The quality press.....
Johnston Press (owners of the Gazette) share price:-
The generous may blame global advertising conditions, but as the share price collapse pre-dated the global 'causes' that is nothing but an excuse.
Perhaps the truth is closer to home.
Shite reporting; shite editing; and an inability to distinguish between a story and a bullshit press release.
According to Hebrides News, Johnston Press have just finished a 'consultation' with the editor which is management speak for an imminentsacking relocation to other duties outwith the group on a suitable package.
Harsh?
Top left oftoday's yesterday's (but only delivered from the mainland printers today's) front page sums up beautifully the quality that we have come to expect:-
You couldn't make it up.....
Perhaps the truth is closer to home.
Shite reporting; shite editing; and an inability to distinguish between a story and a bullshit press release.
According to Hebrides News, Johnston Press have just finished a 'consultation' with the editor which is management speak for an imminent
Harsh?
Top left of
Inside your Gazette this week
A Happy New Year to all our readers
A Happy New Year to all our readers
You couldn't make it up.....
15 comments:
December 2007 28 pages 65p.
March 12th 2009 20 pages 72p, Its not only the quality thats decreasing.
Happy Christmas Angus.
It has to be said that having experienced several of the JPs publications, the SG is one of the worst for content (news, features and volume). What they all have in common though, is a very poor level of English. SSE Electric Metres (sic). This may be due to not having any sub-editors to proof read the articles (I don't know), it may be due to them relying solely on spell checkers or it may be that the current crop of reporters cannot spell.
People complain about JP and the SG but they have to remember that the previous local owners sold it to them. The same way Mackenzies was sold.
What about 'last week's internet poll result' Yes 26% No 46% Don't know 28%'....to what? I think they have made this up. Plus we have an eel as a councillor and Chair of education and Children's Services (see letturs page). Shurely this is a mishtayke?
Dear God is the Council mouthpiece at the end of the road?
Can anyone tell me if Bill Lucas' book Dateline: Stornoway was indicative of the Gazette's pi$$ poor editing over the years? Every single page has so many misspellings, 'tis embarrassing...
My main gripe with the Cas a' Cheit is their habit of printing some letters without the name and address of the writer, often on subjects which are not particularly controversial or likely to have someone round to their house with a baseball bat.
If you are going to write a letter to a newspaper you should be prepared to have your name and address published and hardly any newspaper worth its salt will print letters anonymously now.
Is there some unintended irony in 11.16 (Anonymous) berating the publication of anonymous letters in the Gazette. Perhaps he should write to the paper about it, anonymously of course.
5.55 pm, yes there is an irony (intended).
Back to filing your nails now.
My analysis (worth less than 2p, don't worry, I know):
We inhabitants of the Western Isles are deeply frustrated and actually frightened by our collapsing economy, our squabbling useless councillors, our desire to have small local schools and unsullied moorland though we can't quite square that with the economics, the hilarious notion that we are a knowledge economy when we're saddled with inadequate communications... it's all just broke.
So we come here looking for discussion, to understand what the hell is going on and to identify who's to blame, which might help us feel better. But we're not getting enough useful stuff to chew on, and frankly, who wants to hear about another Council fail. Angus has nothing to say today but we're all still wanting to vent, so we pick on each other.
I'm noticing more general jabbiness about the comments lately (in the real world too.) Frustration is growing.
maybe they're just early for the chinese new year?!
Having read through the comments contributed regarding this subject I find it mildly amusing that the main body of complaints seem to focus on the poor spelling and lack of correct grammar printed within the pages of the Stornoway Gazette. Perhaps the contributors should have proof read their own 'articles' prior to submission on this subject?
Yes 7:38, we've been infected by the Gazette's atrocious errors and are now committing them ourselves. We're being driven mad by badly spelled bilge. Angus's grammar is pretty rough as well.
But bloggers/commenters are surely allowed to be a couple of notches below the standards expected from newspapers though? Seeing as the former are mostly furious when they're commenting?
7:38 possibly they should but that is why newspapers have sub-editors. Most of the comments on spelling were to do with articles written by the hacks and not joe public - electric metres (sic) comes to mind. It is no use using a spell check if ones comprehension of the English language is so poor that they do not know the difference twixt metre and meter.
I find myself in disagreement with both 2:35 and 2:51. The inability or unwillingness of 'Joe Public' to write accurately infects our whole society. I find myself receiving mail with copious spelling and grammatical errors; documents and emails from 'professionals' exhibiting glaring mistakes and, worst of all, the cross-over of 'text speak' into daily correspondence. It is, in my opinion, the thin end of the wedge. Recalling the era when I was educated, and comparing it to how my children are taught today, it is clear that our education system must bear part of the blame. How can this generation be expected to know the difference between 'metre' and 'meter' or 'there' and 'their' if they are told, when asked to produce a written piece of homework, that spelling is not an issue as long as the content is good? It is that laxity in the current education system which produces sub-editors who HAVE to rely solely on spell-checkers resulting in poor quality publishing throughout our media, not just within the pages of the Stornoway Gazette.
Stornoway Gazette, Published Date:
26 March 2009
Labour MSP impressed by new chocolate factory in Lewis
THE provision of a new chocolate factory in the Western Isles impressed Highlands and Islands Labour MSP David Stewart when he visited Stornoway this week.
"I am very impressed with the new provision for a chocolate factory in the Western Isles," said Mr Stewart.
:-))
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