Thanks again, AP

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

 

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.)

 

Fielder's choice, correct?

 

AP cutlines give me a headache most days.

 

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.

 

They're photographers. Not editors. Newspapers have tho... Oh, wait. Never mind.

 

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.

 

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

 

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.

 

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

 

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

 

You need a new desk