Proofreading is a dyeing art

published June 2, 2011

in the Stockton Sentinel

Stockton, Kansas

Here at the Sentinel, we really do try hard to catch errors before they become published. That probably comes as a shock to you, our readers, who, for all we know, read our weekly news with red pen in hand, circling our misteaks as you go. Believe me, it was a shock to all of us here to find two horrendous headline errors on last week’s front page, and we sincerely apologize, especially to the Pfeifer family. Nothing makes a typographical error more obvious than making 1800 copies of it.

We try to make sure at least two people read everything before it goes to the layout, but that doesn’t always happen. And after stories have been organized on the page, at least two of us always check the layout and the headlines. But even after all that proofreading, errors still get printed. We dread it so much that generally we don’t look at the published edition because we don’t want to see what we missed. Last we checked, however, there were humans working here (plus a couple of dogs), so errors happen.

Setting the Sentinel’s egregious errors aside (especially since it’s more fun to laugh at others’ mistakes!), I enjoyed an email that my dad recently forwarded to me about proofreading. However, these clips aren’t proofreading errors as much as they are errors in judgment in headline writing. These are the headlines that make you go “huh?”

For example:

Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says (Really? Ya think?)

Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over (Wow! What a guy!)

War Dims Hope for Peace (I can see where it might have that effect!)

Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures (Who would have thought!)

Man Struck by Lightning: Faces Battery Charge (He probably IS the battery charge!)

Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft (NASA serves beans in those little packets?)

One-armed Man Applauds the Kindness of Strangers (Just how do you suppose he does that?)

Fish Need Water, Feds Say (Our tax dollars at work!)

Federal Agents Raid Gun Shop, Find Weapons (Who woulda thought!)

Police: Crack Found in Man’s Buttocks (No comment!)

Headline writing is indeed difficult, but not that difficult. Around here, it’s often a tag-team effort. Sometimes it’s easier to write a story than to title it. And sometimes we come up with some doozies that we would love to print, but we know better. We have a saying here at the Sentinel that “we are not just news, we’re entertainment.”

Week after weak, we try to live up to that reputation and give you more bang for your buck!

P.S. – In an effort to sharpen your own proofreading skills, there are three intentional errors in the above nonsense. If you find more than three, consider it part of the entertainment factor!