If only I had my red proofreading pen handy...

Does the Star-Tribune even bother proofreading or spellchecking their "reporting" before they throw their drivel up on the website for all to see?

Apparently they don't any more.

After this morning's storms, a report written by Tim Harlow about the damage caused to the west and southwest of the Twin Cities contained one error in particular in a quote which caught my attention. Let's see if you can catch it.

Click on it to make the screen capture larger. Read it carefully then read it again. Hell, feel free to click on the link to the actual story above to see if the hacks reporting the news actually made a correction.

If you haven't seen it yet, take a gander at this zoomed screen capture.

Got it yet?

No?

Well the misspelled word/brand is "Catapiller". How in the fuck do you manage to butcher a relatively basic word so terribly? It's a brand name that I'm familiar with as my dad operated a piece of CATERPILLAR equipment for 15-plus years and it's a damned insect. Come on, it's not a simple typo, it's not just a juxtaposition when you're hastily typing. It's an outright butchering of a word and it makes me wish that the Star-Tribune actually cared about their content, instead of only the bottom line.

Is it just me or has proofreading and correct spelling in journalism taken a back seat to churning out hastily-produced content to boost page views from people like me who despise spelling errors (yes, even my own)?

Hey, remember MinnPics? It's that cool site that I pimp every day which showcases awesome photos from the best photographers in Minnesota and it's updated daily and contains next to no spelling errors.

The barrier method

I was reading a thread today on a website which I regularly read and came across an off-topic post about language in the United States.

While the person who wrote it clearly has issues with staying on-topic, this individual had some valid points.

The statement was nothing more than a rant (well-written, though) about immigrants and their frequent inability and unwillingness to learn the English language. But rather than focus on the negative, I will do as I always do and focus on the positives.

Nearly every day I run in to immigrants. I do, after all, live in the greater Twin Cities metro area and America is, after all, a melting pot today as it always has been. My Danish grandpa learned the English language and made friends as he farmed and raised a family. Maybe he's the exception to the rule but I highly doubt it. The same holds true for the Mexican fellow who makes the world's best steak soft shell tacos at my favorite restaurant and the Korean priest at our church. Sure, they have thick accents but they speak English.

Overcoming a language barrier is everywhere. I was watching 'The Power of 10' last night and the contestant I caught was a Greek immigrant who confessed to learning English by watching episodes of 'The Drew Carey Show' which drew a laugh from the host of the show, Drew Carey. These are examples of people who knew that to adjust to our culture they had to learn the most dominant language of their new home, English.

I'm not going to get into immigration issues but to assimilate to a new home, you have to make some changes. After all, nobody prances around the yard of their new Phoenix home wearing a heavy parka just because it is early December. Even Minnesotans adjust to their winter retreats. Immigrants to America realize that to gain the level of prosperity that drew them here, they'll have to learn the language. That doesn't mean leaving behind your native language, that's just ridiculous. I know that my grandpa had more than a few heated moments with his seven children that escalated into what was surely colorful language spoken entirely in Danish. The same goes for my mother-in-law. She remembers her aunts and uncles having entire conversations in their native Czech. They did so outside of the public eye because, get this, people 40-50 years ago used to be far less tolerant of cultural differences than today. Wow.