What bothers me the most about today’s print journalism is the total lack of respect for the written word. Not taking the time to proofread what has been put down on paper pisses me off, I thought that was what an “Editor” was for?! I try very hard to be correct on even my simple text messages to my friends, let alone something maybe read by millions. I feel like bad grammar is the same as a paint job with runs or a front end alignment that wears tires, shoddy work that I shouldn’t be expected to pay for! I’m sure I make mistakes in my writing, but I’m not a paid professional….. Off my soapbox as I’ve got yard work to do!
I've got stacks of HR from the late '60s and '70s, thanks to @Dave G in Gansevoort buying them decades ago and somehow convincing his Ma not to throw them out since. Been subscribing for several years now myself. Yes, some of the cars aren't what I think of as a hot rod, but I also know that the more the term "hot rod" is gate-kept, the fewer people will come in through the gate, and slowly the whole thing will shuffle off into history. Do I want to own a hot-rodded (and OT) Ford Capri or a Grenada, or a Fox-body Mustang? No, not really. But the techniques used to do so may come in handy on something I do care about, or maybe some suspension or engine bit can be modified to work with what I do like. So I'm going to read the article(s) and try and learn something. There are a couple of Mopar mags that I used to buy on the newstand that no longer exist. If I can help keep that same fate from happening for HR, then my $20/year or whatever is worth it.
I have gotten Hot Rod Magazine (hrm) since 1961, and many other magazines in the ensuing years. I also have lost money from magazine subscriptions when the publishers killed off said magazines. R&C every time, Stockcar Racing, Street Rodder, and too many more to relist here. We all know which ones went away. I also have published peer-reviewed journal articles in a couple of fields of research. Some SAE articles, some in the field of Applied Mechanics, even one article written when I was an undergrad in the field of Tribology, a ten-dollar word for wear of stuff. The most recent paper was a collaboration with people in multiple fields regarding pollution of Saudi Arabian desert sand. I do not know how many project reports and white papers I have written. All of the aforementioned do***ents received extensive, and sometimes exhaustive, reviews. I know my writing here on the HAMB on my own project and commentary on others has been not been that quality, and I tend to try to inject some self-deprivation as I try not to take myself seriously anymore. Having said all that I will add that in my opinion, the quality of the editing of many magazine articles is where the problems with the use of language have developed. In the modern world of publishing getting the story out is more important than getting the story correct. Yes languages evolve over time, and terminology I am both comfortable with and understand the meaning of, may be outdated today. However, through the careful choice of words, especially in technical writing, we will all understand what the author is attempting to convey. So yes I will continue to subscribe to hrm, as well as the random newsstand purchase of magazines that catch my eye. And I will continue to critique the poor editing of many magazine articles, but only to myself. After all I never wrote a paper that did not get multiple reviews before it went anywhere... And upon posting and reading this diatribe, I noticed a mistake. Win a prize if you can identify the word that was auto corrected to something entirely different from what I meant. The prize, my everlasting admiration for proper use of the written word...
"self-deprecation" As you all could imagine, when the big corporate cog started t******* the fat, the first that went were all the upper management and those with bloated pensions and golden parachutes. NOT! It was the copy editors. Those of us left behind who could barely string two sentences together had the arduous task of copy editing our own work and self correcting our own stories. I thought a Style Guide was a book that described the type of shoes to wear with slacks or whether or not is was acceptable to wear an ascot after Labor Day.
Which is exactly why I didn't disparage the authors of articles. When businesses had real secretaries, they were the first layer of editing. A good secretary could make or break your paper. Then technical reviews by a peer(s) to ensure that the paper said what you wanted it to say. Finally a good lexicographical engineer's (an english major...) review to remove the verbosity. And finally a good editor to polish that turd. But then the PC or Apple landed on everyone's desk. Now we don't need no steenken secretary or lex-eng or even all of the editors. The computer will do it for you. And then we have the slow decline of the printed media...
In my career spanning over 30 years I reviewed literally thousands of investigative reports. Some were excellent but others, written by those with 4 year degrees or higher read like they were written by a 3rd grader. The one thing I used to stress with those who worked for me was that when they were writing a report write as if the person reading it knew nothing about the issue at hand and when they were done reading they knew all they needed to know. And they had no unanswered questions. Funny how many reports I read from other departments left me with more questions than answers.
Have you ever noticed that you'll find a lot more mistakes in any article that concerns a subject that you know a lot about? .
Reminds me of a new CEO we had at a company I used to work for. He wrote an introductory letter and had copies of it posted around the building. It was so poorly written that I marked up one to correct the errors in spelling, grammar and punctuation. For some reason they all disappeared shortly after...
Yes, although that and $2-$5 will buy you a cup of coffee...I know, not much of a prize. Hey remember I mentioned somewhere else that I'm 1/2 Scots...I say I'm thrifty, you can call me cheap.
Some responsible people are aware of this. I have a friend who teaches English composition to science majors at MIT so that what they write can be comprehensible to others.
The Jalopy Journal
