Placemarker text fail

Reporter was fired, and rightfully so. But what's worse is this went through TWO staffers and not many readers even caught it. Everyone - including the readers - should be fired. Now.

 

How many papers anywhere give copy two reads any more?

All the copy editors have been laid off.

 

Yeah, and "15 out 16 stolen bases." Laziness.

 

Update ... http://jimromenesko.com/2012/05/18/that-damn-coach/

 

You would think somebody edited the story and somebody proofed the page. But then that would make sense.

 

At a 3,600 circulation weekly? Seriously?

 

Maybe they should, but as I always say when my proofer phones up to apologize something she let slip through, "if I didn't write it in the first place, you wouldn't have missed it." Simple as that.

I even watch what I "command C" on my work computer.

 

At the first paper I ever worked, a guy (not me) sent out a page to the proofer with a headline saying some public official was a "dumb fucker." (He was.) I think the page got as far as having a plate made up.

He was suspended without pay for 30 days, during which he quit. (Actually he got another job after about two weeks, and when his return date rolled around, he didn't show up. Mr. Publisher called to say, 'did you know you were supposed to come back to work today,' to which Mr. Pottymouth replied 'fuck you' or something to that effect. He was making like 5 bucks an hour more at his new job.)

A memo was sent out to the effect that sending out any page, even to the proof printer, with an obscenity was a firing offense.

 

I'm glad that in most cases, my brain to finger filter works better than this person's did. I've had days like that when getting info from coaches is like pulling teeth, and this thought has crossed my mind, but NEVER type it.

When I was in college, our layout guy decided to drop the L from public to see if the editor would notice it. She didn't and the headline explored pubic relations.

 

Two people were supposed to proof it.

One said, "I am not into sports and didn't finish it."

 

That didn't even dawn on me in light of what immediately followed.

 

At our weekly, which is smaller than that, copy gets one edit, then a page gets four proofs -- minimum. (Yes, stuff still gets through).

The beauty is that two of the proof folks have lived their all their lives and know all the names.

For me, the last two graphs would have said.

Xxxxxx Xxxxxxx xxx xxx xxx xxxxx .