Bad journalism (Wizbang)

It is news articles like this that exemplify the decline in the newspaper industry today.

CCPD: Man pulls smash-and-grab on big-screen TV

CORPUS CHRISTI -- A Corpus Christi man is back in jail after being accused to smashing and grabbing a TV from a store on SPID Thursday night.
Witness told police that a man smashed out the lower portion of a window to a store, tore off a 42-inch television. According to police, the witnesses followed the man, he dropped the television at a store at Moore Plaza and fled towards Padre Staples Mall. Corpus Christi police located Onell Garcia, 36, behind the Olive Garden restaurant and he was returned to the scene of the crime, where he was positively identified.

Garcia has been convicted of six theft-related crimes in Nueces County since 1999, is in Nueces County jail on a burglary charge.

There isn't one sentence in the story without at least one mistake. That includes the headline. Did someone in Corpus Christi proofread this crap or was it outsourced half way across the world? Newspapers are doing that these days. The above article doesn't name its author.

Anyone who has read my attempts at webfiction, know my grammar is far from perfect. Then I am not selling subscriptions to what I write.

Comments (7)

BillPerhaps in add... (Below threshold)

1. Posted by HughS | July 11, 2008 6:46 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

HughS:

Bill

Perhaps in addition to your well known Knucklehead Awards you should use this example of editorial treason to establish a new award. Granted, it may be difficult to find levels of language butchery such as this on a weekly basis but maybe it can be a monthly award. Edwin Newman and William Safire would be proud.

My suggestion would be to name it the "E.B. White Hates You Award". Or the "E.B. White Estrangement Award".

Posted on July 11, 2008 18:46

It was a dark and stormy ni... (Below threshold)

2. Posted by bobdog | July 11, 2008 9:39 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

bobdog:

It was a dark and stormy night...

Posted on July 11, 2008 21:39

I was going to come up with... (Below threshold)

3. Posted by Dave W | July 11, 2008 11:40 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Dave W:

I was going to come up with a comment, but i think their work stands alone.

Posted on July 11, 2008 23:40

OMG! That's on my neck of ... (Below threshold)

4. Posted by newton | July 11, 2008 11:45 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

newton:

OMG! That's on my neck of the woods!

That grammar was horrible. I bet you the writer attended one of the local public schools...

Posted on July 11, 2008 23:45

SPID stands for South Padre... (Below threshold)

5. Posted by Evo | July 12, 2008 3:05 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Evo:

SPID stands for South Padre Island Drive.

Posted on July 12, 2008 03:05

"Then I am not selling subs... (Below threshold)

6. Posted by iamadumbass | July 13, 2008 9:25 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

iamadumbass:

"Then I am not selling subscriptions to what I write."

You meant to write:

"Then AGAIN, I am not selling subscriptions to what I write."

Priceless.

Posted on July 13, 2008 09:25

Corpus Christi police lo... (Below threshold)

7. Posted by Falze | July 14, 2008 9:02 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Falze:

Corpus Christi police located Onell Garcia, 36, behind the Olive Garden restaurant and he was returned to the scene of the crime, where he was positively identified.

There's nothing wrong with this sentence. It's fairly standard, after capturing a suspect, to drive them back to the scene before booking or anything else ("he was returned to the scene of the crime") so that a witness can make a positive ID.

There's also nothing unusual about a paper using common local abbreviations for a street if they would expect their readers to all know what they mean.

The rest is pretty poor - but your 'every sentence' proclamation is, well, wrong.

Posted on July 14, 2008 09:02