Foolishness on Parade at WPTA ABC21

Hey kids: This is Linus Van Pelt. Linus (like most of the free world and parts of Arkansas) pronounces his name with a long "I". Kinda rhymes with "Lion".

That was not the case this morning, as the girl doing the story pronounced Linus' name with a short "I"...not once, but all through her story. 

It was clear to the Maven, and those who contacted the Maven about this "Baha Eldon moment", that this young woman had no stinking idea what she was talking about and did not seem to understand the correlation between the famous cartoon character and Project Linus, a worthy non-profit organization that has provided hand-made blankets to children in need, since 1955. 

https://www.projectlinus.org/

Also, readers, please take a moment and bow your heads, and hold a good thought for all these self-avowed genius Millennials who were born too late to have any appreciation for people, places, and/or things, that preceded their being born on to the planet. 

We may be old, but at least, we got to see all the cool bands.

Language Problem Persists at WANE TV

From the station that brought you Transpiration...

From the station that brought you Complains...

Here's WANE TV's latest challenge with English grammar and spelling:

While technology is usually blamed for allowing such a fubar, there is no excuse for not reading your work before publishing it (AKA hitting SEND). 

For you kids writing this stuff, you may not care about the "content" you create, but your audience sure as hell does. Each of these "nitpicking" examples were not discovered by the cranky Media Maven, they were sent in, unsolicited, by regular users of WANE-TV and its media platforms. 

They deserve better.

 

Small Fibs and Big Lies

A day many of us will remember, but not celebrate. 

The last day of the News Sentinel. Forever frozen in time, April 23, 2020.

Also, perhaps, the biggest lie ever told to NS readers.

 "Fort Wayne Newspapers is adjusting staffing and features in response to the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, said President and CEO Scott Stanford.

“Our journalism mission is as important as ever,” Stanford said. “That puts great responsibility on us to make sound decisions and be good stewards of this business on behalf of the northeast Indiana community we serve.”

Among the changes is that Fort Wayne Newspapers is suspending publication of the News-Sentinel page for now. The page will be evaluated for return as market conditions improve, Stanford said.

Longtime News-Sentinel reporter and columnist Kevin Leininger has been furloughed as a result of the suspension. Other employees also have been furloughed and some positions eliminated as Fort Wayne Newspapers makes modest but appropriate adjustments to staff in response to the challenging economic environment, Stanford said.

“The global pandemic and resulting shutdown of the northeast Indiana economy has placed downward pressure on many businesses,” Stanford said. “It is our hope that, as businesses are able to reopen, the economy begins to improve and business returns to more normal levels, we will be able to bring back furloughed employees and restore features like the News-Sentinel page.”

The pandemic is on the way out...yet, don't bet the rent money that Mr. Stanford will keep is word.

The News Sentinel, in both print and on-line is gone...and is never coming back. 

Language Problem at WANE 15

Twice today (Friday March 12, 2021) the WANE 15 news room has had problems with the Queen's English.

This morning it was "transportation" vs "transpiration".

Editor's Note: Transpiration is the process of water movement through a plant and its evaporation from aerial parts, such as leaves, stems and flowers.

And this afternoon, there seems to be some confusion with "complaints" and "complains".

Editor's Note: Complaints is a noun, complains in a verb, and are not interchangeable.

White the Maven could go full-cynic and claim that the news is being written off-shore, that is clearly on the case. 

But whatever the issue is, someone needs to remind these budding journalists that the majority of their audience still use the English that their crotchety teachers taught them in high school and not modernized versions of the language suitable for Twitter or Snapchat. OMG!