Now that's a mouth full! Officer trying to restrain him in the head?????
Don't you wonder if they ever proof read....

I have the same issue with news reporters covering stories out on location. Some have the worst grammar.

I have the same question with the local newspaper in my city.Yes,it's a small town paper but you would think someone would proof read! Been that way as long as I can remember.LOL

Why can't journalists use correct grammar? Because they were never taught correct grammar or correct word usage. I have heard teachers say, "And I went . . ." instead of "And I said . . . " among other teeth-grinding faux pas.
The local headline that really caught my attention was "Threat of War in Pakistan Lessens More". The local newspaper and TV news reports have never heard the word "arrested" but consistently use "busted", which they also use as a synonym for "broken."
Trying to decode the local newscasts and newspaper headlines does provide a certain amount of entertainment.

News reporters should set an example and use perfect grammar and spelling. No excuse. I believe most are college graduates. And they have editors.

It bothers me just as much when teachers use poor grammar. How are our children supposed to learn to write properly if their teachers are unable to do so?

But yes, journalists should have high standards when it comes to proper grammar also.

That reminds me of, "Throw momma from the train ... a kiss."

restrain him in the head with his fist

Threat of War in Pakistan Lessens More.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Grammar is obviously not being taught, and there is that theory that as long as you get the message across, grammar or spelling doesn't matter. Ugh! Now with texting, it is like a completely different language. And we are guilty in that we use so many cyber abbreviations now.

Even the best reporters, and others you know have been well educated, make the mistake that makes me shiver. . . "he gave the details to Joe and I." There is one TV reporter who consistently says "I have went." Another Ugh.

Proof reading takes time and costs money, and it is considered not worth it. Gotta get that story out there.

Here's what really bothers me. Stories about these so called celebrities go on for day after day. Tiger Woods, Jesse James/Sandra Bullock, for example. Okay, I heard it already! Don't need to hear it over and over, day after day. Thank goodness for the button on the remote.

Sue

Love that dangling participle, Linda_in_Iowa!

Many headlines are like that, and the cause seems to be the space limitation for a headline. Nonetheless, the editor should> be able to word it properly.

Two reasons I have been given are: 1) editors' jobs have been slashed, and 2) newspaper owners are trying to save space and sometimes sacrifice correct grammar for expediency.

Typos and bad grammar in a newspaper, magazine or book drive me nuts! Now let's see if I've committed any boo-boos in this short answer.....

I ask the same question every morning while reading the paper?? Just shake my head!!!
Kathi

My high school English teacher, who was also the advisor to the school newspaper would have just had a fit about the sentence I quoted in the OP. I still remember 50 years later how upset he was about the way we described a sweater in the lost and found column. We wrote that it was a "black girl's sweater" and he corrected it to say it was a "girl's black sweater". I was the co-editor of the newspaper and I will always remember what Mr. Stan Godecke taught us.

As a journalist, I can tell you that there's journalism (big city papers) and there's journalism (small local papers). In my experience, most of the small-town reporters are not college graduates, but I honestly don't think that matters. Many of today's college graduates can't put a sentence together.

I think a major part of the problem is that the small newspapers worry more about their bottom line than quality of the publication. They pay small wages, and they get what they pay for. And sometimes a reporter might be valuable in some respects (accuracy of facts, willing to sit through a four-hour boring township meeting, etc.) but not skilled with language. The editors simply don't seem to care about language skills. Maybe they figure the average reader won't care either.

What we observe in newspapers is just one example of a widespread deterioration in the use of English. I hear people on TV screwing up on grammar all the time. And I've read some Master's theses that were appallingly bad. (But they earned the students their degrees.)

I received an E-mail from our golf association last week. It said "immediately following golf in the pavilion, there will be an exercise class." I responded with "Are we really playing golf in the pavilion?" The next message to the ladies read "immediately following golf, there will be an exercise class in the pavilion." I think you would enjoy reading Eats Shoots and Leaves if you haven't already read it.

They pay small wages, and they get what they pay for. And sometimes a reporter might be valuable in some respects (accuracy of facts, willing to sit through a four-hour boring township meeting, etc.) but not skilled with language.

and

I hear people on TV screwing up on grammar all the time. And I've read some Master's theses that were appallingly bad.

Here is a link that might be useful: Are You Really Not Allowed to Start a Sentence with And, But or Because?

LOL Chemocurl, I'm not even going to look at that! And I'm going to keep starting sentences with "and" as long as I continue to get paid for it. For one thing, I'm not crazy about "also." But I like "but." :-)

Students should read the memo received by a friend's son. His boss commended him and gave him a huge promotion, citing his ability to communicate clearly, verbally and in writing. You can only *imagine* the number of figures in his annual salary as a top engineer -- and communicator.

alisande -- You are hereby cited for redundancy: "...boring township meeting." I think there must be some unwritten theory of human behavior that causes a three-hour discussion of how many bushes to plant around a parking lot, followed by a ten-minute series of uncontested motions to pass the million dollar budget item. Only then can the fifty people assembled to discuss a big impact subject be heard -- but, wait, it's midnight! Motion to adjourn.

This bothers me more when I've paid to read something that has these types of errors.

Have you noticed when TV presenters ad lib and use the wrong words, or wrong context? It seems to be happening more and more.

And another question, is it wrong to correct someone if they do the above?

I aint got a clue what you un folks be talking bout.

Trin

LOL Trinity!

Chisue, you nailed the township meeting. They were the worst part of my job. The chairs were always uncomfortable, and the room too hot or too cold. The reporter from the larger paper used to sit there playing solitaire on her computer. The next day I would read her article and realize she hadn't heard much.

