Pay attention, even on the web.

DesMoinesRegister.com - May 11, 2009

Sources say training of Iowa-born pilot was an issue in Buffalo crash

Officials for FAA and Colgan didn't immediately reply to a request for comment.
Besides his inexperience with the stick-pusher, Renslow had failed at least two flight simulator "check rides" administered by FAA during his employment at Colgan and several other check rides earlier in his career, sources said.
Colgan may not have known about the previous check ride failures because of a loophole in FAA requirements about what pilots must tell prospective employers, sources said.

Another issue to be probed at the hearing is whether the flight's first officer, Rebecca Shaw, was too fatigued to fly but failed to tell Colgan that because the work culture at the airline didn't encourage such disclosures, sources said.
Shaw had been a passenger on a red eye flight the previous night from Seattle, where she lived with her parents, in order to be at Newark Liberty International Airport for the flight to Buffalo. She also had a cold and was suffering from congestion, sources said.

It's hard to tell in this format, but the formatting on these two paragraphs was messed up on the Des Moines Register website. In both paragraphs, after "sources said," there was a large space, with the next sentence starting on the next line. If this is supposed to be a new paragraph, then there needs to be an extra line between them, like in the rest of the article. If it is supposed to be the same paragraph, then the next sentence should start on the same line. In either case, these weird spaces are very distracting, and probably stopped some people from reading on. Formatting and layout is important, even on the web.

Lame Lead

CNN.com - May 11, 2009

Cheney ramps up attacks on both sides of the aisle

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/05/11/cheney.attacks/index.html

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Far from a secure, undisclosed location, former Vice President Dick Cheney is out in the open and increasing his criticism on the Obama administration and even fellow Republicans.

There is not a grammatical mistake in this lead, but it is just a poor lead. The beginning is a play on the "secure, undisclosed" location that the Vice President goes to during an national emergency. But this has no bearing on the current situation, especially since he is no longer Vice President. Most readers won't know the reference, and so it just seems random. Even if people get the reference, it is just a poor play on words. If the writer could not come up with anything clever, a better lead would just have been a news lead, which outlines what happened. 

So nice, she said it twice

TimesDelphic.com - May 7, 2009

University takes measures to fend off swine flu

Despite this, the university has implemented many preemptive policies and practices to both prevent transmission of the illness if it does reach campus and plan appropriately for control of the virus among the student population. 

I just can't see the difference between preventing the transmission of the virus and controlling it among the student population. They both mean stopping the virus from spreading from person to person. And yet the writer says that the university is doing both. I think they are just doing one thing, but the writer thought it sounded better to write it two different ways. If you aren't paying close attention, you might not even notice that the two are the same. Nevertheless, the writer limited her words to talk about other things or to more thoroughly explain other points of the article.

Put a little work into it, for God's sake

DesMoinesRegister.com - May 10, 2009

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090510/NEWS03/905100329/1001/NEWS

Hansen: Ankeny couple don't know YouTube, but they're on it

The author of this article is Marc Hansen, so I don't see the need to put this name in the headline. If it's his article, then he must be saying it. Plus, it's not an editorial, and the headline itself is not opinion, but fact. Why not just say "Ankeny couple don't know YouTube, but they're on it"? But even that is not the best; it's a cluttered, awkward title. It's a very sweet story about an older couple that sang at a Nursing Home. The video got put on YouTube, and now they're stars, even though they don't own a computer. The headline should match the tone of the story.

Mistake #2

A guy from L.A. who told them he represents "Good Morning America" wants to fly them into New York to chat with Diane Sawyer.

A guy from L.A.? Who are you talking to, your best friend? Put  a little work into it. What is the guy's name? What is his title? If these things aren't known, at least use the word "man." "Guy" makes the author sound like he's 14.

Caption need attention, too.

DesMoinesRegister.com - May 4, 2009

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=D2&Date=20090504&Category=COMM&ArtNo=905040812&Ref=PH&Params=Itemnr=4

Neighborhood Associations' Event

May 4, 2009 
Jonathan Quinn/For the Register 

saac Garcia of Des Moines participates in the children's dance performance.

arah Schoen and Alyssa and Katie Jurado of Des Moines take a break from the festivities.

I'm pretty sure this people's names aren't "saac" and "arah" but Isaac and Sarah. In fact, I know they aren't, since I know the photographer and helped him with the captions. This is just a simple copy and paste issue on the part of the editor or whoever is responsible for loading content. Also, just a quick read-through would have caught this right away.

