Mike Cleaver wrote:Spelling, grammar, syntax, sentence structure, capitalization and punctuation all went out the window.
The computer is what really sealed the fate of the English language.
Mike:
No question, I would agree that the advent of computers has been both a blessing and a curse for many of us in the media.
However, we also agree to disagree.
"Spelling, grammar, syntax, sentence structure, capitalization and punctuation all went out the window" long
before the advent of computers, in my opinion.
I have worked on both sides of the fence, in both broadcasting and the print media, (try six newspapers in B.C., Alberta, and Ontario) all over Canada, since 1977, when computers weren't even invented yet ! (unless you can call the Radio Shack TRS-80, a computer !)
Back in the 1970's and 80's, there were print journalists, as well as radio journalists I had worked alongside, (some of whom had the glorious "BJ" designation "Bachelor of Journalism" from Carleton U.,) or graduates of the world-famous Fanshawe College Broadcast Journalism program. Who, btw, thought they were all SH*T HOT, but none of them could spell or write properly !
But, they could do shorthand....and write copious notes like stenographers... Sorry, but
real journalists are NOT stenographers ! LOL
The purpose of a well written, journalistic story.... is to induce a yelp or cry of anguish, (or a primordial scream?) within the reader or listener; ie to shake them out of their banal, "stuck up," apathetic lives...
No point in spinning a perfected, English, grammatical sack of malarkey...if the article... SUCKS !
To this end, I have also worked alongside bitter, cynical, news (and sports) veterans who only went to high school or worse, but their writing and grammar was "perfection" and boy, could they churn out news and sports stories, voicers, wraparounds and actualities....like a human teletype machine... ?
I do believe that attention to the English language, in media, is largely a matter of personal pride...You can't generalize, either. Some young people fresh out of college I have worked with are very good spellers and writers of English, but others are simply horrible writers !
Nothing in the media seems very logical to me, anyhow.
Some of the laziest, most deceitful, corrupt, gawd-awful writers and speakers, "void of talent" people I have worked with, are still gainfully employed in the media and, in some cases, have made a million bucks or more...clearly by making a career of b.s.'ing others...
Similarly, I have also worked with the most talented, politically-correct, hard-working, university educated media types who are currently out of the business, became hard-lucked, under-employed, or their lives are in a f*cking mess. BUT, they can spell and write good grammar like a banshee...
There's a very good reason why the former entertainment reporter
Robin Leach once wondered: (in his cockney accent)
"I'm Robin Leach and I don't know why...Apparently, having a horse-shoe up one's a**, (in addition to English language proficiency) is a key factor to being a "successful journalist". or indeed, a "success" in anything!
- NJ11