Getting Wise

An ancient sage said, “From the errors of others, a wise man corrects
his own.” He wasn’t ancient when he said it, but he lived in ancient
times. Even so, his advice is timely — and timeless.

A wise man — OK, a wise person — does learn to
correct his or her errors. But in newsrooms, errors should also be corrected
by editors. Yet, when you run across errors like those that follow, you
wonder whether editors have been deleted:

“Good evening tonight from the French Quarter in New
Orleans.” (“NBC Nightly News,” Feb. 28, 2006)

“Good evening tonight?” Was
tonight used in case some listener doesn’t understand evening? Or was
it merely the newscast’s practice to insert tonight as often as
possible? In fact, the newscast
had used a variation of that mismatched time element previously:

“In this country this evening, the flow of commerce
along the vital Eastern Seaboard has been disrupted tonight by a
tanker-truck accident.” (“NBC Nightly News,” Jan. 10, 2005)

The phrase “has been disrupted” precludes the use of a time element. Besides, the script
distorted the time element because the accident had happened more than
eight hours before the newscast. No wonder someone (named Block)
suggested renaming the program “Tonightly News.”

“Myself and other journalists were allowed back into
the court just in time to see the case adjourned … “ (“CBS Evening News,”
March 15, 2006)

Myself should never be used in place of I or me.
Correct use: “I will do it myself.” (Intensive.) “I hurt myself.”
(Reflexive.)

That report was delivered live, so no one could have caught the misused
myself in time. But I wonder whether an editor, producer or anchor
later told the correspondent of the mistake — and suggested spending
some quality time with a grammar book. Better: “The reporters were let back
into the court just in time…” No need for the self-reference; as the
adage has it, “No newsman is bigger than the news.”

“An escaped convicted killer is still on the loose.
Write this name down: Charles Victor Thompson. He was able to walk out
of a Texas jail … “ (CNN, noon, Nov. 5, 2005)

Please don’t give me
orders. Anyway, what good would it do for me to write down his name?

“The number of attacks against Americans are still
stable or falling, and it’s the Iraqi security forces that are paying
the highest price.” (“CBS Evening News.” April 16, 2006)

Another live report, but still subject to the rules: Because number was preceded by the, it should have been followed by is, not are. If number had been preceeded by a, it would be followed by are.

“The storm bore down on a 20-mile stretch along the Mississippi River
from Illinois to Missouri to Kansas.” (“NBC Nightly News,” March 12,
2006)

Also live. Not even a 200-mile stretch could have put Kansas on the
Mississippi.

“It’s just one more thing to angst about in a season
that already stresses out millions.” (“CBS Evening News,” March 23,
2006)

Angst is not in too many listeners’ vocabulary. And the
reporter’s verbification of angst, which is a noun, made its use even
riskier. If a word isn’t widely known and commonly used, then it’s not
a “broadcast word.” So angst gives me agita.

“I’m _____ _____ on the Paraguay-Brazil border, and
you’ll never believe what you can buy here.” (“CBS Evening News,” March
6, 2006)

Why wouldn’t I believe it? For years, I’ve been reading in The New York Times, The New Yorker and elsewhere about smuggling,
counterfeiting and other illegal activities in Ciudad del Este.

What I
do find hard to believe is that a network newscast would treat a
thrice-told tale as big news. The lead-in to the two-parter called
the place the “new Crossroads of Crime.” New? Four years
ago, a New York Times reporter wrote, in a 1,600-word article dated March
15, 2002, “The Triple Frontier where Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay
meet has long been South America’s busiest contraband and smuggling
center, a corrupt, chaotic place where just about anything from drugs
and arms to pirated software and bootleg whiskey are available to anyone
who can pay the price.”

“Iran today lashed out against a resolution by the
U.N. nuclear monitoring agency that could lead to Security Council
sanctions against Iran.” (NPR’s “Morning Edition,” Sept. 26, 2005)

The problem is today — on two counts. The Iranian “lashing out” occurred
about 24 hours earlier. Today — really, yesterday — should follow the verb,
not precede it. Putting today before the verb violates a basic rule of
broadcast newswriting: It isn’t conversational. You don’t say, “I
tonight am going to a movie.”

“Does he have to nominate a conservative to satisfy
the base of his party or a moderate who would be acceptable enough to
Democrats to avoid a long and prolonged fight?” (ABC’s “World News
Tonight,” Oct. 27, 2005)

Long and prolonged? Way too much longitude.

“Up next, the man still in the eye of a political
hurricane, Michael Brown, the former director of FEMA. Our exclusive
interview with him in a moment.” (“Fox News Sunday,” 9 a.m., March 5,
2006)

Exclusive? “NBC Nightly News” also had an “exclusive interview”
with Brown Feb. 28. Eleven days before that, Feb. 17, CNN carried what
it called an exclusive look at a filmmaker’s interview with Brown.
Almost six months earlier, on Sept. 1, 2005, Ted Koppel interviewed
Brown on ABC’s “Nightline” — but did not trumpet the interview as
exclusive. Nor did Martin Smith call his interview Nov. 22 on PBS’s
“Frontline” exclusive. Months later, though, Fox and NBC did call their
interviews of Brown exclusive. No wonder exclusive has lost its meaning.

“Obviously, you must be very elated at this news.” (NPR’s “Morning
Edition,” March 23, 2006)

Please don’t tell an interviewee how she
feels. Ask her how she feels.

“The fires in Texas [and] Oklahoma, now spreading to New Mexio, are being
fueled by the worst drought in decades.” (“CBS Evening News,” Jan. 2,
2006)

I don’t want to add fuel to the fire, but how can a drought fuel
a fire?

“Inch after inch, the rain fuels these rivers
through towns with strong currents.” (“NBC Nightly News,” Oct. 13, 2005)

Can rain fuel a river? Come on, let’s stop fueling around.

A word to the wise is usually insufficient, so we
all need to just wise up.