An elegy on editing - (The Hoot.Org.03-03-2004)

These mistakes make me doubt if copy editors/reporters ever take a second look at their copy.

-- By Dasu Krishnamoorty

An article Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna wrote for The Hoot cites Press Council chairman Jayachandra Reddy as asking him, "Do you really make efforts to maintain standards in writing?" That question is very pertinent because journalists seem to forget that the function of editing is to improve communication and that they must look back at their copy for errors that routinely elude them. In the end, all communication must yield meaning to make sense. Texts acquire meaning only when the journalist adheres to rules of grammar. What's grammar, you may ask. Read this sentence by Dileep Padgaonkar (in his column Talking Terms (The Times of India, 30 Nov. 03) to understand. "The new Library of Parliament by Raj Rewal avoids those pitfalls.Locatedin the shadow of the colonnaded drum housing the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, thearchitecthas paid discreet homage to the genius of Lutyens and Baker but without a trace of mimicry." So, it is the architect who is overshadowed by the drum and not the Library of Parliament!

Another columnist Gautam Padmanabhan in his column Book Buzz (Sunday Express, 7 Dec. 03) writes: "Instituted in 1978, the winner is selected from nominations made by readers of the British trade journal, the Bookseller ." Who is instituted? The winner or the award? Don't wonder. Both Padmanabhan and Padgaonkar are in the eminent company of R.K.Narayan.  In Salt & Sawdust (Penguin Books, Reprinted 2003, page 173) he writes: "While passing Grove Street one morning, an uncle of mine hailed me from his door." See how Narayan's uncle could be at his door and at the same time passing Grove Street! Don’t ask what the editors at Penguin were doing.

There is no end to such gems in the media cornucopia. Here is a specimen from Aniket Alam's report in the Hindu (5 Jan 2003) entitled: "A one-man crusade. It was and still is." The fourth para reads as follows: "An advertising professional with a TV management degree from New York, Mr Natarajan’s documentary has been hailed by critics, scholars and freedom fighters alike for evocatively presenting a glimpse of life during the last days of the Nizam state." The appositive phrase 'An advertising professional with a TV management degree from New York' wrongly applies to Natarajan's documentary instead of Natarajan who is the subject of the modifier.

Janyala Sreenivas in the Indian Express (23 Mar.03) feature, "Running with riots" writes: 'After hours of research and getting in touch with contacts across town, the road led to Vanmadi Vankani Ni Pol, Shahpur where Hindus reside.' Since when have roads joined the ranks of researchers? This is a case of dangling modifier that does not have a subject to modify. S.S.Krishnaji (the Hindu , 16 Dec.02) in an article 'Courage was his watchword' writes: "Suspecting Prakasam's stay in jail along with other noted leaders was dangerous, he was shifted to the Cannanore jail in 1931." Who suspected Prakasam and who shifted him? The participle 'Suspecting Prakasam's stay' does not have a subject to modify.

All these are examples of byliners making modifier (dangling and misplaced) mistakes. Modifiers are adjectives, adverbs, phrases or clauses that give additional information about what they seek to modify. When they appear in the wrong places or when there is nothing in a sentence for them to qualify, the results can be less than accurate. If editors make such mistakes, reporters/copy editors feel free to flatter them by imitation.

Sometimes, mistakes happen because distance intervenes between the subject and its verb. For example, in a report from New Delhi (19 Oct. 03) The Hindu's chief of bureau Harish Khare writes, "As it is, Mr. Shekhawat's all-too-frequentvisitsto Rajasthan - according to one count, at least 16 in the last one year -hasraised eyebrows."  See the distance between visits andare. On the same day, one of its New Delhi special correspondents wrote, "The BJP chief's grudgingpraisefor Mr. Yadavareat variance with the VHP's demand for the dismissal of the Mulayam Singh Government." This excellence in writing prodded one of its readers (Hareesh Janakiraman, Houston, U.S.) to write, "Sir, There is no gainsaying the fact that my English is what it is today, due in large part to regular reading of The Hindu." Despite my best efforts I could not find a way to regard them as proof-reading mistakes.

These mistakes make me doubt if copy editors/reporters ever take a second look at their copy. In the past, all big newspapers kept a logbook that showed mistakes copy editors/ reporters made the previous day. To avoid the kind of mistakes that repeatedly show their face in our print media it is not necessary to be an English scholar. If you have read your Wren and Martin at school and still remember it, such simple mistakes as shown below have little chance of proudly strutting the media ramp. Follow Fowler's four golden rules and see the sea change that such adherence brings to your copy. i. Prefer the simple to the complex; ii. Prefer the active to the passive; iii. Prefer the familiar to the unfamiliar and iv. Prefer the concrete to the abstract.

