Only if you knew…

About three weeks ago, while in myPrinciples of Economics class, the instructor spontaneously decided to have aclass discussion about The Southern DIGEST. He asked the students tostate their opinion on any random article featured in it.
Opinions were scarce in the beginning, butsuddenly a voice rang out saying something to the effect of being tired ofpicking up the newspaper with typos and incomplete sentences in it. That isvery embarrassing because millions of people see it.
First, I would like to say to that personand anyone else who shares this view: You have no clue what journalists gothrough in order to keep you the reader updated, informed and entertained. Thisbusiness is more than utilizing what was learned in English class.
It’s more like utilizing what waslearned in English class plus running down unwilling people forinterviews, dealing with everyone’s attitude and personality (after all,this is communications). Also, making next-day deadlines and mostimportantly, making sure that whatever is written and published is clear,concise and coherent as well.
For your information, headlines are notintended to be complete sentences according to the Associated Press style ofwriting. Contrary to what your English education tells you, headlines are meantto state the subject of the article and should not be complete sentences. Itgives you just enough information so that you will have some idea of what thehell you’re about to read. It’s as simple as that.
Talent. This is a little known fact: Noteveryone can write! Sure, we’ve all written book reports, essays and thelike, but have we all been able to come up with words and a message thatappeals to the public? Better yet, can we all say that we’ve hadour work published? No.
So, with having said all of this, the nexttime you feel the need to scrutinize and criticize your newspaper,let the effort you put forth to complain compel you to grab an ink pen and somepaper. Let your creative juices flow onto the paper and before you know it,you’ll have written a letter to the editor!
All that is left is to submit any complaintsand grievances that you may have should be heard. Here at The SouthernDIGEST, our number one goal is to keep you updated, informed, and entertained.Help us to help you. Do not just sit in class or anywhere else and bellyache.Do something about it.
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