Which Story?

• Which story is easier to understand?
• Which story contains extraneous pieces of "cop speak"?
• Which story tells you a story? 
• Which story is a jumble of facts, thrown together in a convoluted manner?
• Which story uses complicated words, when simpler ones will do?
• Which story is cut and pasted from a police press release?
• Which story was written by a reporter who personally gathered the facts?
• Which story was assembled by a glorified stenographer?

The choice is yours...

Pass The Brownies, DUDE!

Seems the kids in the WOWO news room must have SMOKED their lunch today. 

For the giggling news kids....it's Commission on HIGHER Education, not HIGH Education.

The Maven, at first, chalked this up to WOWO's usual careless and sloppy journalistic practices, butchering words and grammar....however, considering some of the crazy things our state legislature has passed in recent sessions, Indiana might well have a commission for stoned college students. Sounds legit.

Dumbass Attack

It's been suggested by a fellow that trolls this page, that the Maven is wasting his time pointing out each and every little miscue or misspelled word that our local media manage to pass off as journalism. However, considering the Maven has nothing better to do, this blog will continue. After all, most of these stories write themselves. 

Today tidbits include a ditty from the geographically-challenged 21Alive and after a long absence, WOWO's news director's typing skills remain as abysmal as ever.

From 21Alive..... 

WALTERLOO? Is that near ALLBURN? (sounds legit)


And from Fort Wayne's Macaroni award-winning station, we have this......

Pass the lip gloss.....

It's An Epidemic

Media continues to be their own worst enemy when it comes to credibility and trust. 

In a day and age when even grade school children know what heroin is, one would think that those who practice journalism, or play a journalist on TV, would at least know how to spell the damn word. 

Guess not. 

The Indianapolis Star:

It's a Gannett paper, but still there is a difference between an illegal drug and a big bird.

Of course, Fort Wayne's own WPTA suffered a similar issue with the word a while back:

Even the folks at the Hooterville World Guardian AKA the New Bern NC News Observer were confused:

When we hear talk about "drug education" in our schools, perhaps the newsrooms of America should also be included in that conversation.

Press Releases, Lawyers, And The Kids In The Newsroom

The Modern News Cycle:

One: Company PR department writes a press release

Two: Company lawyers review and revise the press

Three: Company sends press release to the media

Four: The media cut and paste pieces and parts of the press release into a news story

Result: Crap sandwich news story

......has all the warmth and clarity of a used car purchase agreement.