Because we’re supposed to write conversationally, I wonder why we stick to some choices that are clearly not conversational. As we approach the fall elections, ask yourself this: when was the last time you heard the word “gubernatorial” come up in a conversation? “Hey, Ted! Who do you like in the gubernatorial election?” “I don’t know, Stan, but that gubernatorial race is sure shaping up nicely!” Nonsense. We say governor. We say governor’s race. We say race for governor. Let’s take the goober out of gubernatorial.
Friday night, The Daily Show turned the tables on Carl Monday, WKYC-TV “investigative reporter” who produced a six-part, 22-minute investigative series on a young guy he caught masturbating at a public library computer. It’s local TV news at its worst…
Well, turns out WKYC and Carl Monday aren’t hiding the fact they’ve been rightfully disgraced on national television. It’s posted on WKYC’s home page, and Monday is blogging about it. “Remember, this is Comedy Central so don’t take it too seriously, folks,” he blogs. Yeah, and what about that quote from Tom Rosenstiel, Project for Excellence in Journalism? “Carl’s wrong. He’s made a mockery of what investigative journalism is supposed to be.” I can’t agree more, and I hope local newsrooms take notice. Safran says in comments, “It usually takes a plane crash for the airline industry to take action. Maybe this is the crash.”
