"Sound Off"
Friends, I’ve noticed a problem in our fair county. Well, it’s actually only a problem in the Daily Local News; I think being up at all hours of the night tends to bring out the dramatic in a person. Today’s problem is the “Sound Off” section of DLN’s Opinion page.
“Sound Off” is a great, albeit brave idea for a newspaper. It gives residents a convenient forum to voice their opinions in the raw, and to draw attention to a whole array of positive and negative events in the area. It’s essentially a vocal blog.
Now, my written and spoken grammar can be dissected as much as anyone else’s. I make more than my fair share of mistakes. In fact, I feel pretty sorry for the professors and instructors at Immaculata that have to suffer through some of my papers.
That being said, I still have a problem with many of the contributions to “Sound Off.” Some of them are so poorly composed that I have not a clue as to what the speakers are complaining about. Granted, I’m sure there is a lot of nervousness and adrenaline involved in that call, but we have to fix this. I hate when good people make themselves look foolish (especially me). In the words of the great motivational speaker Susan Powter, “Stop the insanity!” I will say that this Sunday’s edition was not too bad, but the guilty know who they are without the need of being singled out.
In the spirit of goodwill, I’m offering up a cheat sheet for “Sound Off” contributors:
Step A: Write down what you want to say.
Step B: Read what you want to say aloud to yourself, or a friend.
Step C: If you think you sound like a fool, start over with Step A
Step D: When satisfied that your point has been made, dial (610) 430-1150 and speak your mind.
I hope I have made a difference.
“Sound Off” is a great, albeit brave idea for a newspaper. It gives residents a convenient forum to voice their opinions in the raw, and to draw attention to a whole array of positive and negative events in the area. It’s essentially a vocal blog.
Now, my written and spoken grammar can be dissected as much as anyone else’s. I make more than my fair share of mistakes. In fact, I feel pretty sorry for the professors and instructors at Immaculata that have to suffer through some of my papers.
That being said, I still have a problem with many of the contributions to “Sound Off.” Some of them are so poorly composed that I have not a clue as to what the speakers are complaining about. Granted, I’m sure there is a lot of nervousness and adrenaline involved in that call, but we have to fix this. I hate when good people make themselves look foolish (especially me). In the words of the great motivational speaker Susan Powter, “Stop the insanity!” I will say that this Sunday’s edition was not too bad, but the guilty know who they are without the need of being singled out.
In the spirit of goodwill, I’m offering up a cheat sheet for “Sound Off” contributors:
Step A: Write down what you want to say.
Step B: Read what you want to say aloud to yourself, or a friend.
Step C: If you think you sound like a fool, start over with Step A
Step D: When satisfied that your point has been made, dial (610) 430-1150 and speak your mind.
I hope I have made a difference.
posted by TGB at
12:30 AM
2 Comments:
This is sooooooooo long overdue! I thought that this only bothered me. I have made my share of spelling and grammatical errors while blogging, but each one haunts me to this day. I like your cheat sheet. It's the "New Rules" for vocal blogging. Thank you kind sir.
Stickler: I’m here to serve the public…………..now if I could just get a writing job with a paycheck, I’d be set! ;)
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