media Archives - Scott Flood Writing

Seven steps for dealing with the media

June 9, 2020 by Scott Flood

Business owners and managers who find themselves in the media spotlight often complain they’re being harassed, persecuted, or treated unfairly. However, many of them suffer that treatment because of their own actions in dealing with reporters and editors. To keep from becoming your own worst enemy, follow a few common-sense strategies. Take control. Reporting the … Read more

Latest batch of goofs and gaffes

April 8, 2020 by Scott Flood

Been noticing more typos and other errors in articles, posts, and other materials prepared by the media? You’re not alone. We all make mistakes (I’ll admit to more than my share), but newspapers and other professional media outlets used to have procedures in place — such as a team of eagle-eyed copy editors — to … Read more

Please, God, bring back copy editors

August 10, 2016 by Scott Flood

If I had one wish for the media, it would be to restore the long-lost position of copy editors — the unseen wizards who made reporters look smarter than they really were and could craft the pithiest of headlines. Had a copy editor been at the desk, Matthew Tully’s July 3 Indianapolis Star column wouldn’t … Read more

EVEN MORE GOOFS AND GAFFES

April 6, 2016 by Scott Flood

I miss the days when newspapers and other media wouldn’t publish a story until it had been edited and edited again. Sadly, expediency has supplanted accuracy, and shrinking budgets have eliminated the copy editors who dispatched typos and other errors from their writers’ dispatches. These days, the only thing protecting writers from themselves is their … Read more

THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION TO ASK A REPORTER

October 10, 2012 by Scott Flood

Planning to share some information with a reporter or editor, or trying to interest him or her in a story? You’ll be more likely to succeed if you start by asking a very simple question.

That question would be “Is this a good time?”

IF YOUR MOTHER SAYS SHE LOVES YOU, CHECK IT OUT

July 1, 2010 by Scott Flood

If all three of my loyal readers can tolerate one more post on the media, I’d like to explain part of the reason I have such high expectations for reporters. The Chicago of my childhood published eight daily newspapers: the four citywide papers (Sun-Times, Tribune, Daily News, and the American), three “regional” dailies (Calumet, Southtown, Herald), and the Defender, which served the black community. My family took (now there’s an old expression) the Sun-Times, the American, and the Calumet.

It would have been foolish for all of those dailies to assign reporters to minor events and ordinary crime stories, so they pooled their resources to create the City News Bureau. City News would assign one reporter to cover a story, and the member papers would use it like any piece off the AP or UPI wires.

MEDIA SINS, PART DEUX

June 29, 2010 by Scott Flood

My last post focused on media misuse of homonyms during recent coverage of flooding near my home. I noticed that many of the reporters who handled those stories also seemed to have a problem with geography.

I’ll freely admit to being a map geek. When other toddlers were drawing pictures of giraffes and clowns, I was carefully delineating the borders of the lower 48. Every time our family took vacations, I was the one who had the map on his lap and pointed out where we needed to turn. Facebook may be a diversion for most people, but I get lost in Google Earth.

A MEDIA MORTAL SIN

June 24, 2010 by Scott Flood

I’ve written about the all-too-common mistake of substituting a homonym for the intended word. (And if “homonym” isn’t triggering enough brain cells, it refers to those words that sound alike, but are spelled differently.)

Now, I don’t consider using the wrong version of a homonym a mortal sin – except when it’s done by someone in the media. Professionals should know better. During coverage of the recent flooding near my home, I saw several examples of writers and reporters referring to a barrier that holds back water as a “levy.” (At least they didn’t misidentify a dike as a “dyke.” We won’t even go there.)