Sloppy Copy

It never ceases to amaze me how the "journalism majors" in this market continue to use certain words that grind on my nerves every time I hear them in a script.

It also amazes me how some "journalism majors" let their ego get in the way of constructive criticism and seemingly close their ears when I bring up these mistakes... almost to say... "who are you to tell me how to write copy, I have a college degree."

So, risking stepping on some toes, and inflated egos, here are a few oldies but goodies.

DEAD BODY as in "Police found a dead body behind the house"

The way I see it, you should say "Police found a body behind the house".... the word 'dead' is understood ...redundant ..... amateurish in this sentence.

It would be silly to say "police found a live body behind the house" ... if the guy is alive, it is not a story.

ELECTROCUTED as in "The man was electrocute."

I have heard this used by young reporters as a word meaning shocked.

It does not mean shocked, it means killed by electricity.

I actually heard a report in which the reporter said "..the young boy was electrocuted .... He is recovering at Christus Hospital St. Elizabeth."

Now, unless he came back from the dead, that sentence makes no sense.


SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT

O.K, this is a pet peeve of mine.

The Sheriff in most counties around here is an ELECTED OFFICIAL.

It says "SHERIFF'S OFFICE" in the phone book.. It says "SHERIFF'S OFFICE" on the side of the cars and building.

A police DEPARTMENT has an appointed head, and is called a POLICE DEPARTMENT.

A Sheriff's Office has an elected chief officer.

This is a minor point, but tell that to Sheriff White in Orange County. It's definitely a Sheriff's Office.

By the way, when was the last time you heard the Sheriff's office called the SD on the scanner, it's always the "SO" because it's the SHERIFF'S OFFICE.

RESIDENTS

Now this one is just a matter of laziness. If you say "Residents are upset about the higher taxes put on cars" ... the sentence is accurate, but rather lame.

It would be better to say "Car owners are upset about the higher taxes put on automobiles."

The word residents is really a useless word, it doesn't tell me why you are talking about a specific group of folks. Call them HOMEOWNERS, TAXPAYERS, PARENTS, DOG OWNERS, ETC.

Both methods are accurate, but you are wasting my time saying residents because it really doesn't tell me anything except they live in our area.

I could put dozens of these on this blog entry, but really, the point I'm making is ego.

So many of the people saying and writing these "pet peeves"of mine have too big an ego to take my advice and change their ways.

I guess that's the nature of broadcast media.