I am pointing out these mistakes because they appear every day in all newspapers without exception, making the readers wince and howl in pain. Worse, they are the work of not only lesser mortals but also of editors themselves. They make the readers wonder if newspapers that sermonize on inadequacies in the society and government ever know what is happening in their own stables. Do editors ever read letters to the editor or what appears in their own newspapers? They do not, obviously.

Usage : Mistakes of usage are galore. When we write English based on hearsay or praxis, we repeat the mistakes we have heard or read elsewhere. Chidanand Rajghatta (The Times of India, 3 Oct. 03. US Media and India Massage) writes: "CBS’ Dan Rather ran a special on Pakistan as a renegade nation that is suspected of both terrorism and proliferation. Stories from Pakistan too centeredaroundits slide into fundamentalism and anarchy." A UNI report (23 Sept. 03) says, "With his pyjamas folded up to his knees and with a special head gear, the Minister walked unconcerned on the fire leaving the viewers spellbound as even hisepidermisremained unburnt." Skin is a simpler word. I am sure that if some newspapers still have style sheets/books, they must be in their morgue.

A report in The Deccan Chronicle (11 Jan. 03) about a missing journalist says: "The city police has launched a search for a journalist whowent missingfrom Mumbai." A Times ofIndia brief (p7. 16 Jan.03) appeared with this heading: Businessmangoes missing. TheHindu is not far behind. One of its Hyderabad reports has this heading "Cartoonsgo missing".I think this lapse surfaces when all the copy editorsgo missing. Correct English is different from good English that prefers "is missing’ to ‘goes missing."

Read this beauty from The Hindu (27 Jan. 03, page 6): "This is the first time in the history of the district and, perhaps, the State that an elected representativewas being shot atduring the Republic Day function. For a similar mistake for which the copy editor deserves to be shot is here (The Hindu, 12 Jan. 03, page 4): Kurnool, Jan 11: The recipient of UNDP-instituted Race Against Poverty award, Fatima Bee, is slipping into poverty. Mrs. Fatima Bee, former sarpanch of Kalva village in Kurnool district,was shot into limelightwhen she received the award from Kofi Annan.

A Deccan Chronicle reporter from New Delhi (12 Dec. 02) imposes an obligation on Venkiah Naidu. The report says: BJP president Venkiah Naidushall startvideo-conferencing with some 20 party offices all over the country. On the same day, Akhilesh Mittal's Itihas column refers to V.D.Savarkar as Vishnu Damodar Savarkar. Does this amount to rewriting Itihas? Mistakes of usage like probingintoor investigatingintoor stuckupfor stuck are very common. There is also a generous misuse of articles. A Special Correspondent's report (The Hindu, 18 Jan.03) from New Delhi uses the definite articlethe three times before All India Radio.

Passive voice : Most of us actively use passive voice. You will find it everywhere in our newspapers. In fact, it is very easy to convert them into active voice. Take this TOI (K.Sridhara Rao's) page 1 report on 20 Jan. 03. "Senior officers say they were humiliated by KPMG's officials." It could read as "senior officials say KPMG officials humiliated them." On the same day, another Times News Network report says "Director General of Police P.Ramulu has expressed his dissatisfaction over the grade given to him by the Centre for Good Governance." You can rewrite it as "DIG P. Ramulu has expressed his dissatisfaction with the grade CCG gave him." Copy editors/reporters who cannot detect jarring sentences are like music lovers who cannot detect loss of pitch in music.

Bad Taste : I am including bas taste among mistakes because it concerns editing. TOI carried a report by Smitha Prakash (18 Sept. 03) in which she refers to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s gait during his visit to Ankara and compares him to the Turkish Prime Minister Ecevit. She says: "But like Vajpayee, neither his (Ecevit’s) advanced age nor his slow gait, affected his work output. Ecevit, during his tenure, was politically astute and sharp as a whistle." In the first place, is this comparison necessary? Vajpayee could not have survived without astuteness and his speeches continue to be as sharp as ever, to which Alex Perry of the Time magazine referred recently.

When we are choosing the correct and proper words to describe lame and blind people as physically challenged and visually challenged, can’t we extend this courtesy to a prime minister? This trend needs to be curbed because in the past too the press made fun of the gait of Shankar Dayal Sharma. When Vinod Mehta was its editor, the Sunday Observer carried an article making fun of President Zail Singh’s ignorance of English. When Rashtrapati Bhavan complained, the paper published a three-line explanation (in an inside page) saying that they thought the article was in lighter vein. Why should the President of India know English? Does the Japanese Prime Minister or President Bush know Hindi? For all the conceit of the English media, it is the language press that is now the darling of the people except, of course, in the matter of conceit.

Tailpiece: An edit (The Indian Express, 19 Aug. 02) says: "They have aggressively pushed for early elections in a state that is still ravaged, still unable to provide the little voterherfreedom to vote." Is the voter always a woman?