[PRCo] Re: The Tartan

[trams2 at comcast.net]

This is true, but first you have to nake certain you're dealing with a real journalist.  If you aren't, the story still won't come out right.  And just because a person is media-employed is no guarantee that he or she is a real journalist.
-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: Fred Schneider <fwschneider at comcast.net> 

> Over my lifetime Fred Schneider worked with my journalists. I found 
> most of them were pretty good when it came to understanding people 
> and issues about people. Send them out to cover a town meeting or a 
> general political gathering and they generally got the facts 
> straight. But most of them were like you and me. They didn't 
> understand the ramifications of the labor market, for example. The 
> York, Pennsylvania newspapers always sent me a new person every month 
> to cover the labor force news release and every month I had to 
> explain all the principles that were involved ... I used to call it 
> the "business reporter of the month club." The truth was, no one 
> wanted that job. Probably no one really understands engineering 
> either. No one understand railroads. Few understand automotive 
> engines or emission controls. 
> 
> So who is guilty, the newspaper or the person being interviewed? 
> 
> I have come to accept that the person talking to the newspaper 
> reporter is guilty. 
> 
> The journalist knows that the layman reads at a 6th grade level and 
> he must write for that level. If the FRA accident report talks 
> about interlocking plants the news reporter is going to garble it but 
> if the report talks about use of crack cocaine, it will be 
> understood. If someone trying to clarify a report speaks to the 
> journalist and uses the word engineer, the journalist is probably 
> going to change it to "driver" because that is what the reader will 
> understand. 
> 
> If we cannot speak to the news reporter about our sophisticated 
> corner of the planet in a way that the reporter can understand, it 
> will be garbled beyond all recognition. Guaranteed. And I've 
> concluded it is our fault because no newspaper can have reports 
> versed in every possible technical field on this planet. 
> 
> Did I come across with sufficient clarity? 
> 
> fws3 
> 
> 
> On Feb 23, 2007, at 1:12 PM, John Swindler wrote: 
> 
> > 
> > 
> > Maybe it is because journalist are trained in composition, grammer and 
> > creative writing, not in the topic they are trying to write about. 
> > Creative 
> > people go into journalism. Logical people go into engineering. 
> > 
> > I once spent some time trying to edit a magazine. Found that I 
> > could not 
> > compose text and then edit it. Seemed to be two completely different 
> > thought processes. So I would try to spend several days putting 
> > together 
> > "garbage" just to get something down on paper, then would have to 
> > come back 
> > week or so later and try to edit for grammer and facts. (and I am 
> > very 
> > envious of several others who seem to have the ability to compose 
> > finished 
> > text with no problem at all.) 
> > 
> > Many many years ago there was an article in Harvard Business Review 
> > that 
> > discussed that people seemed to analyze/plan on left side of brain 
> > (sort of 
> > logical side) and the right side tended to be more intuitive/ 
> > creative side. 
> > One comment was that those who are technically proficient don't 
> > always make 
> > the best managers/leaders. Seemed to make a lot of sense to this 
> > non-creative person. 
> > 
> > John 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> >> From: Bill Robb 
> >> Reply-To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org 
> >> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org 
> >> Subject: [PRCo] Re: The Tartan 
> >> Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2007 06:31:29 -0800 (PST) 
> >> 
> >> We have become a society that is always in a hurry. I've had slides 
> >> printed backwards. All you have to do is look at the image. When 
> >> the words 
> >> on the destination sign are backwards the image is backwards. But 
> >> in the 
> >> photo lab all they do is look at the slide mounting. If the slide is 
> >> mounted backwards, they print it backwards! You will find images 
> >> scanned 
> >> backwards in online archives. Obviously, no one is checking if the 
> >> image is 
> >> correct. Quality takes time and as a society we don't want to take 
> >> time. 
> >> --------------------------------------------------------------------- 
> >> Why is it so many journalism writers constantly make so many 
> >> mistakes? 
> >> What 
> >> ever happened to getting the facts straight? I get frustrated 
> >> when I see 
> >> mistakes after mistake that should not have ever gotten away. 
> >> 
> >> A 29 year old journalism major did an article on me here at 
> >> Purchase and 
> >> there are more things incorrect than correct. Major music 
> >> magazines going 
> >> out to educators that have cover photos printed backwards are 
> >> constantly 
> >> showing up in the mailbox. 
> >> 
> >> Yes, I make mistakes and they have shown up in the PTM calendar 
> >> and my 
> >> book. 
> >> God (and most people) knows I am not a perfect musician. A few 
> >> years back 
> >> there was a stress reducing book entitled something along the 
> >> lines of 
> >> Don't 
> >> Sweat the Small Stuff. We need to learn to sweat the small stuff 
> >> and the 
> >> big stuff looks easy. 
> >> 
> >> Dennis Fred Cramer 
> >> Trombone 
> >> 
> >> 
> >> 
> >> _____________________________________________________________________ 
> >> _______________ 
> >> Do you Yahoo!? 
> >> Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail beta. 
> >> http://new.mail.yahoo.com 
> >> 
> > 
> > _________________________________________________________________ 
> > The average US Credit Score is 675. The cost to see yours: $0 by 
> > Experian. 
> > http://www.freecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx? 
> > sc=660600&bcd=EMAILFOOTERAVERAGE 
> > 
> > 
> 
>