Saturday, May 7, 2011

And we wonder why our kids can't read or spell?


I'm a self-admitted news junkie.  One of the biggest adjustments I had to make when we moved to Maine was NOT having a print daily newspaper at my front door every morning.   So I had to get used to getting my news from weekly/monthly print sources, from TV-both national, cable, and international sources - and from the internet.  I am constantly appalled however, at the increasing lack of editing, proofing, or other fact checking that allows so many egregious errors to be published, printed and otherwise disseminated.  Most of us learned to read from reading, we enhanced our vocabulary by hearing words used in context, and we absorbed the rules of grammar and spelling by simply listening to and reading correctly written and spoken language. So where on earth was the editor, producer, writer, etc etc etc who let this be the opening headline from CBS News on my Google news page last night?

A vane Osama bin Laden shown in new videos.

I mean, I know Osama bin Laden  was accused of many things, but I don't think I ever heard him described as predicting the direction of the wind!!!

5 comments:

  1. Isn't this a sad, sorry commentary on our culture?

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  2. I've noticed misspellings a lot in print news and tv news. It's awful that texting has made people forget how to spell and use grammar. A colleague of mine told me this week that schools are not going to be teaching kids cursive writing. I also hate the fact that they don't teach kids how to use a library and how to read an index to find information. I use the internet, but I also know where to get information on how to spell and check my facts. Have a great day.

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  3. Hey, I heard he was using hair dye on his beard, so that vain part might not be too off...

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  4. Caite == I agree the man was vain....but it was the VANE part that got me!!

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  5. Bravo! You said what I've been complaining of for years. Also, that's why I always felt like I lived in the boondocks when I lived in Maine, even though we were close enough to Portland to get that paper daily. While I was attending the Univ. of So. Maine, I bought the NY Times every day to feel like civilization was still out there somewhere.

    On a less serious note, my Maine-born husband has always spelled the way he speaks, so he spells with a combination Maine-Mass. accent - which is pretty funny sometimes.

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Welcome, thanks for stopping by. Now that you've heard our two cents, perhaps you have a few pennies to throw into the discussion. Due to a bunch more anonymous spam getting through, I've had to disallow anonymous comments. I try to respond to all comments posing a question, but may not always get to you right away.