kelseyagnew

an open letter to the editorial staff of the meadville tribune

Dear Staff,

I am writing in response to the September 1 article, “Christian music festival offers ‘positive alternative’.” I have always had an innate aptitude for grammar, punctuation, and basic English skills, which made Crawford County a particularly frustrating place for me to spend my adolescence. From peer-reviewing papers in my college prep English class at Linesville High School to driving by local businesses’ often-misspelled signs, I have always noticed that a high level of grammatical incompetence seems to characterize our community. As professional journalists, I trust that you, too, have noticed this.

I also trust that, as journalists, you recognize the importance of your having a firm grasp on the art of prose. However, I have continually been disturbed by the poor quality of the writing that fills the pages of the Meadville Tribune. While I understand that the occasional error slips into print, the amount and consistency of spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors that I have long noticed in this paper are upsetting. Your primary goals as a media outlet are, I am sure, to inform and entertain, whether your subject matter be a grand champion hog or an epic natural disaster. These goals are harder to attain when the very ideas behind your stories are shrouded by poor composition. How can we be expected to expand our knowledge as a community if our local paper – the only thing that many of our neighbors read on a regular basis – fails to distinguish for us the difference between, for instance, a contraction and a possessive pronoun? A newspaper should represent the community for and about whom it is written; frankly, I am embarrassed to admit that I am from the Meadville area lest any new acquaintances ever encounter your publication. The ability to communicate ideas effectively is an instrumental part of every successful industry, relationship, and organization, and if the most widely distributed and read print publication in Crawford County cannot demonstrate effective communication, the community it represents is once again disenfranchised and left without the resources it deserves.

The article I have referenced is one of many erroneous pieces I have seen published in the Meadville Tribune, though this particular example commanded my attention because of the unfortunate placement of a major grammatical mistake in its lead statement. If the distinction between it’s and its is unclear to you, I would be happy to explain why these words are not interchangeable. Likewise, please do not hesitate to ask if you are unfamiliar with proper semicolon usage.

I hope that you will take this letter into consideration before you send your next pieces to print.

Sincerely,

Kelsey Agnew

Leave a Comment so far
Leave a comment