Marc Posted December 2, 2012 Report Share Posted December 2, 2012 OK I think this must be something about getting older, and wasnt sure whether to put it in the steam room or the news room to be honest but here goes. For those who have met me, you will know that Im not the most "gramatically correct" speaking person in the world. However I have found myself getting aggravated a bit lately that newscasters these days seem to have an inability to speak correct english... Now Im not talking about correct usage etc as Im bad for that myself, but I mean saying things that are completely incorrect. Here is a prime example. On sky news the other day I was watching about the discovery of a black hole which was not known to be there previously. Now one of the comments was "The black hole was seen on.........". NO IT WASN'T. Now my son listens to anything to do with space and picks up on things very easily. He would now be led to believe you can see a black hole. YOU CAN'T. You can see where a black hole is, yes. You can see the affect it has on its surrounding area, yes. But the black hole itself. No you cannot see it! Anyone else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoya&EisasMom Posted December 3, 2012 Report Share Posted December 3, 2012 It's the same over here, Marc. I don't think it has anything to do with your age. Having worked in the media business for 32 years, I always thought I was just a bit more sensitive to noticing these things. Believe me, it's getting worse! I don't know what they are teaching in journalism schools today....it doesn't appear to be grammar! What's sad is that it's not just proper grammar that's suffering....how about checking facts? I just cringe when I see something spelled wrong in a graphic. They DO have spellcheck...some people so obviously do not use it. It's not just at the tv station that I work for, but I also find it in newspapers and even on internet sites such as CNN and MSNBC. So many times I'll read a news article and the next day there will be a retraction printed because some fact was WRONG! It's been said that all this modern technology is actually "dumbing down" our society. Some days, I really do believe it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elyse Posted December 3, 2012 Report Share Posted December 3, 2012 Yeah, news people sometimes like to change facts, or even exclude them all together, if it suits their story or bias. But, other times, the facts are just not researched well enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Removed #5 Posted December 3, 2012 Report Share Posted December 3, 2012 No, [MENTION=1]Marc[/MENTION], it's definitely not just you. Like most people, I have a casual English I use most of the time, but generally am cognizant of both grammar and usage. As @Zoya&EisasMom's said, it's particularly irritating when someone who has the resources of a major network behind them - and most are using a teleprompter - can't get two sentences out without a grammar error. Writing is even worse - you're, your - there, they're, their - two, too, to - whose, who's - are not interchangeable and any decent word processing program is going to have a grammar checker as well as a spell checker. There's no excuse except for personal laziness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elyse Posted December 3, 2012 Report Share Posted December 3, 2012 Actually, some word processing programs aren't that great at checking for grammar. So things like effect and affect are used improperly all the time (I still have trouble with it, I'd admit!). To the program, as long as its spelled right... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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