Few vs. couple vs. now

TimesDelphic.com - April 30, 2009

http://media.www.timesdelphic.com/media/storage/paper1086/news/2009/04/30/Features/Science.Centers.Imax.Offers.Wide.Range.Of.Films-3731801.shtml

Science Center's IMAX offers wide range of films

"Oscar season is over, and with a few months until the summer blockbuster season begins, heading to the movies seems hardly worth it."

This is the lead of the story, and it has a mistake in it, though it's not a grammatical mistake. I think this writer might have pushed the truth a bit to get a clever lead.

It is not a few months until blockbuster season begins. Although there is some disagreement over when the season begins, many people believe the official start of the blockbuster season is late April or early May. In other words, now. Others believe it doesn't start until June, but that's only one month away, not a few. In fact, even if you said the season started on the official first day of summer, that's last than two months away. Two is a couple. Few is at least three. Any way you slice it, the blockbuster season is not a few months away. A writer should not be so attached to their lead that they forget fact.

DesMoinesRegister.com - May 3, 2009

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090503/LIFE/905030302

Economy, nature force Iowans to reinvent the arts

"The university's dilemma about how to forge ahead is hardly unique.Cultural organizations across the state..."

There just seem to be so many of these little typos around that proofreading should be able to catch. Spell-check even catches when there is no space between sentences. This kind of error is not only distracting, but also makes it more difficult to read and understand the two sentences, because you want to run them together. 

It is the worst

Newsweek - May 4, 2009

Reel Recession Bargains - p. 60

"It can't be worst than the last one."

Know your comparatives, Newsweek! The word should be "worse" since the sentence is comparing two things: "it" and "the last one."

In a book!?

From "The Ecco Anthology of Contemporary American Short Fiction."

In "Identity Club" by Richard Burgin

"... a junior executive at his agency who hadslowly introduced him to the club."

This is just a typo. The editors must have overlooked the missing space between the two words. Still, I was surprised to see it in a book, because mistakes there are rare. Usually, copy-editing is extensive before putting something in print so permanently.

Sexual Tense-ion

Timesdelphic.com - April 20, 2009

The D-Spot: 100 years of sex and then some

http://media.www.timesdelphic.com/media/storage/paper1086/news/2009/04/20/RelaysFeatures/The-DSpot.100.Years.Of.Sex.And.Then.Some-3717672.shtml

1933 - Dr. Robert Dickinson came out with "Human Sex Anatomy," the first modern book by a sexologist to contain illustrations of sex positions.

1938 - The New York Board of Censors bans all movies mentioning pregnancy, venereal disease, birth control, abortion, illegitimacy, prostitution, miscegenation (interracial relationships) and divorce.

This article is in a timeline format. Every blurb is written in the present tense, except for this one about 1933. The verb should be "comes out" instead of "came out" in order to have a consistent tense throughout the whole article. Plus, "came out" is not a very interesting or descriptive verb. "Writes" would be much better. The 1938 blurb is shown here to illustrate the tense of the rest of the article.

Poor Writing

DesMoinesRegister.com - April 26, 2009

He was never supposed to walk or talk

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090426/NEWS14/904260332

"We had an older son, so we knew how that was supposed to go, so there was obviously something wrong," Gary said.

So began the process of determining the problem - countless visits to neurologists and doctors across the state.

The writer should not have begun the this sentence with the word "so." The source uses the word "so" twice in his quote directly above. You can't change a quote to make it sound better, but the writer just added to the problem by repeating the same word. Plus, "so began the process" doesn't have a subject doing the beginning. The reader can't be sure who is doing the action. Instead, it should read, "Tyler's parents began the process..." That is, assuming that this is who the sentence is referring to.

Switcharoo

Timesdelphic.com - April 20, 2009

Organic food grows in popularity

http://media.www.timesdelphic.com/media/storage/paper1086/news/2009/04/20/RelaysFeatures/Organic.Food.Grows.In.Popularity-3717667.shtml

The USDA seems to back up Stych's claim. Although the department certifies organic foods, it has found no evidence to suggest that organic food is safer to eat or that it contains more nutrition than conventional food. In short, an organic apple is just as nutritious as a conventional apple.

