I got passed over for a position as copy editor because one of my competitors claimed to have read the AP style book, front to back.
Now--let's be clear. The newspaper I'm working for follows AP style loosely at best. They have several rules that fly in the face of AP style, and of good grammar in general.
For instance, the Editor in Chief firmly believes that the word "That" can be deleted anywhere. When she edits, she does a find-replace and aces the word. It gets deleted from direct quotes, from every single construction--etc. I know the word can be superfluous in many cases---but in others, you need it. How the hell can she argue otherwise!?
The second atrocity she holds dear is He or She. And really, that isn't so bad.
But if a sentence said, "The students love their classes," -- she replaces it with, "The students love his or her classes." Which is completely barbaric, wrong, and makes the entire paper look illiterate.
I confronted her about this--mostly because several mistakes had been edited into the last edition of the paper. [In fact, they were edited in, and then I edited them out during Minis--and then someone went back and put Stet over everything.] When I brought it up, she told me, "It's AP style. Journalistic writing is different. You have to get used to it."
Passive sentences are journalistic style? The AP style book really tells people to use incorrect grammar?
Madre de die arschlecker...
Now about the guy who claims he read the AP style-book end to end----is it just me, or is that like reading the entire dictionary? Or the entire phone book? Reference material is supposed to be for reference. Right?
AUGH. K. I'm done.
I'm less frustrated about not getting the copy editor position than I am about the EiC's views on grammar.
And if anyone thinks I'm being non-objective, cruise over to The Campus Ledger Online and see if you can't find a few glaring errors in any given story.
Now--let's be clear. The newspaper I'm working for follows AP style loosely at best. They have several rules that fly in the face of AP style, and of good grammar in general.
For instance, the Editor in Chief firmly believes that the word "That" can be deleted anywhere. When she edits, she does a find-replace and aces the word. It gets deleted from direct quotes, from every single construction--etc. I know the word can be superfluous in many cases---but in others, you need it. How the hell can she argue otherwise!?
The second atrocity she holds dear is He or She. And really, that isn't so bad.
But if a sentence said, "The students love their classes," -- she replaces it with, "The students love his or her classes." Which is completely barbaric, wrong, and makes the entire paper look illiterate.
I confronted her about this--mostly because several mistakes had been edited into the last edition of the paper. [In fact, they were edited in, and then I edited them out during Minis--and then someone went back and put Stet over everything.] When I brought it up, she told me, "It's AP style. Journalistic writing is different. You have to get used to it."
Passive sentences are journalistic style? The AP style book really tells people to use incorrect grammar?
Madre de die arschlecker...
Now about the guy who claims he read the AP style-book end to end----is it just me, or is that like reading the entire dictionary? Or the entire phone book? Reference material is supposed to be for reference. Right?
AUGH. K. I'm done.
I'm less frustrated about not getting the copy editor position than I am about the EiC's views on grammar.
And if anyone thinks I'm being non-objective, cruise over to The Campus Ledger Online and see if you can't find a few glaring errors in any given story.
