Huffington Post reaches new low
Newspapers are edited for style, consistency and accuracy, among other things. Should a group blog like The Huffington Post be as well?
The question gains weight today with this post on the Malibu fires. Although this blogger does capture memory and imagery, her post on a national site is remarkably poorly written.
The writer asks “Since when were there track homes in the multi-million dollar mansion area?” Perhaps she meant “tract” homes?
Both the first and last sentence make little sense, as the author can’t figure out what the subject is:
“Born and raised in Los Angeles, breaking news of a fire in Malibu is caught by a local resident to be no big surprise.”
The subject appears to be “breaking news” which was of course born and raised in Los Angeles. Unless she meant ‘thought’ instead of ‘caught’, which still doesn’t make sense. Simple would work better: “To a local resident born and raised in Los Angeles, breaking news of a fire in Malibu is no big surprise.”
The last sentence is even worse:
“Anticipating the idea that Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, or Lindsay Lohan’s beach houses in Malibu aren’t burning anytime soon, Malibu will be on the back burner once again until another premiere disaster strikes or is sent to rehab!”
All of Malibu needs to go to rehab? No no no!
October 24, 2007 at 5:40 pm
Perhaps “track(s)” refers to Amy Winehouse and all the other celebrities in rehab. Thanks for keeping the world safe for copy editors. And kudos on your Press Club award!
October 24, 2007 at 5:55 pm
According to HP, she has a Broadcast Journalism degree. THAT explains everything. I work for a Los Angeles TV station, and the writing the comes from some of the “writers” and “producers” where I work is , at times, embarrassing. Broadcast journalism, in general, is infected with a high level of carelessness. After all, “it’s on, and gone” and most viewers are watching with half a mind anyway. It’s unfortunate when such an infection spreads to the print world.
October 26, 2007 at 10:06 pm
After I read the piece, I tried to post this reply. I doubt it will get past the censors, so . . . enjoy:
_____________________________
The quality of your writing washed out what you tried to say. In no particular order:
Kris, ditch the passive voice. Please.
If you make your living in the mass communications business, you should have learned by now that you must not, cannot, and must never use the verb “to be”, in any tense, in any form, in your work. The Russians, and the Klingons, get along fine without it.
Do you see anything wrong with this sentence?
” . . . The Malibu Presbyterian Church that I passed every time I drove from the Valley to Malibu was vanished.”
Mmm hmmm . . .
I would rather avoid the cross-town rivalry thing, but . . . if you call yourself a proud daughter of Troy, then the Westwood types have nothing to fear. I graduated from UCLA decades ago, as a math major, no less. My small chunk of text flies rings around your stuff. Now, I did strain a little to avoid “to be”, but still . . . it flows/reads better than your piece.
I’d like to know how you landed your jobs, while I must look hard for mine. Tell us in another piece, after you learn how to write.