I'm desperate! I need the help of SJ.com!!!!

Whoa whoa whoa, ok, let's break this down into two parts. First of all, I think knowing the difference between a possessive and a contraction is VERY FAR from a "unique skill." Hell, even if you don't know which one is called a possessive and which one is called a contraction, it should not be hard to know which one goes where.

Secondly, I know you'd love for every non-conservative on this site to fit into a pretty little picture of haughty liberal arrogance, but I wasn't actually trying to belittle the work of construction workers or truck drivers, so take a breath, there, Chavez. My point is ACTUALLY that spelling and grammar aren't quite as important to construction workers and truck drivers, who are far more concerned with gauging the right size of things, getting directions straight, determining weights, and of course swinging their hammers and driving their trucks effectively. But spelling and grammar fucking matter if you're going to get involved in media. They just do. Do I care if a truck driver uses "your" improperly? Not as long as he knows how to do his own job. Do I care if a TV producer, scriptwriter, or whatever XXXX is looking to do knows how to use "your" properly? Hell yes. Part of the job.

 

Damn, you've uncovered the hidden political agenda in my post about the relative importance (or lack thereof) of good grammar.

I don't think every liberal is arrogant. I just think most journalists take themselves too seriously. It's one of their unique skills.

 

BOREalist? I think there's a contender to knock off Charmion and pussy_eaten ...

 

I think he meant Aurora borealist.

 

And one, pall!

 

Is whoa, whoa, whoa copyrighted by the University of Massachusetts? Buckley is a huge fan of it and now Mert's using it.

 

Actually, yes, and because you didn't properly attribute it to either of us, we ask that you kindly send a check for $100 dollars to Mullins Way post-haste.

 

Still trying to raise money to send the footballers to Chattanooga?

 

Bet your ass. Uncle Mittsy doesn't seem to like us public schoolers much.

 

Pallister: I think it's a mistake to say that news folks are the equal of the average Joe in all things not related to writing and editing the news.

In my experience, people who work in this industry tend to have a higher level of competence in many areas. After all, we are required to take an array of college courses. That was stressed at my university. We also follow current events, including art, literature, politics, business, sports and so forth. This contributes to our knowledge base in ways that are unique from the average person, who is probably not even following the news.

Now, I can't rebuild an engine. That's true. But one is more likely to need proper grammar and English skills in this world than engine-building skills. And that's why they offer a college course dealing with writing in the workplace. It is designed with the understanding that people need to be good writers in order to advance in most professions. Consider oral communication. If you knew a guy who could rebuild engines but couldn't speak so that folks could understand him, wouldn't that pose an issue? Why should writing be any different in an era when more and more communication is done via e-mail and text messaging?

 

By asking me to do your homework, you disrespected me.

I worked my butt off during college. I didn't party on the weekends. I worked over 40 hours a week (which seems a pittance compared to others here) and paid for every dime of my education as well as my house and my car. I valued that education. I did my homework and never bullshitted on papers, and I never lied to a professor. And no, I never missed an assignment, either. I wasn't a model student or valedictorian, but I did, however, learn to punctuate.

 

For the record, I do Web site work at a TV station. More than half of the reporters don't know the difference (or maybe they don't care to take the time to change it from their script when they post it to the Web) between "its" and "it's," "their," "there" and "they're." You'd never know it if they didn't have to post stories to the Web because it all sounds the same on air.
However, yesterday when I mentiond to the senior producer an error on a crawl (She was missing the hyphen in first-degree murder), she rolled her eyes at me. ... And they wonder why they're No. 3 in a market closer to 200 than 150.