Re: writing for radio-- a lost art?

["A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyross.com>]

On 11 Aug 2002 at 8:15, SteveOrdinetz wrote:

> I see it as part of a general dumbing-down of America.  The warnings on
> wheelbarrows that warn of the consequences if you don't lift both handles
> at the same time.  Never mind the instructions for assembling that bicycle
> or a warranty...it may be written in 6 languages, but also written for a
> 3rd grader (so-called "plain English")  The grade inflation in schools
> where kids were given good grades so as to not hurt their self-esteem with
> a failing grade...it's come back to bite us.  How many emails, posts on
> newsgroups or listservs, etc. have you read where the writer had
> absolutely no command of the English language...uses no caps at all (or
> conversely, ALL caps), no punctuation, grammar so bad as to obscure what
> the writer was trying to say?  And some of these are college grads!  These
> are the people who are our news reporters today.
 
On the other hand, there's an op-ed piece in yesterday's Globe written by 
a 15-year-old writer which is better written than many things I've seen 
adults write.  And I've always thought that Adam wrote well on this 
forum.

And Andrew Jackson's poor spelling is credited with being the origin of 
the expression "O.K."  He supposedly thought it stood for "All Correct."

-- 
A. Joseph Ross, J.D.                           617.367.0468
 15 Court Square, Suite 210                 lawyer@attorneyross.com
Boston, MA 02108-2503           	         http://www.attorneyross.com