A simple mistake. And a simple solution.
The Maven's solution:
Put the WOWO advertising department in charge of the news room.
Huh?
Notice that WOWO never screws up a client's commercial, never get's the client's name wrong, never mangles a client's phone number and never bamboozles an advertiser's web address.
Why?
Because considerable revenue is on the line. The selling of advertising creates revenue - lots of revenue. The news room doesn't really generate anything.
Secondly, an advertising salesperson and grumpy advertising client are also in the mix. Both have a vested interest in the quality and effectiveness of the commercials and both get pissy when they lose money. The newsroom, given gaffes like above, has no quality control. A news story snafu loses them nothing and provides fodder for people like the Maven who swing between horror and laughter....
So, put the Sales Manager in charge of the news room, and watch the errors disappear.
The solution is so simple....
OK, kids.
Here's how it goes: One pleads guilty TO a crime, one does not plead guilty OF a crime.
If there's a trial and a conviction, then one is convicted OF a crime, not TO a crime.
Not only only is the offending statement incorrect in reporting a legal proceeding, it is awkward and also makes one, and that person's employer, appear to be blithering idiots.
Hope this helps.
Spring isn't even on the horizon, yet the Fort Wayne radio dial is in full bloom with new radio stations popping up all over the place.
The latest addition is a rather interesting offering from the Allen County Public Library. WELT-LP is an FCC-designated "low power" FM station occupying the 95.7 space since Tuesday.
According to WANE TV: "WELT's mission is to challenge the cultural and intellectual assumptions of our listeners through unique and diverse programming."
The Maven finds the use of the word "challenge" to be both odd and mildly offensive, as the statement seems to lump Allen county citizens into a backward, malevolent stereotype often reserved for small Southern towns where the gene pool could use a good shot of chlorine.
Another nugget from the media: "during weather-related emergencies, the station will interrupt it's regular broadcasting schedule to provide up to date emergency preparedness information to listeners in Allen County."
Apparently no other electronic media does this.....
So, the city's compassionate intellectuals now control a media outlet offering a diverse menu of 'challenging' content not found anywhere else. One thing you can count on....unlike WOWO News and WANE TV, WELT's spelling and grammar will be impeccable.
The Maven wishes WELT well in their noble endeavor, seemingly pulling Fort Wayne's great unwashed, stinky, huddled masses into the realm of 21st Century consciousness.
For detailed information that only hardcore radio fans would covet, view the complete, public FCC application for the station here:
https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101579180&formid=318&fac_num=193114
The new WOWO website is pretty, but the kids still have some quality control issues. It appears no one ever reads the crap they post after the "send" button is pressed.
Sure, one can blame a cheap keyboard for the first gaffe, but the Maven would ask "kids, where is the "southeast side of down"?
Second Item:
Those poor kids must not have access to a dictionary or AP Style Guide. What's bad is the headline actually uses the words correctly, but the capitalization error only adds the the comedy of errors. "Law firm" is two words, really. Two words, like "dumb ass".
Not to be out done, 21Alive has a confusing news story on their website.
The Maven is not really sure why this story is in the Local section. It takes place in North Carolina and features no one from Fort Wayne in the story.
Compounding the confusion, two claiming seem to be claiming authorship of the article, ABC11-Web News AND 21Alive's Jen Danczak - 21Alive. Perhaps the stations have a news-sharing relationship, Or someone is a sloppy thief.
You can find the stories, still not corrected here:
http://www.wowo.com/victim-struck-and-killed-by-car-may-actually-have-been-hit-by-two-cars/
http://www.21alive.com/news/local/Man-dies-Saturday-after-running-in-Raleighs-Krispy-Creme-Challenge-367929801.html
