Associated Press Schmassociated Press

Another cut-and-paste from my MySpace blog:
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I've decided the Associated Press is very possibly a bunch of doofus, wannabe reporters. Now, there may be exceptions, but with all of the horrible use of punctuation and terrible, clumsy attempts at colorful language, I have to assume most of their writers are not all they're cracked up to be. The average Joe, such as myself, has an excuse to mess up a bit, but those presenting the world's events to the world's population must be held to a higher standard.

"Just don't..."
This is my BIGGEST pet peeve right now because it seems like everyone uses this. A reporter used this hideous phrase on TV the other night. Listen, folks. "Just don't" and "Don't just" are NOT--I repeat NOT--interchangeable. "Don't just" means "Don't ONLY". "Just don't" means "Do not AT ALL".

I'm also surprised by the misuse of commas. Seriously, folks, the comma is not one of life's great enigmas. A little misuse here and there is understandable, and I'm sure I do it, too, but c'mon--it's just out of control. Today, I saw an independent clause followed by a dependent clause separated by a comma. Nobody in their right mind would do such a thing on a front page story on MSN, would they?

OK, I'm totally bored with examples now. I just have to say that it's really hard to take reporters seriously--or lend them any credibility--when they have dunce hats on.

The way I see it, there are two main reasons for the rampant errors:

a) They're numbskulls. Plain and simple. Didn't pay attention in English class. Don't really care about learning--just want fame. How am I supposed to trust someone who doesn't know basic grammar to expound to me the complexities of today's current events?

b) They're sloppy. This is a far worse sin than being a numbskull. And again, who trusts a slopmaster? If I read a story full of grammatical, punctuation, and/or spelling errors, how am I supposed to believe they bothered to check their sources? Their details? Their context? Their background story? Anything?

I understand there are extremely bright people who just aren't into grammar and spelling or who honestly struggle with it despite their best efforts. That's fine. But they know their limitations and get the assistance they need to polish a document before submitting it for something important.

Maybe the news isn't important?