American journalism getting worse

[+Desertrat56]

1 minute ago, South Alabam said:

Here is another one. Either everyone in the world is blind, or they have the wrong picture. I'd seriously hate to think that is the right picture.

People Can't Seem to Find the Hidden Cat in This Photo So Let's See If You Have Better Luck

https://sports.yahoo.com/people-cant-seem-hidden-cat-161500725.html

That is a prank!

[simplybill]

Auto-correct is what plagues me. I spend as much time correcting the Auto-correct as I do writing. It’s very frustrating.

Edited October 1, 2020 by simplybill
Corrected Auto-correct.

[Tatetopa]

14 minutes ago, South Alabam said:

People Can't Seem to Find the Hidden Cat in This Photo So Let's See If You Have Better Luck

https://sports.yahoo.com/people-cant-seem-hidden-cat-161500725.html

I see in the tiles directly below the black and white cat. the eyes noses and muzzles of two identical cats in the pattern of light and dark.

[Vorg]

1 hour ago, Tatetopa said:

I see in the tiles directly below the black and white cat. the eyes noses and muzzles of two identical cats in the pattern of light and dark.

I'm still guessing it is the wrong picture, even the clue says: (Here's a hint, though: Scan the door frame. )

[Tatetopa]

9 minutes ago, South Alabam said:

I'm still guessing it is the wrong picture, even the clue says: (Here's a hint, though: Scan the door frame. )

Sadly, I am unable to see a doorframe.  Wrong picture, most likely.  

That in itself is an interesting illusion or mind-trick.  At first, we doubt and blame ourselves for not seeing it.  It takes a while to come around to the view that maybe the picture is wrong.

I used to think Microsoft did that every time it crashed.  Some message to the effect:   "Its not our program, you just don't know how to use it. "

[+Desertrat56]

34 minutes ago, South Alabam said:

I'm still guessing it is the wrong picture, even the clue says: (Here's a hint, though: Scan the door frame. )

I think it is the wrong picture, because you are looking at cats you are making a flower pattern on the tile into a cat.

[Buzz_Light_Year]

The correct image is in the link to Woman's Day.

[Vorg]

Dang, I knew it was by the doorframe and still had to zoom the picture to find that sneaky thing.

[RAyMO]

54 minutes ago, Buzz_Light_Year said:

The correct image is in the link to Woman's Day.

that's one guilty looking cat!

[RAyMO]

Re the op I have to agree the standard of journalism is slipping. 

On thing I have noted is the use of tweets in article. The journalist will for example  write: 

President Trump tweeted late last night that "he was going to bed" 

Then they show us the tweet with the exact same wording. 

The article will then continue along the lines that Joe Biden replied in a tweet "don't get up too early" 

and then the bloody article continues by now showing Biden's reply with the trumps original tweet under it. 

By the time you finish reading the article you realise it simply tweets in and out of the twitter boxes 

 

[+joc]

19 hours ago, Liquid Gardens said:

Lack of proofreading and typos are very rarely ever a 'critical error'.

Yes, proofreading and typos are  'critical error'.  If your profession is writing...yeah...writing mistakes are 'critical errors'.  At least that use to be the bar.  I didn't put the bar there.  

I don't know why you are trying to compare apples to oranges here.  My making a living has nothing to do with writing...except for writing invoices.  

If you are getting paid to write...then by god...proofreading is part of your job.  Saying you don't have the time to proofread is an excuse for either poor writing skills or poor proofreading skills.  It's part of the job.  Can you imagine a surgeon saying, "well I got most of the tumor, I just didn't have enough time to get all of it." ?

Are you a journalist?  Why are you defending poor writing skills in a profession that should demand them?

When I was in school...we got graded on spelling when writing.  Misspelled words were  circled in red...it was part of the exercise of writing a paper.