This is not a grammar or usage mistake, but it just doesn't make enough sense as it could. The writer is saying that organic food has not be found to be healthier than regular food. So, the last sentence should read: "A conventional apple is just as nutritious as an organic apple." Otherwise, it sounds like the nutrition of the organic apple has been doubted, instead of the other way around.

Repeat

Des MoinesRegister.com - April 27, 2009

Outside Des Moines: Marriage license applications & protest petitions

In rural counties, however, few if any licenses were issued.

In many rural counties few, if any, licenses were issued. 

This is just a simple issue of poor proofreading, not catching a repeat sentence. What's even worse is that these two sentences were right next to each other. The first ended a paragraph, and the next was a paragraph on its own. Plus, the two sentences are punctuated differently. The second sentence is the correct one. 

Tricky "Or"

The Des Moines Register - April 14, 2009

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090414/BUSINESS/904140397/1001/NEWS

 

Confidence in retirement accounts falls

"But only 41 percent of workers report they or their spouse have that type of plan."

This is a tiny error, one that must people would not even notice. This is the way people talk, but it is still incorrect. The verb "have" should be "has," because when "or" is used, the verb has to agree with the noun closest to the verb. That noun is "spouse." Their spouse has that type of plan, not their spouse have that type of plan.

Not wrong- just confusing

The Times-Delphic - April 9, 2009

http://media.www.timesdelphic.com/media/storage/paper1086/news/2009/04/09/News/Author.Mutel.Argues.For.Protection.Of.Iowa.Nature-3703070.shtml

 "told audience members at her lecture on Tuesday about the vast importance of Iowan nature and why it should be saved."

"Iowan" is an adjective that describes things relating or concerning Iowa. So the phrase "Iowan nature" is technically correct. But because the word "Iowan" is more commonly used to describe the residents of Iowa, this phrase sounds like it means the nature of Iowans, or the nature of Iowa's residents. This is an example of one of those times when the writer or editor needs to look past correctness and think about what other meanings people could read into the words.

That's a lot of food!

I found this sign in an elevator this weekend. It's an ad for Johnny's Italian Steakhouse. I had just eaten there, so I knew the sign was false.

No matter how diverse a restaurant's menu is, it can never be unlimited. Do they offer every food served on the planet? Do they have enough food to serve an infinite number of people? Definitely not. This is not a grammar error, but it is definitely a mistake in the usage of words. They probably meant large, diverse, or even special order. But they failed to understand that unlimited means "without limits."

Us do better - Objective vs. Subjective

In the brochure of sessions for the Upper Midwest Honors Conference

"Us student-centered groups work hard to...."

Since the "us" is referring to the subject of the sentence, "student-centered groups," it should instead be "we," the subjective pronoun. "Us" should only be used as an object. Come on Honors students, do better!

They Did What? - Misplaced Modifier

In a lecture by Steven Dacey on the "Secular Conscience" at the Upper Midwest Honors Conference  

"... the genocide in Darfur, in which white evangelicals have taken a leading role."

I don't remember the whole sentence, but the gist of it was that white evangelicals were fighting to stop the genocide in Darfur. The way he said it, however, made it sound like they were leading the genocide, not stopping it. One needs to be careful where one places modifying phrases, in order to avoid confusion.

Mistake 26

The New Yorker - March 9, 2009

"in Scandinavia.Jon Danielsson, an Icelandic economist...."

The New Yorker rarely makes mistakes, at least that I ever catch, so I was surprised to see this typo. There should be a space between the period and "Jon."

Mistake 25

The Moline Dispatch - March 13, 2009

Only regret: Flames didn't 'win'

"That's also not to mention the talent this farm team feeds to a Calgary Flames team that is 40-22-6 and is the third-best time in the Western Conference, and is in Stanley Cup talks this season."

Other than the clearly misplaced comma after "Conference," this sentence is poorly written, with two many verbs. It should read "a Calgary Flames team that is 40-22-6,  the third-best team in the conference, and in the Stanley Cup talks..."

Mistake 24

The Moline Dispatch - March 13, 2009

Only regret: Flames didn't 'win'

"As he pondered each question carefully, it was clear the part-American Hockey League owner was all-hockey fan, and hates to lose the franchise...."

There are two mistakes in this sentence. One is a tense issue. If the subject "was" a hockey fan," then the verb should be "hated" not "hate." Otherwise, the tense changes from past to present in the same sentence.

