TV networks\u2019 graphics departments have long been out of control with their intrusive cluelessness.<\/p>\n
After 9\/11, many cable channels initiated a constant \u201ccrawl\u201d of news at the bottom of the screen. The spellbinding stream of words, slow and endless, is perversely distracting.<\/p>\n
But if you run a news channel, shouldn\u2019t credibility be a front-burner concern? Shaky language skills for all to see raise serious questions about your standards and practices. Are you stupid, or do you just think we are? Who put manic ignoramuses in charge of your graphics department?<\/p>\n
The examples that follow all happened in recent months:<\/p>\n
\u2022 An ABC affiliate, thinking\u00a0mischievous<\/em>\u00a0has four syllables, spelled it \u201cmischievi<\/em>ous.\u201d Another ABC graphic said, \u201cWake Forr<\/em>est,\u201d then proved it was no fluke with \u201cAngeles National Forr<\/em>est.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 An NBC affiliate came up with \u201cTo good to be true.\u201d We\u2019re still taught about\u00a0to<\/em>,\u00a0too<\/em>, and\u00a0two<\/em>, aren\u2019t we? Maybe it was Bring Your First-Grader to Work Day.<\/p>\n \u2022 PBS is \u201cTV for smart people,\u201d but misspelling your guests\u2019 names isn\u2019t smart. The network fecklessly spelled veteran comic actor Dan Aykroyd\u2019s name \u201cAckroyd.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 Fox News Channel, not to be outdone, displayed \u201cKyber Pass\u201d for hours. This strategic mountain pass, a key supply route for U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, is spelled \u201cKhyber.\u201d Look, you don\u2019t guess at stuff like this. You have to look it up.<\/p>\n Fox also fell into a common trap with \u201cwrecking havoc\u201d\u2014the proper phrase is\u00a0wreaking havoc<\/em>. And Fox embarrassed itself with \u201cembarassed.\u201d In \u201calledged embassy bomber,\u201d it earned an F by adding a second\u00a0d<\/em> to\u00a0alleged<\/em>.\u00a0A superfluous\u00a0i<\/em>\u00a0in \u201cHow has the president fai<\/em>red?\u201d meant\u00a0fare<\/em>\u00a0thee well, credibility.<\/p>\n \u2022 CNN joined the party with \u201ctheif\u201d and \u201cIranian peoples\u2019 belief.\u201d Put that apostrophe where it belongs, would you? And CNN might have won the knucklehead sweepstakes with this bizarre bulletin: \u201cHouses OKs climate change.\u201d Where do you begin with that one? It\u2019s an inspired fusion of horrid grammar and utter meaninglessness.<\/p>\n Why do TV networks, some of them scrutinized around the world, undermine themselves with sloppy grammar, spelling, and punctuation? What unholy mix of arrogance, recklessness, and cynicism is at work when words onscreen, the touchstone of a TV network\u2019s fundamental competence, are put in the care of buffoons?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" TV networks\u2019 graphics departments have long been out of control with their intrusive cluelessness. After 9\/11, many cable channels initiated a constant \u201ccrawl\u201d of news at the bottom of the screen. The spellbinding stream of words, slow and endless, is perversely distracting. But if you run a news channel, shouldn\u2019t credibility be a front-burner concern? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,12,39,37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-apostrophes","category-effective-writing","category-proofreading","category-spelling"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2538"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2538\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}