 

My whole point here is not to trash a whole industry.  My point is that the people paying journalists don't care about the 'writing' skills or 'proofreading' skills anymore.  What they care about is the narrative.  They want to crank out the 'narrative' as fast and as often as they can.  Consequently, there isn't any time for real 'proofreading'  because it just isn't important anymore.  Hell, most of the people don't really know if the piece is written full of errors or not.  It is the narrative that matters.  That is ALL that matters.   And that isn't Journalism.  That is called...Propaganda.

 

[+joc]

19 hours ago, Liquid Gardens said:

I'll bet there are very reasonable and logical explanations for your mistakes, the obvious one being 'everyone makes mistakes sometimes', so why the different bar to clear for others? 

You are putting words in my mouth.  Why?  

Actually, I make few mistakes...and when I do...I own up to them and make them right.  I'm not a journalist.  I don't have an agenda or narrative I want my customers to believe.  I just want them to be happy with the work I do so they keep calling me and keep paying me. I don't make excuses.

[+Liquid Gardens]

6 minutes ago, joc said:

You are putting words in my mouth.  Why?  

I'm not putting words in your mouth, those quotes don't refer to something you said.  "Everyone makes mistakes sometimes" is a fairly common saying in English.

16 minutes ago, joc said:

Yes, proofreading and typos are  'critical error'.

What's 'critical' about it?  Does something important and impactful happen when journalists make typos, like everyone else on earth?  Why don't you characterize it just as a 'simple mistake'? 

The apples-to-apples comparison is not between your profession and journalism, it is the comparison between how you view your mistakes vs others. You are trying to connect typos to your beliefs about propaganda in journalism and act like minor mistakes like typos are unforgiveable and are some kind of big deal, so I'm just wondering if you treat your own mistakes as excessively, as indications of a poor work ethic, etc.

 

[+DieChecker]

On 9/17/2020 at 3:28 PM, joc said:

This isn't even journalism.  It is the opinion of someone who is extremely biased against Donald Trump.  It's idiocy...not journalism.

Dude probably paid $75,000 for a East Coast University education too.

[+DieChecker]

18 hours ago, South Alabam said:

Here is another one. Either everyone in the world is blind, or they have the wrong picture. I'd seriously hate to think that is the right picture.

People Can't Seem to Find the Hidden Cat in This Photo So Let's See If You Have Better Luck

https://sports.yahoo.com/people-cant-seem-hidden-cat-161500725.html

Reminds me of those articles... "Scientists puzzled by cat in tub", or whatever. Always scientists are confused, about nearly everything.

[+DieChecker]

On 9/17/2020 at 1:03 PM, South Alabam said:

I saw this article, and the headline caught me. It is obviously incorrect and seems to be a trend of online articles I read. Horrible lack of edit, misspellings, or correction or whatever they are doing, they seem to lack writing skills.

I am posting the headline with a link, not because of the article itself, but just to show how bad the headline is.

Trump Stoked Police Violence, and It Cost May Have Him the Election      

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/trump-stoked-police-violence-and-it-cost-may-have-him-the-election/ar-BB198M0N?ocid=msedgdhp

Opinion section of msn.com... Are we surprised?

[Vorg]

1 hour ago, DieChecker said:

Opinion section of msn.com... Are we surprised?

Not really. 

[+joc]

23 hours ago, Liquid Gardens said:

I'm not putting words in your mouth, those quotes don't refer to something you said.  "Everyone makes mistakes sometimes" is a fairly common saying in English.

What's 'critical' about it?  Does something important and impactful happen when journalists make typos, like everyone else on earth?  Why don't you characterize it just as a 'simple mistake'? 

The apples-to-apples comparison is not between your profession and journalism, it is the comparison between how you view your mistakes vs others. You are trying to connect typos to your beliefs about propaganda in journalism and act like minor mistakes like typos are unforgiveable and are some kind of big deal, so I'm just wondering if you treat your own mistakes as excessively, as indications of a poor work ethic, etc.

