Why misspelled names deserve an F
The Toronto Star is looking at new ways to track errors and perhaps reduce them, as other papers, including the Hamilton Spectator, have done. In a recent column, the Star‘s Public Editor, Kathy English, explains why getting names right matters and how getting them wrong hurts a paper’s credibility. A former journalism educator at Ryerson, she says there’s a good reason students should get an F when they misspell any name.
The Toronto Star is looking at new ways to track errors and perhaps reduce them, as other papers, including the Hamilton Spectator, have done. In a recent column, the Star‘s Public Editor, Kathy English, explains why getting names right matters and how getting them wrong hurts a paper’s credibility. A former journalism educator at Ryerson, she says there’s a good reason students should get an F when they misspell any name.
November 5, 2007
I just finished writing, in
I just finished writing, in bright red letters, on the white board a warning about happens to any student in my journalism class who gets a name wrong – YOU’RE FIRED. I even have a special red marker I use in such cases, as opposed to the usual red pen – only a Pilot G-2 05 will do – I use on their copy.
I explain it’s better to be fired here by me than to get canned in the real world.
A quick anecdote. My son plays high school basketball, so his name is in the paper fairly regularly. If his name appears as McLean, he just sneers. “Can’t they get it right? You used to RUN that paper.” Ouch.
December 23, 2007
I recently started writing
I recently started writing the monthly bulletin for a small branch of the Royal Canadian Legion and quickly discovered how insulting mispelled names were to those involved. And I am not talking about major mispellings, but rather minor typos like spelling Dianne with one n.
I was new in the village; therefore, I assumed that my sources would supply me with the proper spellings of names. But that didn’t happen. In fact, I learned that my sources, many of which were born in town, were rarely trustworthy.
My occasional errors fostered more conversation piece than the actual articles that contained them!
I cannot emphasize enough the need to check and doublecheck the spelling of names. A mispelled name can indeed sidetrack a reader and send your masterpiece into oblivion.