Is this libel?

This Denver Post story really got it wrong.

Click on the graphic and read the fifth graph.

Poskey is the family friend who released the statement. I think the author meant Robert Laurencio Montoya, the boyfriend.

See how easy it is to make a mistake that can get you in trouble?

Class Web site: Latest edition

Check out the latest edition of the 410 Forum, with stories by students in my Advanced News class. These students are really good writers.

Check out my new Facebook page

Cause blogs are so last Thursday. Follow the Crank on Facebook at The Cranky Copy Editor.

This dad's got his own club

Saw a T-shirt at the mall that said the following:

D.A.D.D.
Dad's Against Daughters Dating

The problem is the apostrophe. It means one of two things. It could mean that the word is possessive. But there's nothing for it to possess. So that doesn't make sense. It could mean that the apostrophe stands in for a missing letter. So it could mean "dad is" against daughters dating. That kind of makes sense, if the creator is talking about just one dad. But not if the creator intended "D.A.D.D." to take after MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) and SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions).

It should be "Dads Against Daughters Dating." That way, the word "dads" is plural, which means the club can include more than one dad.

Are you sure about that?

Call the ASPCA! In case you can't read the image, the small headline on the left says:

"No one hurt, but family dog is killed."

We're online

My JMC410 class has done some great work so far this semester, and it's online at our class Web site, The 410 Forum. Please check it out.

Another fact not checked

The sports editor at The Star Press in Muncie, Ind., had to apologize in print this week for getting a story completely wrong. Seems a guy by the same name as a local athletic director applied for a job at a different school. Oops. Why did they wait until it was the middle of the night to call the guy for a comment? They'd been chasing the story all day. Unbelievable.