 

Dude!  If your JOB is writing...what possible mistakes are there for you to make?  What about a guitar tech for a guitarist in a band?  I once watched Hank Williams Jr. live on stage stop playing a song soon after he started and actually THROW his guitar across the stage. He went over to the edge of the drummers stage and just sat down.  Ask Hank if his guitar tech stayed employed...I don't know.  (I personally think throwing a Stratocaster across the stage was a critical mistake but that's a different kind of argument)

My point is if your job is to write...then writing mistakes are 'critical'.  If you job is tuning guitars and you give a guitarist a guitar that is out of tune...that is a critical mistake.  If your job is programming computers and your program doesn't work right...get my point?    

So we are just supposed to cut some slack to 'journalists' who make typos over and over and over...many times in the same article?  I don't think so...and the excuse of I don't have the time to proofread is lame.  Maybe you are just taking it personal because you are a 'journalist'.  I don't know what your argument really is even.

[+Liquid Gardens]

2 hours ago, joc said:

I don't know what your argument really is even.

Simple:  why are your work mistakes different and not also a reflection on your lack of 'work ethic' or indicative of your 'incompetence' or you also just 'throwing something out there to get a paycheck'?  I would never come to those over-the-top conclusions based on your mistakes, whatever they are, so I don't know why you are about others.

2 hours ago, joc said:

My point is if your job is to write...then writing mistakes are 'critical'.

I weigh 'critical' by what effect it has not just whether it's part of your job or not, I've made lots of mistakes over the years at work but thankfully very few were ever close to critical, and you'll have to explain to me the significant harm or damage caused by a typo.  A journalist's job is ultimately to communicate and that doesn't usually rely entirely on grammar and such, there aren't many native English speakers who don't perfectly understand what 'I ain't got no money' means despite it being a grammatical mess.  I don't know how many stories these online journalist schlubs have to churn out and thus don't know the percentage of their mistakes overall, so I'm not sure why what Peter said, that they may wish they had enough time to devote to making sure all their articles are perfect, isn't a possible explanation instead of your kinda extreme one.

2 hours ago, joc said:

If your job is programming computers and your program doesn't work right...get my point?    

It used to be, but 'work right' isn't a binary state - in a way the headline in the OP works right, everyone knows exactly what it means; in programming there are usually multiple ways to code something so that it 'works right', but likewise some can be less efficient than others.  A guitar out of tune isn't a great analogy, it's more like accidentally presetting the volume on the amp a little lower than intended - it's easily compensated for.  But sure, agreed, make enough grammatical mistakes or keep failing to turn the amp to the correct volume the guitarist wants and you're probably out of a job.

It's tough for me to know if more mistakes like this are being made or I'm just reading more.  I kinda consider most online articles the 'junk food' of writing, there are so many and they're just constant and the online age also demands that they be updated and revised during the day.  Can't hold it to the same standards as ye olde daily newspaper with that kind of volume.  More to your point though, they also have the advantage of computers and word processors which can highlight spelling and I believe grammatical mistakes if they'd pay attention to it so not sure what the excuse is there.

[bmk1245]

4 hours ago, Liquid Gardens said:

Simple:  why are your work mistakes different and not also a reflection on your lack of 'work ethic' or indicative of your 'incompetence' or you also just 'throwing something out there to get a paycheck'?  I would never come to those over-the-top conclusions based on your mistakes, whatever they are, so I don't know why you are about others.

I weigh 'critical' by what effect it has not just whether it's part of your job or not, I've made lots of mistakes over the years at work but thankfully very few were ever close to critical, and you'll have to explain to me the significant harm or damage caused by a typo.  A journalist's job is ultimately to communicate and that doesn't usually rely entirely on grammar and such, there aren't many native English speakers who don't perfectly understand what 'I ain't got no money' means despite it being a grammatical mess.  I don't know how many stories these online journalist schlubs have to churn out and thus don't know the percentage of their mistakes overall, so I'm not sure why what Peter said, that they may wish they had enough time to devote to making sure all their articles are perfect, isn't a possible explanation instead of your kinda extreme one.