The second mistake is one of clarity. It sounds like he is part-American, not part-owner, especially since the line ends after "American," and the phrase starts up again in the next line.

Mistake 23

The Moline Dispatch- March 13, 2009

Some school districts considering 4-day week

"'It's hard to get to the why, of course, because so many things affect student achievement,' said Andrea D. Beesley of Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning in Denver."

It's difficult to see this mistake without the entire article, but it's still apparent. The sentence before this one says that 4-day school weeks have led to better performance by students. My problem with this quote is that it doesn't say anything Why include this quote, saying that they don't know why the phenomena is happening? Readers want positive statements, not negative statements. Quotes should be powerful. You shouldn't quote someone saying they don't know, unless that ignorance is important.

Mistake 22

The Moline Dispatch - March 13, 2009

The paper was rife with mistakes on just the first day I came home.

"Bernard Madoff pleaded guilty Thursday to pulling off what could be the biggest, most spectacular swindle Wall Street has ever seen, and was sent off to jail in handcuffs..."

The comma after "seen" should be removed. The subject of "was sent off" is "Bernard Madoff," so there it is not an independent clause and should not have a comma. 

Mistake 21

TimesDelphic.com (March 9, 2009)

http://media.www.timesdelphic.com/media/storage/paper1086/news/2009/03/09/News/Troyer.Gives.Last.Lecture-3664849.shtml

Troyer gives Last Lecture

Next, he asked what our strengths are and what we can improve on. Troyer found answers started by looking for people that can be honest with you. 

There are not grammatical mistakes here, but it doesn't make sense. "Troyer found answers started" is almost nonsensical. I would suggest a different verb, but I don't know what the writer is trying to say.

Mistake 20

More from my hometown newspaper

Moline Dispatch - March 10, 2009

http://qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php?id=429189

No one else was found in the vehicle and it was removed from the river.

There should be a comma after "vehicle." These are two independent clauses connected by a conjunction, so there should be a comma before the conjunction.

Mistake 19

Des Moines Register March 11, 2009

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090311/NEWS/90311016

Civic leaders among those arrested in West Des Moines prostitution sting

The men ranged in age from 43 to 70, and included:

There should not be a comma after "70." The subject of the verb "included"  is "men," so it is not an independent clause requiring a comma.

Mistake 18

Quad-Cities Online

http://qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php?id=428379

This is my hometown newspaper, and I try to keep abreast of what's going on back home.

HUD grant to help get the lead out of Quad-Cities homes

But the recently passed federal stimulus bill pumped more dollars into the program so Moline got its grant in a second round of awards, said Frankie Atwater, the city's community development manager.

This is a run-on sentence, because there is not comma before "so." "So" is a conjunction and needs to have a comma before it when combining two independent clauses, just like "and."

Mistake 17

DesMoinesRegister.com

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090304/NEWS/90304036/Culver+addresses+flood+recovery+from+Old+Capitol

Culver addresses flood recovery from Old Capitol

The governor said the 1 percent sales tax increased passed in Linn County on Tuesday

The  d in "increased" needs to be omitted to become "increase." Otherwise there are two active verbs right next to each other in the sentence, and it doesn't make sense.

Mistake 16

 Facebook.com

OK, so I know this is Facebook and not published journalism, but this is a mistake that often annoys me on Facebook, so I'm going to gripe about it. Hey, the real media can't mess up all the time. The name has been omitted to protect identity.

In a status, Blank Blank "is gets to play with kittens today."

This is representative of many other status reports. People always forget to delete the "is" in front of their name and just continue on with the sentence.

Mistake 15

TimesDelphic.com (March 5, 2009)

http://media.www.timesdelphic.com/media/storage/paper1086/news/2009/03/05/Features/Drake.Theater.Looks.To.The.Classics-3660245.shtml

"The Bacchae' is all about people's refusal to accept change," Sharkey said.

There is an apostrophe after Bacchae that doesn't belong. If it's meant to be an internal quotation mark, then there needs to be another one before "the."

Mistake 15

TimesDelphic.com (March 5, 2009)

http://media.www.timesdelphic.com/media/storage/paper1086/news/2009/03/05/Features/Drake.Theater.Looks.To.The.Classics-3660245.shtml

"The Bacchae' is all about people's refusal to accept change," Sharkey said.

