He may have not even written the title. Copy editors often write titles at newspapers and they often get fucked around with by other editors.
That's why I gave him an out with the first sentence of my email. Man, this is like the Broken Windows theory of intellectualism. You all think it's all fine and dandy to have terrible word usage in the media?
Um, maybe he went away for the weekend? Like, apparently, EVERYBODY based on the emptiness of the train station parking lot this morning.
I think it's wise of him not to respond to you. Engaging weirdos only encourages them, and you are the weirdo in this situation.
You think it's weird to point out that child rape shouldn't imply consent?
He's not on vacation he published another new article today.
A man says, "I had sex with a child."
The headline reads, "Man admits to having sex with a child."
I don't see any implied consent in the headline. Headlines are chosen to fit an available space and for impact with the fewest number of words possible.
If you were the headline writer and wrote "Man admits to raping child" I expect he could probably sue you and win. It's a different charge.
And expecting a small-town reporter to be checking his Blackberry every hour, just waiting to respond to any reader who doesn't like his word usage....crazycakes. /gavel
I get what you're saying because I was feeling ragey whenever I read that Sandusky got caught having anal sex in the shower with the boy. Um, no, he was caught RAPING the boy. Not having sex.
But there are sooooooooo many hands that a story goes through that I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if this guy had nothing at all to do with the title. Titles often get written a certain way so that they simply fill the line space above. Or so that they don't match the one below it (which obviously doesn't translate on the web, but this was also probably a print story). Or maybe the copy editor really did make a stupid mistake. But I'm not surprised that he's not responding immediately to an angry reader about something that he might not have even written.
And expecting a small-town reporter to be checking his Blackberry every hour, just waiting to respond to any reader who doesn't like his word usage....crazycakes. /gavel
There are 840k people on our metropolitan region. I'm not in Appalachia.
He may have not even written the title. Copy editors often write titles at newspapers and they often get fucked around with by other editors.
That's why I gave him an out with the first sentence of my email. Man, this is like the Broken Windows theory of intellectualism. You all think it's all fine and dandy to have terrible word usage in the media?
He's not going to say, "Sorry, our copy editor wrote it, not me." He wouldn't throw a colleague under the bus like that.
If somebody sent me an e-mail like that, I might forward it to my editor if I agreed, but I wouldn't respond. As a writer, I have absolutely no control over what ultimately goes up on the site. (Literally, I don't have access to the publishing program.)
Also, I'm not sure what today's article was about, but I usually submit my articles a day or two before they are actually published. He really may be out for a long weekend.
I get being upset/bothered by it, but he likely has little control. If he makes a huge deal about it, his editor will in turn think he's a crazy, and that's probably not worth it to him--especially in a dying industry where it's tough to find work. Let it go.
Too much time on your hands - to worry about a reply from him, at least. He will see your email, and he may re-think his titles in the future.
Yeah I just think it's unprofessional. I respond to every single work related I receive within an hour of recieving it - usually much less.
I wish everybody did this, signed *girl who's been waiting 24 hours for a reply to her very serious demand for full payment of repairs or the contact info for insurer of her jerkface "home inspector"*
If somebody sent me an e-mail like that, I might forward it to my editor if I agreed, but I wouldn't respond. As a writer, I have absolutely no control over what ultimately goes up on the site. (Literally, I don't have access to the publishing program.)
Also, I'm not sure what today's article was about, but I usually submit my articles a day or two before they are actually published. He really may be out for a long weekend.
I get being upset/bothered by it, but he likely has little control. If he makes a huge deal about it, his editor will in turn think he's a crazy, and that's probably not worth it to him--especially in a dying industry where it's tough to find work. Let it go.
Thank you, it's good to hear an opinion from a journalist. I just don't often feel strongly enough to write an author and then when I do and it doesn't get a response I'm sorta like WTH. The article today was about something that happened yesterday so maybe he's on vacation, who knows. The article I wrote about was edited several hours after I contacted him though.
It's also entirely possible I've left the reservation. I'm in the middle of a fight with my friend and I want to create a voodoo doll that's how mad I am.
It is not crazy to be pissed when you're ignored, right?
Lol I'm getting a Glen Close Fatal Attraction vibe with that comment.
I can see why you have a problem with the title, but I think it's a lost cause to expect a reporter (or hell, a paper) to do anything about it. I'd be surprised if that reporter actually lived in your city, considering how news reporting is being outsourced to other areas (even to other countries). Maybe a computer program wrote it.
Post by hannamaren on Aug 17, 2012 19:55:56 GMT -5
If you are still upset tomorrow, you might have a public editor (or something like that) our newspaper has one. Her job is to make sure cover stories and photos arent offensive, etc. also ethical violations, etc. She often writes a column based on complaints she has had over the last several months. And then she explains how they came to their choice. Example-why they posted a photo of a dead body on the front cover, why they put the murderers name in the headline instead of the victim, etc.
I'm all about a rant about the falling standards of newspapers but I was a reporter for more than a decade and graduated from the best journalism school in the country, so I'm entitled.
First off, if you're going to decry the state of modern media, try and understand how it works. Reporters generally don't write headlines, either those that appear in the paper or on the web. If it is still up digitally, you might have more luck contacting the paper's web content manager or an editor.
Secondly, this person is probably working time and half on next to no pay because just about every newspaper in this country has been cut to the bare bones. The people who are left love their jobs and believe in the importance of getting information to you. I would guess he's probably working on deadline issues at the moment and will get back to you when possible.
On a normal news day I had hundreds of emails. I often had to write one response and copy it to dozens of people. The most pressing emails got answered first. Yours would not be one of them. While I understand your point, to an extent, I'm with Dr.Girlfriend on this.
If it were me, I would say you have an interesting point, thanks so much for reading and that if you have further questions, contact editor at XXX-XXXX, FWIW. I have a feeling that would not have made you happy.
If you are still upset tomorrow, you might have a public editor (or something like that) our newspaper has one. Her job is to make sure cover stories and photos arent offensive, etc. also ethical violations, etc. She often writes a column based on complaints she has had over the last several months. And then she explains how they came to their choice. Example-why they posted a photo of a dead body on the front cover, why they put the murderers name in the headline instead of the victim, etc.
I guess there's really nothing I can do about it now. We subscribe to the print edition but I didn't even pick it up from the lobby today to see what it said. All I know is the web title still says the old title. I'm on Zoloft and I never feel strong emotions so when I do it's like holy-crap-watch-out and then to just be ignored, ack.
I'm sure I'll be pissed off about something else tomorrow.
New solution, hop the bridge to VT, buy the Rutland Herald, you'll be sending so many corrections that you won't have enough time to worry about replies from this dude. That paper is waaay worse. We used to purposely buy the TU to have our eyes not burn from the lack of editing.
Ouch man, it's not about just my preferences. It's a bad headline. Ignoring readers is basically saying let's just let this whole newspaper thing just wilt and die on its own now. There probably won't even be newspapers in ten years.
Yeah my unit has a yearly end of the year awards for crazy stuff: police reports, attorney letters, emails. photos, etc.
Well yeah I was in journalism myself for a while and have a ton of friends who are in journalism but thanks for telling your stories.
You are sounding crazy, the fact that you took the time to write an email when chances are he didn't even write the headline....? And not only did you email but you have been thinking about the fact that he hasn't responded all day.
I bet a lot of people who are in journalism read the article and continued on with their day. I think you need a drink.