Furst Draft

Now wait just a minute!

While I'm calling attention to our editing lapses, here's another:

What is the responsibility of Post-Bulletin to make sure that the information it prints is correct?  The border between Iowa and Minnesota is latitude 43 degrees 30 minutes north.  “Latitude 43 degrees 30 feet” is splattered all over the pages of the Post-Bulletin today.  It is not a mistake.  It is a glaring error.  I understand that this article is reprinted from the Houston County News.  But should the editors of Post-Bulletin make some comments or a footnote about it?   No wonder our students are so poor in science.

Yeah, we can blame the error on the Houston County News reporter who wrote the story, but the editing responsibility is ours.

Hope we're not held accountable for students being "poor in science," though.

Best amateur proofreader by a dam site

P-B reader and Rochester attorney Fred Suhler sent this well-deserved jab yesterday:

In the story in today's online edition involving persons who live in Zumbro Falls and Hammond who might just be forced to walk away from their severely damaged property, it is noted that ". . . but Zumbro Falls added a two mile long, 28 foot high levy , to protect it . . .".
 
Just goes to show you that higher taxes do not necessarily result in better governmental solutions to potential problems.
 
What was probably needed was a higher trellis for the highway.   

Fred's "trellis" reference was to another malapropism we published recently -- "trellis" instead of "trestle."

To be honest, I'm not sure a proofreader would have caught either of these errors. A typo stands out and is easier to catch than a misused homonym like "levy," for example. In both cases, the reporter simply needed to think and write more carefully, to avoid setting a trap for editors and readers.

In their defense, I'll note that it's been crazy here -- we've been going flat-out for several days now, covering floods.

 

'Somali gang may run sex ring' may be a story someday

The Star Tribune has a kind-of-a-story today on possible links between a Somali street gang and a possible prostitution racket. The sort-of headline says it all:

Somali gang may run sex ring

Aside from the grammatical incongruity of that, it nicely summarizes what a weird story this is -- based on a search warrant affidavit filed in Ramsey County court.

(The online headline, by the way, is more direct and lurid, though the story doesn't support it: "Somali gang linked to Minnesota sex ring.")

There are all kinds of investigative leads and inferences in the story, but it's just a request for a search warrant. No charges, naturally no comments from any law enforcement official, and in fact the affidavit itself was sealed after a TV reporter got ahold of it.

That may be the bottom line here -- the Strib playing catch-up with TV. I won't deny the material is interesting and could lead somewhere, but that could be said about dozens of warrants, summons and investigations.

The magic words in this case, for sensationalizing purposes: Somali and sex.

 

Some hoax e-mails are funnier than others

I had to chuckle at this one...maybe it's just the early hour, but...

Dear in Christ.

I am Mrs..grace michael an ageing widow suffering from long time illness. i am currently admitted in a privet hospital in Abidjan cote d' ivoire , I have some funds I inherited from my late loving husband Mr Patrick michael, the sum of US$5.500. 000 which he deposited in BANK Here and I need a very honest and God fearing Christian that can use this funds for God's work and 15% out of the total funds will be for your compasation for doing this work of God. I found your email address from the internet and decid to contact you.
Please if you would be able to use these funds for the Lord's work kindly reply me...

Your Sister In The Lord.

Mrs. grace michael

'Woman injured in fall from train trellis'

 

A reader drolly points out that a story with that headline last week had a poor choice of words:

I think the term is trestle, not trellis, unless the train is a climbing plant.

How true. Sorry for the error, which we've corrected online.

Hazelnuts have a field day in Lake City

Sounds like the hazelnuts will have fun in Lake City next month:

Hazelnut Field Day in Lake City

 

Lake City, Minn. (9/20/10)-Rural Advantage, the Minnesota Hazelnut Foundation, grower Norm Erickson, and others invite you to the 2010 Hazelnut Field Day in Lake City on Saturday Oct. 9th from 10 am to 4 pm.  The annual meeting of the Minnesota Hazelnut Foundation will be held prior to the field day from 9 - 10 am.  Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about the newest hazelnut research, including propagation work, establishment, and more from University of Minnesota Hazelnut Specialist Lois Braun.   Weed identification and management will also be discussed.  An ‘issues and answers’ session will be held just before lunch.

'Newspaper apologizes to those offended'

The Portland, Maine, Press Herald ran a feature story on the front page on Saturday, 9/11, regarding the end of Ramadan. There was a big community event and the paper did the expected coverage.

