Good edit

Update: Just in time for the beginning of the school year, my online friend Mark Johnson photo-shopped this fix of the misspelling on a North Carolina road.

Very cool, mark.

Hot hot wheels wheels

My son has had this Hot Wheels toy for over a year, but I just noticed the error on the box yesterday. Does that mean my copy editing skills are declining, or that I'm just less cranky?

Click on the photo and look on the left for the typo. You see why every office needs a copy editor.

What about dad?

I was struck by the juxtaposition of two stories in The New York Times earlier this week. One was a magazine article about stock car racer Dale Earnhardt Jr., the other a sports feature on New York Liberty power forward Taj McWilliams-Franklin. Both were well done, but they also replayed old stereotypes about what is expected of mothers and fathers in our society.

The McWilliams-Franklin story focused on how her travel schedule impacted her relationship with her daughters. It was part of the Times' series "Motherhood in Play." The Earnhardt piece discussed how Junior missed out on a relationship with his father, also a racing superstar.

These two ideas seem related, no? Yet why is there never a story on how pro sports affects fatherhood? The McWilliams-Franklin story told readers that 11 mothers play in the WNBA. I know it must be difficult for their families, but isn't it also difficult for all the families of fathers who play in the NBA?

The WNBA story actually quoted a social psychologist saying the following about the fact that McWilliams-Franklin's youngest daughter is cared for by the girl's father. "The ideal arrangement if you have to leave a young child is to leave it with a relative." Really? You mean, somebody like the kid's dad?

The stories seem to say that men being away from their families is the norm, although it may result in missed relationships, but women being away is abnormal. Subtle sexism is still sexism.

Headline here

My mom found this in the Chapel Hill News. Click on the image and look under the photo to see the error. In case you were wondering, the author's name is Mark Zimmerman.

Unfortunately, it's a fairly common mistake, probably because we don't have enough copy editors looking at pages. And the copy editors we do have don't have the time to do their work properly.

Read the entire column online.

Did you spell check that one?

This comes from Southern Guilford County in North Carolina. That's North Carolina, home of the Tra Heels, Woofpack and Bule Divels. Read the story.

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.