I picked up the latest Independent Weekly at the library this afternoon and was appalled by the cover. No, silly, you know I'm a fan of local food, but cripes, who thought of this headline?
EAT WHERE YOU'RE AT
I know people bitch all the time about grammar these days but would it hurt a newspaper to use grammar correctly on the cover? Okay, you're saying, it's just an alternative paper. True, but given that the Herald-Sun is now trumpeting how great they are only because the N&O staff is dropping like flies alternative papers may be all we're left with one day. (No offense intended to the delightful M. Chen at the H-S.)
On the other hand, I shouldn't complain too much. The article is about cool places to eat in the periphery of the Triangle and well worth a read.
And while I was there searching for an image of the actual cover (which I clearly failed to locate) I read this amazing story of a guy who wrote to Joe Biden in '72 after his wife and children were killed and Biden's response. You may have seen Biden's reference to this in the debate with She Who Must Not Be Named but this made it even more real for me. Very touching.
P.S. Feel free to find all the grammatical mistakes above, but remember, I don't get paid to write or edit! (Clearly.)
3 comments:
"I don't get paid to write or edit! (Clearly.)"
Wait, do you mean that (1) "it's clear that I don't get paid to write" or (2) "I don't get paid to write in a clear fashion." I'm confused! :-)
My first reaction to the cover grammar: (1) If a periodical means to be news/editorial coverage first and consumer/lifestyle second, I'd advise that they keep their cover story headlines grammatically correct. For that matter, I'd advise that they keep their main cover stories always related to news/editorial. (2) if a periodical means to be consumer/lifestyle second, then I'd advise that they can be as creative and loose as they like.
I don't advise either of these things from the perspective of dictating what is "correct," but rather from the perspective of, "I think it you'll be more influential as a periodical if you follow these guidelines, given how I think people perceive things."
In the case of the Indy and this article (which I skimmed online), I'm inclined to encourage staying with a more news/editorial approach and tone.
Speaking of eating where I'm at -- time to get to the kitchen for dinner prep...
I would have preferred "eat where you're planted."
But it reminds me of the supposed Churchill quote.
And it reminds me of a bad joke. :p
That's a beautiful story about Biden's letter.
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