It used to be, but 'work right' isn't a binary state - in a way the headline in the OP works right, everyone knows exactly what it means; in programming there are usually multiple ways to code something so that it 'works right', but likewise some can be less efficient than others.  A guitar out of tune isn't a great analogy, it's more like accidentally presetting the volume on the amp a little lower than intended - it's easily compensated for.  But sure, agreed, make enough grammatical mistakes or keep failing to turn the amp to the correct volume the guitarist wants and you're probably out of a job.

It's tough for me to know if more mistakes like this are being made or I'm just reading more.  I kinda consider most online articles the 'junk food' of writing, there are so many and they're just constant and the online age also demands that they be updated and revised during the day.  Can't hold it to the same standards as ye olde daily newspaper with that kind of volume.  More to your point though, they also have the advantage of computers and word processors which can highlight spelling and I believe grammatical mistakes if they'd pay attention to it so not sure what the excuse is there.

Au contraire, thought is just relevance of imaginatory kind of subsidy. If we construct attention payed subsidies over quantum stringed layouts, thought enhanced layers can overcome single mind. Though, many layers over three aforementioned subsidies can describe our universe in six kalabaw gauges, i.e. it can be proved with single 2+2, and thats not 4, its 22. With obvious relation, we can conduct inductance over capacitance with 42 sigma confidence.

 

[bmk1245]

On 10/2/2020 at 3:30 PM, DieChecker said:

Reminds me of those articles... "Scientists puzzled by cat in tub", or whatever. Always scientists are confused, about nearly everything.

You see, cats are kinda bizzaro animals, yeah, I lived amongst these animals, sheesh, don't tell your plans....

[bmk1245]

Folks, who are watching Steven Crowder? Tim Pool? Jarrod Peterson? Michael Knowles? Hodge Twins? Klavan?  Dammit, had nice presentation, kinda... with...kinda.... words...Yeah.... Yeehooouh (whatever it mans)

[+joc]

9 hours ago, Liquid Gardens said:

Simple:  why are your work mistakes different and not also a reflection on your lack of 'work ethic' or indicative of your 'incompetence' or you also just 'throwing something out there to get a paycheck'?  I would never come to those over-the-top conclusions based on your mistakes, whatever they are, so I don't know why you are about others.

I weigh 'critical' by what effect it has not just whether it's part of your job or not, I've made lots of mistakes over the years at work but thankfully very few were ever close to critical, and you'll have to explain to me the significant harm or damage caused by a typo.  A journalist's job is ultimately to communicate and that doesn't usually rely entirely on grammar and such, there aren't many native English speakers who don't perfectly understand what 'I ain't got no money' means despite it being a grammatical mess.  I don't know how many stories these online journalist schlubs have to churn out and thus don't know the percentage of their mistakes overall, so I'm not sure why what Peter said, that they may wish they had enough time to devote to making sure all their articles are perfect, isn't a possible explanation instead of your kinda extreme one.

It used to be, but 'work right' isn't a binary state - in a way the headline in the OP works right, everyone knows exactly what it means; in programming there are usually multiple ways to code something so that it 'works right', but likewise some can be less efficient than others.  A guitar out of tune isn't a great analogy, it's more like accidentally presetting the volume on the amp a little lower than intended - it's easily compensated for.  But sure, agreed, make enough grammatical mistakes or keep failing to turn the amp to the correct volume the guitarist wants and you're probably out of a job.

It's tough for me to know if more mistakes like this are being made or I'm just reading more.  More to your point though, they also have the advantage of computers and word processors which can highlight spelling and I believe grammatical mistakes if they'd pay attention to it so not sure what the excuse is there.I kinda consider most online articles the 'junk food' of writing, there are so many and they're just constant and the online age also demands that they be updated and revised during the day.  Can't hold it to the same standards as ye olde daily newspaper with that kind of volume. 

