Who Edits This Stuff?!

[OneEyedDiva]

Over the past few years I have seen so many errors in spelling and grammar in publications that it's ridiculous! Are the editors of these newspapers and e-news outlets lazy, half blind or just not as meticulous as editors of the past? Some are headlines that contain blatant misspellings. I can't find the one I'm looking for right now but here are some examples from Reader's Digest.
https://www.rd.com/article/hilarious-newspaper-typos/

Have you seen any typos, grammatical errors, etc. in publications? Why do you think this is happening so often these days?

 

[Beezer]

Many Millenials can't read cursive writing or standard clocks that aren't digital or know basic math...all things that were drilled into us as students in grade 3.

 

[seadoug]

Yes, I've seen them in books as well. It is ridiculous. Probably Artificial Intelligence.

 

[jujube]

I was very briefly a newpaper proofreader until I transferred over to advertising sales. I'm very, very good at catching other people's typos, but not good at catching mine. Figures.

 

[HoneyNut]

Have you seen any typos, grammatical errors, etc. in publications? Why do you think this is happening so often these days?

Most likely...Because printed media is dying out and online media is not as profitable, to save costs there are fewer staff to do proofreading.

 

[Pecos]

I was very briefly a newpaper proofreader until I transferred over to advertising sales. I'm very, very good at catching other people's typos, but not good at catching mine. Figures.

Same here, when I wrote lengthy documents, I absolutely had to have a good proofreader.

 

[fuzzybuddy]

Jay Leno built a career out of gaffs in newspapers. And my poor little spell checker needs CPR, at times to keep going.

 

[katlupe]

Yes, I can spot them a mile away! I worked as a proofreader when I lived in St. Petersburg for the yellow pages of various telephone books. I loved that job! I was good at it too.

I am not sure why the errors are allowed to go through. I see all types of errors not only in the spelling. One thing I think that does not help is that younger people are growing up using the text spelling. It makes them look bad always using a letter for a word. It has become acceptable.

 

[hawkdon]

As a Crypto clerk in the Navy, I had to do exteme proofreading, so it became a habit and still is....also the tendency to spot all
sorts of errors/mixups in movies/tv etc.....

 

[Nathan]

More and more published matter is written by AI text generator programs. Much of the articles in Facebook feeds are AI generated, I can spot them for their lack of coherence, and occasional grammatical errors. But I don't judge, sometimes I feel a little "AI" myself.

 

[hearlady]

Drives me crazy!

 

[CallMeKate]

Have you seen any typos, grammatical errors, etc. in publications? Why do you think this is happening so often these days?

I have seen so many! I can't decide whether it's pure laziness or lack of education. There doesn't seem to be very much work ethic *anywhere* any longer. The one that irks me most, I think (personal cringer) is the misuse of your and you're. Man I hate that. Coming in a close second would be there/they're/their. If I had a dollar for each time I've seen "your welcome" in print, I could take every SF member out for dinner and drinks in Paris. SMH

 

[Murrmurr]

Yes, I've seen them in books as well. It is ridiculous. Probably Artificial Intelligence.

I was going to suggest that, too. Maybe some publications use editing programs instead of human editors. Human editors are expensive. Well, the ones who edit manuscripts are. They charge so-much per word...per word in the manuscript, not per word edited. Maybe some news publishers bought editing and proofreading software, and got rid of their editing department.

 

[oldlongwalker]

Not strictly speaking an editing issue, but I have noticed the increasing use of very misleading headlines by mainstream media. In a desperate attempt to get readers, the headlines are more like click bait than just a statement of fact.

Here is a recent example from Newsweek.

Russia Loses World's Largest Nuclear Submarine

The truth is, they decommissioned it.

 

[Disgustedman]

Have you seen any typos, grammatical errors, etc. in publications? Why do you think this is happening so often these days?

I worked in Missouri and saw this in the break room:

"Those who make coffee, please remember to not leave there coffee cups out their over night as the janitors don't know if there supposed to clean them"

Yes, the person who wrote it without any oversight, 2 year degree too.....

 

[Jules]

Not strictly speaking an editing issue, but I have noticed the increasing use of very misleading headlines by mainstream media. In a desperate attempt to get readers, the headlines are more like click bait than just a statement of fact.

Here is a recent example from Newsweek.

Russia Loses World's Largest Nuclear Submarine

The truth is, they decommissioned it.

My husband and I were just talking about this type of click bait this morning. Once you get into an article, you still have to read between the lines and to the end to logic out the facts.

 

[Jules]

The local FaceBook posts generally have the worst grammar. It’s painful.

 

[Della]

I watch a lot of old movies on You-tube with the closed-caption on and it's hilarious.

 

[Bella]

I have seen so many! I can't decide whether it's pure laziness or lack of education. There doesn't seem to be very much work ethic *anywhere* any longer. The one that irks me most, I think (personal cringer) is the misuse of your and you're. Man I hate that. Coming in a close second would be there/they're/their. If I had a dollar for each time I've seen "your welcome" in print, I could take every SF member out for dinner and drinks in Paris. SMH

There, their, they're not the same.

 

[oldlongwalker]

There, their, they're not the same.

To which I say, that is too much.

 

[OneEyedDiva]

I have seen so many! I can't decide whether it's pure laziness or lack of education. There doesn't seem to be very much work ethic *anywhere* any longer. The one that irks me most, I think (personal cringer) is the misuse of your and you're. Man I hate that. Coming in a close second would be there/they're/their. If I had a dollar for each time I've seen "your welcome" in print, I could take every SF member out for dinner and drinks in Paris. SMH

Sometimes I'll go back and read what I wrote (usually after checking replies) and realize I used the wrong form of a word (your examples are good ones). It's like my brain knows the right ones but my fingers do their own thing! Also, with many people using speech to text these days, some of those misspellings can be blamed on AI. But alas...some really just don't know the difference! I can be the "grammar police" sometimes too.

 

[OneEyedDiva]

I watch a lot of old movies on You-tube with the closed-caption on and it's hilarious.

OMG Della! I watched an old black and white movie last week..The Night The World Exploded on Amazon. I sometimes use close captioning if my son is sleeping. He goes to bed very early because has to get up so early. Anyway, the close captioning was unbelievably bad. "It" got the name of a main character wrong and some of the captioning of the dialog was unbelievably ridiculous.

 

[Lavinia]

Sometimes I'll go back and read what I wrote (usually after checking replies) and realize I used the wrong form of a word (your examples are good ones). It's like my brain knows the right ones but my fingers do their own thing! Also, with many people using speech to text these days, some of those misspellings can be blamed on AI. But alas...some really just don't know the difference! I can be the "grammar police" sometimes too.

Sorry, One-eyed Diva, but you have just used an expression which really annoys me....the word 'like' instead of 'as though'. This is happening more and more and is another sign of bad English.

 

[OneEyedDiva]

Sorry, One-eyed Diva, but you have just used an expression which really annoys me....the word 'like' instead of 'as though'. This is happening more and more and is another sign of bad English.

Yes, it is becoming more common Lavinia. I have certain words and phrases that annoy me too...so you're allowed. You would have gone crazy if you had seen this show I was watching a few months ago. Two young people were being interviewed and I swear, they inserted the word like in front of just about every point they made. It even annoyed the hell out of me! And just so ya know...I use improper English on purpose sometimes. It's called slang and sometimes it fits the conversation or situation.

 

[Jamala]

Slang is informal language…it is definitely not improper English.
Slang is common in all cultures of the world.

Improper English is called Ungrammatical English ...or...
in some cases Solecism.