I just edited quite possibly the worst article I have ever read. Ever. To put it into perspective, the average article from The Verge is about 1.5 times better than this article I just edited. Heck, this article is William-freaking-Shakespeare compared to what I just read (though I would argue with Ms. Bortner's claims that "In college, balancing time is an essential skill that is needed to succeed in life," and "college takes determination to actually work.")
The worst part is the article was supposed to promote this great band, Stars, that is coming to campus for free (for students). Instead, the writer chose to essentially write a review of a couple of the band's songs and albums, and explain in the last paragraph what Stars will be doing after the show here (he basically just took a look at the band's tour list of cities and made general remarks about geography). Then he went into a bit of poetry (!!??!?!) for his closing sentence:
"So come one, come all to see the Stars. It shall be a parade of affairs and dreams. Don’t forget your jackets and jeans."
....??!Jackets and Jeans???!....
He also chose to write the article 100 words under the minimum wordcount.
While many, including me, usually subscribe to the view that any press is good press, I believe the poor quality of this article would be negatively associated with the band, thus repelling people who read it and didn't know about the band away from the concert.
God save Stars.
What do you do when you get crappy articles? Are you allowed to reject/rewrite them?
ReplyDeleteNext year I will. Our current (female) editor is kind of lax. Next year will see many a-firin's.
ReplyDelete***
For example, strict rules put in place by the previous editor, like never using the first or second person (except in commentaries) are routinely violated... and printed.
It'll be time for a fix,
In summer 2006.
I guess this particular article irked my editor as well -- she sent out a threatening email to everyone, hinting about all the rusholme ruffians who do not write long enough articles and do not turn in articles on time.
ReplyDeleteHear here! Here? Hear?