They didn't have expected coverage, however, of the ninth anniversary of the terror attacks, and at least some readers were outraged. That led to this full-retreat apology on the front page from the editor/publisher:

We made a news decision on Friday that offended many readers and we sincerely apologize for it.

Many saw Saturday's front-page story and photo regarding the local observance of the end of Ramadan as offensive, particularly on the day, Sept. 11, when our nation and the world were paying tribute to those who died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks nine years ago.

We have acknowledged that we erred by at least not offering balance to the story and its prominent position on the front page.

What you are reading today was the planned coverage of the 9/11 events. We believed that the day after the anniversary would be the appropriate occasion to provide extensive news coverage of the events and observances conducted locally and elsewhere.

In hindsight, it is clear that we should have handled this differently and with greater sensitivity toward the painful memories stirred by the anniversary of 9/11.

The apology was picked up by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, who wrote in a column about how Muslims "are one of the last minorities in the United States that it is still possible to demean openly":

So the newspaper published a groveling front-page apology for being too respectful of Muslims. “We sincerely apologize,” wrote the editor and publisher, Richard Connor, and he added: “We erred by at least not offering balance to the story and its prominent position on the front page.” As a blog by James Poniewozik of Time paraphrased it: “Sorry for Portraying Muslims as Human.”

The reader comments on both the Portland apology and the Kristof column are worth reading, by the way. If you need evidence of why online reader comment has value, despite the despicable anonymous comments that are frequently made, take a look.

As I noted last week, at least one reader thought it was a mistake for us to have a front page story about the Eid celebration two days AFTER 9/11, though her point had more to do with the contretemps regarding the Islamic community center and mosque proposed in lower Manhattan.

For the record, on Friday 9/10, editors and I talked about how to play our end-of-Ramadan coverage for the next day and we chose not to put that feature story on the front page. We focused instead on the ninth anniversary of the terror attacks and how the World Trade Center site is being redeveloped, and referred to the Eid coverage inside.

That was a good news judgment, based on what we had for that day's paper, but I'll be the first to acknowledge that it also reflected the sensitivity that we all have to 9/11, even though it's "nine years out."

That autumn day in 2001 will remain a nightmare for many of us as long as we live. People expect the newspaper to reflect that.

 

 

'My moment on the soapbox'

An unedited note from "devoted Weekend reader," Deb Dowell:

I don't know if you are the person to whom I should be addressing this this issue, but here goes:
 
I enjoy reading your paper. Being a Twin City's transplant for years I endured reading their papers, but generally ended up talking to the paper instead of reading it. Poor proofing and even worse grammar left me making audible writing comments much like an armchair football fan on a Sunday afternoon.
 
With that said, I used to appreciate the well constructed articles, the proofreaders who ensured paragraphs weren't repeated and the overall quality of the Post-Bulletin. However, (Yes, you knew there had to be one.) this weekend's edition left me making speeches to the paper. Please remind your writers people are "who" not "that" and the words "to" and "and" are not interchangeable.
 
If you can nip these things in the bud maybe I won't have to endure the many forms of "got'. I've got, you've got, we've got and its countless other forms not only send me into shivers (spasms?), they also reflect poorly on the writer.
 
Thanks for allowing me my moment on the soapbox.
 

First clue: 'We are not the type of people...'

Here's a transcript of a voice mail I received a few days ago, regarding the front page story in Monday's paper on the Islamic community celebration in Rochester Sunday:

I'm calling with regard to Monday's paper, Sept. 13. We don't get the paper on a regular basis and I had to get one today, and I almost didn't because of what I saw on the front page -- especially under the circumstances, with regard to what's going on in New York City and the mosque being built near ground zero.

I don't know whose decision it was to put on the front page a full article, color pictures with regard to the Muslim community and their feast, their celebration. Just to let you know, to clarify it, we are not the type of people who don't want to learn about other people's cultures, etc. In fact we have relatives who are from other cultures, but the thing is, we wonder if it was a wise decision to put that on the front page at this time. Yes, we want to be informed, but again timing is also everything, not just location, but timing.

I'd would be surprised if you did sell many today, because it could be fuel for the fire. Because people right now are concerned about what's happening there, even though it's not here, but we don't need any "reminders."

