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Thanks again, AP

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by SF_Express, Jul 25, 2011.

  1. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    The AP is like that old quote about democracy.
    It's the worst system there is, except for all the others.
     
  2. gravehunter

    gravehunter Member

    Prime example of why I tell my people on the desk to read (and edit) AP cutlines:
    New York Mets' Wilmer Flores is out at home on the tag by Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos on the bunt single by New York Mets' Noah Syndergaard during the third inning of a baseball game at Nationals Park, Monday, June 27, 2016, in Washington.
    In addition to the horrible way this is written, if Flores is out at home, Syndergaard does not get credit for a bunt single (I checked the box score; Syndergaard was 0 for 2 in that game.)
     
  3. MNgremlin

    MNgremlin Active Member

    Fielder's choice, correct?
     
  4. KYSportsWriter

    KYSportsWriter Well-Known Member

    AP cutlines give me a headache most days.
     
  5. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    One of the universities in my state has a pretty good photojournalism department that has turned out a lot of talented people. I've always joked, however, that they must have a class that teaches students how to write cutlines in the most nonsensical way possible. I can count on one hand the number of photographers I've worked with who consistently wrote cutlines that didn't need editing.
     
  6. wicked

    wicked Well-Known Member

    They're photographers. Not editors. Newspapers have tho... Oh, wait. Never mind.
     
    BDC99 likes this.
  7. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    I did figure out, or at least try to reason, after a while that it might be on purpose. Photographers tend to write cutlines in an overly simplistic way, with extra information like the full date (including year). That leads me to think they're writing cutlines so that if anyone digs up that picture six months or two years from now, they'll be able to figure out what they need.
    Or they're just morons.
     
  8. wicked

    wicked Well-Known Member

    That's exactly what's being done. I'd rather them provide too much info than too little.
     
    Batman likes this.
  9. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    Good point. What really drives me nuts is when people working the desk think anything from the AP is a sacred tome that can't be touched, including cutlines, and they don't rework it.
     
    KYSportsWriter likes this.
  10. HanSenSE

    HanSenSE Well-Known Member

    Let's hope no one did today, when the Twitter version had a headline about a signing by the "Canadians."
     
  11. fossywriter8

    fossywriter8 Well-Known Member

    Sometimes the AP has the worst-written stuff in our paper.
     
  12. BDC99

    BDC99 Well-Known Member

    You need a new desk
     
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