There is an apostrophe after Bacchae that doesn't belong. If it's meant to be an internal quotation mark, then there needs to be another one before "the."

Mistake 14

My brother sent this to me this summer before the Olympics, and I just remembered it now. I'm not mocking China's mastery of English, but some of these mistakes/misunderstandings/mistranslations are pretty darned funny.

China is ready for the Olympics and the resulting influx of English speaking tourists...

Mistake 13

The Times-Delphic (March 2, 2009)

Vice President of Student Life Eric Gudmundson (AS, J3) presided over a turbulent Student Senate meeting Thursday. Gudmundson, filling in for Student Body President Kevin Kuhle (J4), scrambled to mediate a heated discussion during speakers and issues centered around negative campaigning

I had to read this sentence several times before I figured out what they meant and why it sounded so weird. You can't do something during speakers; you can do only do something during speaking. This mistake is a little more understandable than the next one. You really can't do anything during issues. How can something be during an issue? It's not an event or anything with a timeframe.

Mistake 12

DesMoinesRegister.com (February 18, 2009)

Report to be released on use of restraint chairs

The chairs have been used in numerous Iowa counties and elsewhere around the
country since then, and have been blamed for serious injuries and deaths
among prisoners.

The comma after "then" should be removed, because the second half of the sentence is not an independent clause. The subject of "have been blamed" is "chairs" at the beginning of the sentence.

Mistake 11

DesMoinesRegister.com - February 18, 2009

Fingers pointed at DHS's inaction in Atalissa case

...where mentally retarded employees of Henry's Turkey Service...

"Mentally" modifies "retarded," so there should be a dash between them.

Plus, I think the term "mentally-disabled" used be used instead for more sensitivity.

Mistake 10

britneyspears.com

Britney's status:

I rehearsed on the tour stage for the first time! It's cooler then I imagined & has a lot of moving parts-can't wait for you to see it!

The word "then" should be replaced with "than." "Then" means next, while "than" is a conjunction used to compare.

The dash to start another sentence is also a problem, but the status is informal, so I'll let her off on that. 

I promise that I don't go to this site. I friend found the mistake and told me about it.

Mistake 9

AssociatedContent.com

The Top MFA Programs in Creative Writing

Most of the students leave the school in major debt, but feel the education ,and experience to the...

The comma before "and" needs to be right after "education," with a space before "and." 

Mistake 8

Print Editing Class (February 12, 2009)

Professor Blachford said: "Irregardless, you're gonna read it."

"Irregardless" is not a word. It should be "regardless." One of my pet peeves. 

Mistake 7

Table topper in Olmsted Student Center

"Don't wait for people to be kind show them kindness."

This is a fused sentence. The sentence needs to end with "kind," and a new one should be started with "show."

Mistake 6

DesMoinesRegister.com (February 9, 2009)

State treasurer says lottery lease is worth at least $1 billion

...all lower offers should be rejected , says State Treasurer...

There's an extra space between the comma and "rejected." It's just a small typo, but it's glaring and in the first sentence of the article.

Mistake 5

DesMoinesRegister.com

Brasher: Peanut butter alert puts scrutiny on FDA

...after a major outbreak of foodb-orne disease.

Hyphen should be placed between food and borne. This doesn't even make sense.

Mistake 4

The Tampa Tribune (January 21, 2009)

Photo of sign that reads "Welcome to downtown Tampa. There's so many reasons to love it."

The sign should read, "There are so many reasons to love it." Reasons is plural, so the verb needs to be plural in order to agree with the subject.

Mistake 3

CNN.com (January 26, 2009)

On the taco trail in L.A.

The one in Highland Park is more centrally located: Near a hipster bowling alley, dive bars, and Occidental College, it's handy for town and gown alike.

The colon needs to be replaced by a semicolon. The second half of the sentence is not a list, quotation, or something to be emphasized. Instead, they are two closely-related sentences that need to be joined by a semicolon.

Mistake 2

DesMoinesRegister.com (January 26, 2009)

Heartland Financial swings to loss in 4Q

...Good news for the company however, was the performance...

This comma needs to be accompanied by another comma before "however."

Mistake 1

From CNN.com (January 23, 2009)

10 Stories behind Dr. Seuss Stories

...the Ohio Sea Grant Program wrote to Seuss creator Theodore Geisel, and told him...

The comma after "Theodore Geisel" needs to be accompanied by another comma before the name.