As if you are going to help bringing peace about -- in fact, you may be doing just the contrary. So I would just like to suggest that until this kind of blows over in  New York City and how it's affecting the rest of the nation and the world, not to put this right in our faces.

And again, not that we don't want to know and learn, and be educated, but the timing I believe is very poorly judged. Again, I don't know whose decision it was,  but to consider that in the future, be doing contrary to what you are hoping  to do.

Let it rest, let it rest a little bit, so people can, yeah, just be at peace that way, and actually if it wanted to be presented, why do this at the end of this month period, the feast. Yes, the celebration, but if you want to inform us to, maybe there were pieces in the paper -- like I said we don't get the paper on an everyday basis -- why not give us some information of why they do what they do? I'm not saying do that now, but that could have been done during the whole month instead of right in front of our faces, as I said.

So again, thank you for listening to this comment. Thank you for considering that, especially what is going on in this country right now, it may be doing contrary to what you hoped it would do.  To  inform and bring peace...it may be doing just the opposite.

Please consider that. Thank you so much.

Where to begin?

The event Sunday could hardly have been more constructive to community-building among people of different faiths, so how could coverage of that event be counterproductive?

The rationale here, I guess, is that we should have a moratorium on coverage of local Muslims and of Islam generally until the New York mosque issue blows over.

Sorry, can't do that. The story and pic looked just right on the front page to me.

If I had a nickel for every time a caller or e-mailer complaining about a story related to diversity or multicultural issues said, "We are not the type," etc., I'd be retired and writing operas.

 

 

The Minnesota Iceman was a fabulous attraction

Here's a note from a reader, addressed to the Answer Man, regarding the Minnesota Iceman, which the A-Man unearthed in his column last week:

Dear Answerman,

I read your answer regarding the Minnesota Iceman and was impressed to learn your knowledge covers such obscure but important trivia.

I remember viewing the creature in ice at the MN State Fair when I showed swine there in 1969 as an FFA greenhand.. That particular year I headed to the fair with my brother and our hogs and brought $13 for spending money for the four days we were there. With that amount of cash I was able to feed myself for the duration, take in a grandstand performance, see some sideshows in the midway and have some left when I returned home. We slept in the dorms above the hog barn.

Well anyway, we did see the creature in ice. The whole thing was in a glass-covered bronze colored metal casket. Inside there was just enough “thawed” to get hold of your imagination but it was mostly obscured by the “ice”. You could see one eye hanging from its socket and the body was covered with dark hair. The story was that the story had changed over time. The explanation was that, since the creature may have been the missing link, Mr. Hanson was hesitant to be totally truthful at first since he could have been charged with some crime involving possession of a dead human body. Of course he was now fully truthful in his tale and explained how he acquired it from a Japanese fisherman in exchange for some booze. The fisherman evidently found the thing floating in a big chunk of ice that had broken off a glacier somewhere. Mr. Hanson’s dilemma then became how to prevent the whole thing from thawing out. He told us how he remembered how he had kept walleye in good condition in his basement freezer for seven years so he knew he could do it too with his new find.

I live northwest of Rochester now but grew up in the Lewiston Altura area. There were a lot of stories around school at that time that brought into question the credibility of Mr. Hanson and the authenticity of the creature display. Rumor had it that it was all made by a wax museum in Los Angeles. It seems Mr. Hanson was a retired or former military officer and went by the name Captain Hanson or something like that.

It was interesting too that you mentioned the tractor. I remember seeing my mom’s dad pull a float in the Lewiston parade lots of years ago. On the float was the tractor you mention. My grandpa did some seasonal equipment assembly for the Lewiston Auto Company which was the John Deere dealership in that area and he pulled the float that year with his 3020. I was too little to be aware of a dispute about the age or origin of the tractor but seem to recall it had a single rear drive wheel made of steel and it was crushing its way through the flatbed of the float.

Interestingly I attended a family reunion a couple years ago and saw a photo of the tractor there. I learned that it was originally owned by my mom’s uncle Emil Obitz in Hillsdale Township of Winona County. Apparently the tractor had been parked and neglected but later bought for a steal by a flimflam man by the name of Hanson. The family’s feelings about the whole deal had less to do with the dispute with John Deere and more about exploitation of a machine probably acquired in a less than transparent manner.

I’d be interested in hearing more about either subject from other loyal readers of the PB.

Thanks,

Kim Rupprecht

This will pop up in Friday's Answer Man column.