Thread: I want that job!

Today I have mostly been involved in the days big sporting events - Casey Stoner wrapping up the MotoGP World Championship, the All Blacks despatching the Wobblies to the ignominy of 3rd-place play-offs, F1 in Korea.

Afterwards I do my usual newspaper trawl to see what happened, something I missed while the glass was pressed up to my face delivering its' sweet release...

And I come across this - from a professional journalist on a major newspaper.

The Australian of the Repsol Honda Team, Casey Stoner, just won the MotoGP World Championship at the Australian circuit of Phillip Island. Today, Sunday and the day he turns 26, in front of his fans and at his home race, Casey Stoner achieved the highest Motorcycling World Championship title for the second time in his sporting career, thus completing a brilliant season in his first year with the Repsol Honda Team.

After dominating both practice days, the Repsol Honda rider only needed to finish sixth to be crowned as World Champion, as a huge crash of his rival for the title, Jorge Lorenzo at the end of today's warm-up prevented him to be at the start, so the Australian only needed to gather the points of the sixth position to close with the World Championship a nearly perfect season. Stoner reached the finish line in first position, winning the world title in his first season with the official HRC team and with the Spanish energy company livery.

Now call me old-fashioned, but would I be right in thinking that is absolute dross?

If that is what passes for professional journalism, I am currently under-utilised, with an in-depth knowledge of a number of subjects - who do I call?

This is one of the worst I have read today, but it certainly isn't alone in being unadulterated grammatical drivel.

Don't they have editors any more?

I would suggest that English is not that particular journalist's first language. I have seen worse on this forum. Not everyone can rite as well as wot I done...

You are right, English isn't his native language. He is Australian.

Zootalaws - As a retired reporter and editor of many years experience, I can confirm that 'they', whoever they are whether news syndicate, wire service, broadcast house, or whatever, do have editors. All news editors today live in a small village in rural Backbushastan. They have one English language handbook they pass around. The handbook was translated from the Japanese by one of the villagers who determined the meaning of words by reading the entrails of gecko lizards. While the editing is not perfect, it is cheap, and in today's world profit is everything. Good writing and accurate reporting are no longer required.