Am I a great writer? No, in no means am I anywhere near being a perfect writer. However, I do pride myself with having common sense, and being a pretty “darn good” typographer. (Typography, in print journalism, is the detail of layout of the newspaper, magazine, flier, exedra; that is the key to what makes the text appealing to the eyes.) So yes, I do know a little something on what is news worthy and appropriate. That is why sometimes when I am reading smaller papers I really would like to call up the editor and ask “WHAT!?!”.
If you have attended Jacksonville State University then you have surely heard or read the notorious Chanticleer. In the latest publication there was a lengthy opinion article on
Rick Santorum. After reading this article this defiantly made me say out loud,
WHAT!?But, before I go into the errors of the article itself, let me just touch on this page. First, the filler the paper uses are atrocious. Second and the font in a paper is ALWAYS justified. Third, this slandered article should have never had a full page. However, all of my newsy pet peeves aside lets move on to the article.
How many times have you written an essay and said “I am writing this essay about...” or “This essay is about…”, only to have your essay returned inked to death. Well this article starts out just that way. I quote, “I am so blessed to have the opportunity to write a political opinion article,” which translates to “I am writing an opinion article about…”. I do not believe this line should have ever made it to the final cut. Later on in the piece the writer also mistakenly says, “Now with that quote in mind,”but never addressed a quote, only his thoughts on what NPR (National Public Radio) had to say on the matter. There were several other “no no’s” in the article, but the one that stood out to me the most was in the last paragraph. “…a cheating, selfish, b----, who wants to colonize the moon.” WOW, when did the writer ever feel it was appropriate to use the word bitch (even though the last four letters where blanked out) in a new article! Internet, okay but this is like turning on abc 33/40 and James Spann saying “you is a dumb bitch if you don’t take cover now”. Even if you are writing for a college newspaper using profanity is never okay.
However, do not get me wrong I am not for Rick Santorum nor do I believe any of the “santorum” spewing out of this mans mouth. I am just frustrated as a journalist and writer at the nonsense and errors that actually get published in Newspapers and magazines. I know I do not have the best grammar skills or am the best editor, but my fondest memories were always on Thursday’s when my old advisor would bring in a few big named papers and we would spend the class period giving it the red ink of death. Maybe this is why little things in articles irk me more then others.
