(no subject)

[ldhenson]

Oh for heaven's sake, CNN. Using "guys and girls" to refer to a specific group of young men and women in a news article is staggeringly poor writing. Even if you'd used only it in a fluff piece, it's still pretty deplorable. But to use it in an article reporting an incident in which two of those people lost their lives?

If nothing else, have a modicum of respect--for the victims, and for yourselves as journalists.

Comments

[tallihensia.livejournal.com]

~..~ Okay, now that's really really bad. They were part of a group of five guys and five girls who were exploring the Crockford-Pigeon Mountain Wildlife Management Area in LaFayette, Ashburn said. Presumably the reporter was quoting Ashburn without the quotemarks for a direct quotation... but if it's not a direct quote and you don't have the quote marks... CHANGE THE WORDS! All the people were university students, probably over 18, and 'guys and girls' is just insulting in print (probably not much better in speaking, but sometimes it happens in interviews, just slips out - writing is supposed to make it better).

From the comments, it's also a piece of bad reporting. Again, they were getting quotes, but they didn't follow up for a whole story on what actually happened.

Ah, the news... :(

[ldhenson.livejournal.com]

Yes, exactly...I'm sure the word choice came from the person giving the statement, but using quotation marks when quoting is elementary at best! It's just slapdash writing, and the incident and people being reported about deserve better.