Where do you stand on accuracy in PR 2.0?

As more and more “citizen journalists” go online via Twitter, Facebook, blogs and other social media, there is greater likelihood of typos and misspellings.   In the online world as opposed to traditional media, there are no formal editors to proofread work.    Where do you stand on accuracy in PR 2.0?

Peter Faur

My friend Peter Faur of Phoenix-based “Right Point Communications” and I are of like mind.   In his blog, RightPoint, he writes about communications and includes a helpful grammar tip at the end of every post.   I asked him to provide his input on grammar and spelling, and he shared with me this guest post:

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“The Miami Herald’s ombudsman, or reader’s advocate, recently asked a veteran teacher to review the Jan. 18 edition of the newspaper for grammatical errors. He was shocked that Elaine Kenzel found 133 errors. She said the number seemed acceptable to her because of the large amount of content that gets printed each day.

Even the bastions of journalism, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, have seen their typos and grammatical errors increase in recent years. The explanation is both understandable and true: With staff cutbacks, there are fewer editors to read copy, and those who read often serve double and triple duty as wire editors, layout editors and processors of Web content. As the cracks widen, more errors slip through.

 Does it matter? I think so.

Writing is, among other things, a craft. People who read to be informed, educated and entertained expect the rules of the craft to be followed. As long as they are, the flow of words to the brain proceeds smoothly. Break the rules, and you break the flow. Break the rules often enough, and the work needed to extract the information becomes more trouble than the information is worth. The reader gives up, and the writer has failed.

The rules, of course, bend and flex and change over time, and that’s OK as long as authorities to keep people marching in the same direction. That’s why style guides are so important. If you care about writing, you should invest $25 a year to subscribe to the AP Stylebook Online. Learn it well and consult it often, and your writing will be clearer, simpler and more disciplined.

 I still cringe when I see typos in a Tweet or a Facebook message, but I suppose I’ll have to live with them. I have a low tolerance level, however, for errors in blogs, online articles and printed pieces. I sometimes make them myself, and it can ruin my day when they’re called to my attention.

Where do you stand? Do you cringe when you see typos and grammatical mistakes, or do you take them in stride?”

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I couldn’t have expressed it better myself — writing IS a craft, and people expect the rules to be followed.  If we want our public relations profession to be taken seriously, as seriously as other professions such as medicine and law, we should make an effort to be as committed as possible to following the guidelines.