be grammer and non-spell-checkable errors.

The media world is instant, and frankly there is almost no money in it. Sure, 30 years ago newspapers would spend hours perfecting a story before publication. Now the story has to be out in 3 minutes and some intern is doing it because there's no budget for editors or reporters anymore. As consumers, we get what we pay for.

[Deleted]

Aug 30, 2012 9:51:32 GMT -5 Formerly SK said:

The media world is instant, and frankly there is almost no money in it. Sure, 30 years ago newspapers would spend hours perfecting a story before publication. Now the story has to be out in 3 minutes and some intern is doing it because there's no budget for editors or reporters anymore. As consumers, we get what we pay for.

How many people subscribe to the daily paper now? DH and I do but we're in the "old" demographic- young people don't. I really like our local paper- they have a lot of canned stuff from the AP but also a good local Sunday magazine supplement, and they still do old-fashioned journalism that exposes incompetence, financial mismanagement and corruption. That's why I keep my subscription- I want to support that work.

[Phoenix84]

I don't notice the spelling errors, but I've been disparaging about the degrading quality of journalism for some time. Now days, things like "snooki from Jersey shore had a boy" and "10 ways to please your man" are now "news."

And the news that is really news, the quality has been dropping for some time. It's like most news stories are written for a fourth grader. They are also very un thorough. And don't even get me started on the blatant biases that permeate all news outlets these days (and it's not just fox news, most others have a clear liberal bias).

Real journalism died long ago. I think BBC is actually the best news network out there.

[hoops902]

Aug 30, 2012 11:01:51 GMT -5 Phoenix84 said:

I don't notice the spelling errors, but I've been disparaging about the degrading quality of journalism for some time. Nowdays, things like "snooki from Jersey shore had a boy" and "10 ways to please your man" are now "news."

And the news that is really news, the quality has been dropping for some time. It's like most news stories are written for a fourth grader. They are also very unthurough. And don't even get me started on the blatant biases that permeate all news outlets these days.

Real journalism died long ago. I think BBC is actually the best news network out there.

I think a lot of this is due to the fact that the same way putting media out there has become instant, the absorption of that media is instant. Most people don't sit down at their breakfast table and read the newspaper. They get a story on their phone, or they check a website for 5 minutes to see what's going on that day. You can't write a news article for an adult (as opposed to a 4th grader) if you want people to successfully be able to zip through it in 3 minutes.

THere's a reason media looks like this now, for all the complaints, this is what the people want.

[Deleted]

It has become a world of instant gratification

Tweeting a news story is the norm, not the exception

No one wants to read a day old stale story anymore....sad but true

[Deleted]

We find errors in our daily newspaper all the time, sometimes in the headlines! Part of the problem with editing is that if you read a lot your mind tends to fill in what's supposed to be there - you speed read by not reading every word. That makes it hard to catch every mistake.

[needanewjob]

My children came home from school with a typed note for the parents. I normally "auto-correct" anything that I read, but this was so bad that I had to really concentrate to understand what they wanted to say. I corrected the letter and sent it back with my kids. I was surprised that I didn't hear anything back.

Because of the topic, extra care was taken in the construction of this post. ;D

[thyme4change]

It seems every day on the internet and in print I see more and more typos, spelling errors, bad grammar, etc. on supposedly "professional" websites / sources.

Is this a new thought, or should this be one paragraph? Do people not care about this anymore in the texting age with shorthand and texting keyboard typos, etc.?

Do not start senstences with a conjunction Or are people just more unprofessional now?

Do editors and whatever not actually review / Use "or" instead of a slash proof read anymore?

I'll start listing ones I see here, either make this two sentences, or use a semicolen any others feel free to join missing punctuation at the end of your sentence.

If I am being petty let me know missing punctuation at the end of your sentence.

And Do not start sentences with conjunction please, no comments on how foxnews is not "real" news anyway End of thought, end of sentence - needs a period. New thought can be a sentence, not in a paraentasis.(this is a not a left vs. right issue)...Here are all the periods missing from your other sentences. Why are they here?cnn, Acronyms should be in all caps. msnbc and all the others have this problem too missing punctuation at the end of your sentence.

It all starts with you.

[steph08]

I am a writer by profession! Go English majors! Woo!

[needanewjob]

^ Thyme, I had to give you K for that.

[Deleted]

I got a letter from my DS's English teacher at the high school. It had multiple grammar errors in it. Then again, I don't think they really teach grammar much anymore, much less spelling. My local newspaper is horrible with the proofing, or lack there of...

[thyme4change]

I cancelled the paper when Payne Stewart's plane crashed in South Dakota and the paper showed a map of the mid-west, highlighted Iowa and put an arrow pointing to it that said "South Dakota." Front page.

[Deleted]

senstences

LOL Thyme! No offense meant but typos just SCREAM at me!

EVERYBODY needs an editor! Even the best writer needs a proofreader, if not editor. But papers can't afford them anymore, alas.

ETA: Former print journalist here, currently reincarnated as an English lecturer at a business school (university level).

ETA2: Some of the errors (IMO) are due to the fact that before, only "writers" could type quickly. Now many or most people under a certain age type quicker than they write. So even if they don't need an editor, they probably need a proofreader.

[Deleted]

proof read

You too, Mr Bill. Proofread is one word.

I'm not arguing with you, I promise! I just want to show that even when we care, a lot, sometimes, we still get it wrong.

The bottom line is the written word has been totally devalued. Which makes both me (and my DH) VERY sad.

[Deleted]

The classics are too, two and to.

its / it's

Lose / loose.

There's another one like lose / loose but I can't think of it right now.

And what about the homonyms?! Which / witch, etc. From my own daughter, witch restaurant did you go to?! ARGH!!!!

I live in France (I'm American.) So every time something is American, it needs an apostrophe to prove it. I've HAD IT with bloody cookie's, dessert's and hamburger's. ARGH!!!

It's like using correct English has become a lost art. And it's the same here in French, nobody can afford proofreaders or editors, so there are a TON of errors. But, that bothers me a lot less LOL.

[thyme4change]

I'm a terrible writer and proofreader. I try to let stuff go - especially on this board, since it wouldn't be hard for anyone to go find a million of my grammar, punctuation and spelling issues. But when someone comes on complaining about the quality of someone elses writing and proofreading, and their writing is so very, very bad - the irony kills me.

[Deleted]

You are NOT a terrible writer, Thyme.

[thyme4change]

Thanks. The two things I do that even piss myself off is the apostrophe thing. I put apostrophes in everything. I'm trying to break that.

The other thing I do, which I bet you could find if you looked at just about every one of my posts, is the dash - I mean, I didn't learn that in school. Don't we have other things that I should be using - commas, or something?

[Deleted]

Yes. Especially since you're using a hyphen for a dash.

[thyme4change]

crap - there is a difference?

[Deleted]

Apostrophes = either possessives, or contraction of subject + verb

Thyme's dog
Mary's cat

Thyme is late = Thyme's late.
She is tired = She's tired.

We can use either in writing, but speech tends to use contractions.

[Peace Of Mind]

I've noticed typos and improper sentence structure and I'm not good at either of those things. So if I notice how bad it is...

But as another poster stated - I am more frustrated with the actual reporting and lack of information in articles. They seem more intent on hooking you than actually giving you the complete story.

ETA: And I love my dashes and you won't keep me from using them so don't even complain to me about them.

[Deleted]

Yes.

Well-bred.

That "dash" is really a hyphen. It's very short.

A "dash" is a "long" hyphen. It's used in writing to either change thoughts, or highlight (qualify) a thought.

[Deleted]

Try to look at a comma as "taking a breath".