I don't make many mistakes in my job..I go above and beyond the norm to make sure my 'customers' are happy.   I do a lot of work I don't even get paid for to make sure that is so.  But who is the 'journalist's' customers?   Not me, not you...their 'customer' is their employer who doesn't really give a damn about their typos...so why should the 'journalist'?...as long as the narrative is right. That's all that their customers ...i.e....their media employers...really care about.   That's why 'journalism' doesn't even exist anymore...it's dead...the job is to present the narrative because only by continually programming the 'sheep'    i.e....the Proletariat...with...the narrative...can the ultimate result of American and Global Socialism be achieved.   Did you notice the word 'achieve'... i...before ...e...except after ...c...some of us still think that is important.

Yes, a journalist's job is to communicate...I have no problem understanding what the journalist is saying.  I understand completely what they are saying. What they are saying is the ...narrative...that their bosses demand.  Errors are of little consequence as long as the 'narrative' is upheld. 

Not sure what you are talking about with the guitar techs....a guitar out of tune, if you are a professional,  is a Critical Mistake.     

Ye olde daily newspaper doesn't really exist except for a few 'old schoolers' who like doing what they have always done...read the newspaper with their morning  coffee.  LG we are talking about mostly the 80's crowd  and the elites... That's like the 'buggy whip' of olde.   Most people don't subscribe to newspapers because they don't want to pay 3 dollars for a daily paper.

Word processing is a huge point however...that's why most of the mistakes happen, I think.  Word processing without proofreading is like 'saying' what you want to express in a text ...and it comes out...Hey LG...the oasopuie of lkejr is lj;lnl;  dodn;len.

  

[bmk1245]

What we see today, isn't journalism, especially on the left side, its blatant propaganda. Period.

[+Liquid Gardens]

11 hours ago, joc said:

But who is the 'journalist's' customers?   Not me, not you...their 'customer' is their employer who doesn't really give a damn about their typos...so why should the 'journalist'?...as long as the narrative is right.

By the same reasoning, is the Starbuck's barista's customer also their employer?  Maybe it's not that their employer doesn't give a damn about typos it's that they understand they're going to occur.  I thought their employers just wanted to get some ads in front of our eyeballs so they make money, narrative-schmarrative.  

11 hours ago, joc said:

the job is to present the narrative because only by continually programming the 'sheep' 

You do realize that this very narrative of 'media programming the sheep' you are proposing is itself a journalistic narrative furthered by other media companies to itself program the sheep?  You sure you're just not the subject of some programming too here?  Nothing wrong with your enthusiasm of course, but you are connecting a simple typo to an organized effort to program the masses keep in mind.  And again to my point above, in America, I can't think of many times that the motivation of spreading a 'narrative' didn't take a backseat to the opportunity to make money.

11 hours ago, joc said:

Did you notice the word 'achieve'... i...before ...e...except after ...c...some of us still think that is important.

The i-before-e-except-after-c non-rule doesn't apply, it's after 'ch' not 'c' in 'achieve'.  Did you notice how you just slaughtered again any kind of standard for spacing around your use of ellipses?  Sometimes they have spaces around them, sometimes only before, sometimes none - yes, there is no hard and fast rule but any English teacher will tell you to stay consistent with your usage and formatting.  Why ain't that important too? 

11 hours ago, joc said:

Not sure what you are talking about with the guitar techs....a guitar out of tune, if you are a professional,  is a Critical Mistake. 

In a way that a typo is not, I'd analogize a guitar tech and an out of tune guitar to a journalist publishing a false story.  Besides, I think us consumers also have some responsibility to apply different standards to different outlets, which is admittedly tough nowadays as sketchy news sources used to be restricted to the supermarket checkout aisle mostly.  We don't go to McDonald's for the winning personality of their Maitre D, and likewise with respect to the OP when I think 'journalism' the first names to come to mind don't include 'Microsoft'.

11 hours ago, joc said:

Most people don't subscribe to newspapers because they don't want to pay 3 dollars for a daily paper.

Agreed, my point in noting newspapers is that at least with a newspaper you published typically once a day which theoretically would give more time to proofread everything.  The OP article admittedly isn't any kind of breaking news that would require it to be rushed to publication, but maybe that online process is followed anyway for other articles like this leading to more sloppiness.