Thursday, August 03, 2006

Washington Post Express editor: I'm not very good at editing!

Rough day for the print edition of the Express, a Washington Post-owned-and-operated publication that is like a newspaper, except shorter and punchier and friendlier. I actually really like the Express. But today, they didn't exactly bring their A game. There's unfortunately no Web site for the print Express, so you'll have to take my word for it.

First off, a huge front page photo has the huge caption: "Little Relief From Butal Heat" Wow - a front-page headline mistake. That's bad. But hey - it happens.

But it keeps going. The Express has a special Thursday section called "Weekend Pass." It's a big deal, and is very much a standalone section of the newspaper. So that big headline reads "From Console to Concert Hall: The National Symphony Orchetra plays video hits." The orchetra, huh? That's a rare bird species of the Amazon region, is it not?

So that's two major headlines defiled. But it keeps going. Later, an Express staff writer files a report on the reuniting of classic punk band The Germs. In this article, they talk about how "the surviving Germs played in a host of other bands, including the Foo Fighters and 45 Grave." What they don't include, however, is that for several years Germs guitarist and songwriter Pat Smear played in some outfit called Nirvana. Ever heard of those guys? Little group from Seattle? Had a couple of hits in the 90s? But maybe I'm nitpicking on this one. I know the Foo Fighters (not to mention 45 Grave) have quite a place in the American rock pantheon. And the last good studio album Nirvana put out was in, like, 1993. Sheesh, Nirvana. What have you done for us lately, guys? Anyway, is it true that Foo Fighters actually influenced Nirvana? I heard something like that somewhere...something like that...

Anyway, sorry to pick on you, Express. You know I love you. But three major errors in one addition, and two in the freakin headlines? Come on, guys. Tighten up over there!

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5 comments:

Anonymous said...

http://www.readexpress.com/

MSH said...

BK, you are truly a wizard of the Internet. I was shaking a bundle of burning sage at the monitor for like 20 minutes, and no site came up. I'm beginning to think that old cackling lady I hired to teach me computers didn't have the most current knowledge of these magic boxes.

Anonymous said...

"But three major errors in one addition, and two in the freakin headlines?"

Perhaps the use of "addition" was an attempt at humor, but it's much funnier if it was unintentional.

MSH said...

Crap! Once again, I've been bested by an anoymous commenter. Curse you, anonymous commenter! But like the Express editors, I get paid a significant sum to keep this blog error free. So I hereby return my blog paycheck for this week.

WordGuy3 said...

WeekendPass Entertainment review (1.31.2008) on Argonautika begins hilariously, "A cliche says a picture paints a thousand words." How do pictures paint with words? Most pictures use colors and writers use words. Get your cliches right; one word like love is worth 10,000 pictures and vice versa.