Literacy in Media is Waning

Shouldn't that be honing?

It used to be that television news media was held to a high standard when it came to writing and literacy. At least that's what the perception has been.

Now it's difficult to tune into a station, any station, and not see a glaring error in its graphics.

Shouldn't that be drugs?

Of course, when you see some of the mistakes, one could almost have fun making up a new story using the graphic as is. For example, if Lance Armstrong was caught using rugs, that might explain his having children from different mothers. 

Maybe Nelson Mandela really died in 2012 and a corrupt conspiracy-laden government lied about it to garner ongoing vigils so they could sell bottled water.

That may be true, but when was the president going to tell us about his name change?

The graphic that keeps on giving. One never tires of these flag -- well let's face it, these are more than just errors, these are the result of hiring someone who can't even use a computer well enough to Google.

Seriously. What type of person do media companies hire for their graphics department?

Any writer worth their salt will tell you puns are bad unless you're playing with your three year old.

Sadly, this graphic only proves that there is no one at the helm to edit before or during a broadcast.

Literacy Counts, Especially in Media

My broadcasting instructor Mel Stevenson used to tell us, if you have a university degree and can't spell, you can work for (a Canadian television company). It seemed rather mean at the time, but today, it almost seems like reality.

I don't think a day has gone by where I didn't see a glaring typo on the headlines or subtitles when I turned on one particular news station. Now to this one station's credit, it isn't the only one with illiterate graphic writers.

Then there are the flag mix-ups. Surely someone in a media outlet has a computer with Google where they can actually check the flag of a country -- especially their own.

These are hilarious, but super sad at the same time. If the media can't employ people who can spell and who know geography, what does that say for our businesses?