One of the township meetings got interesting for a while when a wind farm was proposed. So many people opposed to it! They ended up erecting the windmills anyway, and then things got back to barely tolerable boredom at the meetings.

My local TV anchors are getting on my last nerve. Both say..George Smith, he was arrested for....Or the alumni association they are having a party. Juvenile talk. My grandson doesn't talk like that. Another newspaper error which is so prevalent..Joe gave the plants to Jim and I...

Slovenly.

Ask 'em whether they'd be happy to have a surgeon wield a scalpel over them who'd been so lackadaisical about absorbing his original training ... and continuing to hone his skills.

But - how demanding are we of ourselves when it comes to language, spelling and grammar?

Our kids are listening.

ole joyful

"... ability to communicate clearly, verbally and in writing."

Actually, to be technically correct, it should be "orally and in writing," because the definition of "verbally" is "Of, relating to, or associated with words."

what drives me nuts? the news readers who don't find out the corect pronunciation of city names. california seems to be abused the worse, and one reader was BORN there...

That statement sounds like it was a head line, and those can be notorious for misplaced phrases. The editors try to jam too much into one short line and fracture the grammar in the process, and then some don't know better, and others don't care. What editors care about most is that it caught your attention and caused you to read the article.

If it is really badly fractured, send it to Jay Leno's Headline Department.

susanjf -- just because someone was born in a particular state doesn't mean they should know how to properly pronounced the names of all the cities and towns in that state. Especially California! California is a large state with hundreds of cities and towns. Everyone is bound to mess up the pronunciation of some of them.

Speaking of misplaced phrases, a recipe made me laugh yesterday. *Saute the onions and peppers in a skillet lightly sprayed with Pam until tender.*

my favorite local saying is "Throw the cow over the fence some hay"

But yes, our local papers lack appropriate puctuation, grammar and even spelling. (Spellcheck??) It is one of my guilty pleasures in finding their errors.

I know I make plenty myself, but then again I don't write for a living...

Aw, shucks, mebbe dere jus' tryin' to talk like da pipple listenin' in. Ya know? Tryin' not t' be pre-tenshus.

What I find most amusing is that a newspaper is normally written at a fourth to a sixth grade reading level. Why should it take a college graduate to be able to write at that level? Spellcheck isn't foolproof since a word can be spelled correctly and used incorrectly. How often do we see their, there and they're interchanged? After watching Jeff Foxworthy a couple times I think we should get some fifth graders to do the job!

Typos happen. But (and yes, I like to start a sentence with but!) they don't need to be given so much help!

I know a number of writers, radio and television people. Most of the older ones cringe watching a newscast these days. One guy said to me one day "Are they really that stupid or are they just trying to get my goat?" My response was that IMO, his goat was safe.

In fairness to some of the issues, there's certain local colloquialisms that are acceptable regionally but not grammatically.

When I worked for the school district I started saving some of the best notes I received from teachers and staff. I can accept them written in crayon as were some but it was amusing to see the spelling and glaring grammatical errors. All I could do was shake my head and go "these are the people teaching the kids???"

The one that makes me crazy, and they all use it.

She/he "went missing".

Checking the paper on-line, I see this headline for a story:

"Town waves fees for Fonthill bandshell"

I thought 'journalists' were supposed to be professionals in their line of business. Every other word and/or sentence structure is grammatically incorrect. Aren't the writers required to be college graduates? The poor sentence structures, along with mispronounced words is just sinful!!!!

For example: The words "lie" and "lay". People "lie", objects "lay". That isn't too difficult!

When asked, "How are you?" 99%respond, "GOOD"! If I hear that one more time, I will scream!!!!! THE CORRECT RESPONSE IS "WELL"! Again, not that difficult.

Every commercial, commentator, etc. ends their sentences with a preposition! Again.....wrong. For instance, "Where did you get that FROM? "FROM" is a preposition. Proper grammar, "From where did you get that?".

AND, THE MOST WIDELY MISUSED, INCORRECT PHRASE IS..........."FOR FREE".

We don't get things "FOR FREE".

We get them "FREE"!

American citizens aren't even capable of using our language correctly. Open the dictionary.....you will be amazed how much there is to learn!!!!!!!

TO: LILLIPAD. Sorry to burst your bubble, but "proofread" is one word....NOT TWO! REALLY???????????????

The news reporters in one local station here in Calgary constantly get my neighbourhood in the wrong quadrant of the city. And it's almost walking distance from their studio.

Thank you for your timely input, moesartisticss.

I work as a teacher aide for special needs students in a HS near me. After FOUR years, I have finally impressed upon the student I have been working with that you HAVE to specify when using pronouns. The OP... a cop and a convict... the pronouns him/his/he... WHICH person is being referred to? You can't start a paragraph or essay talking about HIM and what HE did without first mentioning who he is?!?

I'd say print companies are hiring wayyyy fewer editors these days. Our local paper has grammatical errors on a regular basis.

Mistakes can occur with a reporter on location pounding out a piece without having a chance to proofread it, or revise an awkward passage. It could be a fast event or a stressful one, say dodging bullets on a battle field. However, articles printed the next day in a newspaper should have passed under the scrutiny of an editor or the editor's assistant and that material should not have many errors. I have noticed that sentence structure has gotten sloppy as noted above. Also, people's sense of geographical location can be lacking.

I remember teaching a sophomore high school English class and getting criticized by the principal for teaching adverbs when he was listening outside my classroom door. He had been a PE major.

'You can't start a paragraph or essay talking about HIM and what HE did without first mentioning who he is?!?'

This is such a good point. I didn't know there was a rule for it but I do prefer to see the character's name (if reading a novel for example) instead of a 'he' or 'she' at the beginning of a paragraph. He and She sound so impersonal.