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Assault Awareness & Prevention, Hunger, Language, Public Relations, University, UW System, Writing

At UW-Whitewater, For All That Value, Too Little Administrative Respect for Values

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There’s a press release (screenshot here) contending that UW-Whitewater contributes a large sum – hundreds of millions – to the Wisconsin economy. The release is written by Assistant Vice Chancellor Sara Kuhl. Kuhl begins the release touting the power and influence of the university by misspelling a common English word (emphasis added): UW-Whitewater, one of…

Assault Awareness & Prevention, Crime, Language, Newspapers, Writing

Janesville Gazette’s Reprehensible Story About an Alleged Sexual Assault

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At the nearby Janesville Gazette, there’s a story about an alleged sexual assault that’s simply reprehensible reporting: Excessive drinking was prelude to sex assault, court document alleges. (The reporter, Frank Schultz; editor, Sid Schwartz.) Here’s how Schultz’s story begins – a single-sentence first paragraph: An 18-year-old Janesville man is accused of second-degree sexual assault after…

America, Language, Newspapers, Trump, Writing

Why Feature Stories on Major Topics are Now Often a Waste of Time

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Feature stories on major topics, in which the author begins a multi-paragraph description of a person or scene before offering a substantive consideration of the topic, have today little use in newspapers.  These stories are meant to set a scene, and perhaps evoke emotions in readers who are, the author presumes, indifferent or ignorant of…

City, Education, Language, Newspapers, School District, University, Writing

The Janesville Gazette‘s Sketchy Reporting on Major Topics

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The nearby Janesville Gazette, a newspaper that insists ‘local matters,’ too often reports on Whitewater’s local matters in a careless way, ignoring key information.  Whether that paper’s omissions are through negligence or by design, reporting like this ill-serves Whitewater. (In fairness, the Gazette long ago ran itself into the ground, and sold out this summer…

Dairy, Economics, Economy, Free Markets, Language, Newspapers

Does Anyone at the Janesville Gazette Have a Dictionary?

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Recently,  the Janesville Gazette‘s editorialist tried to defend remarks from Trump’s secretary of agriculture, Sonny Perdue, about the demise of family farmers. See Our Views: Ag secretary’s reality check wasn’t callous. In that defense, one finds that the Gazette‘s editorialist neither understands the meaning of simple English words nor basic economics. The secretary of agriculture said…

America, Authoritarianism, Foreign Affairs, Language, Liberty, Putin, Russia

‘His thoughts are so correct’

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Consider a letter from Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, autocrat, murderer, and imperialist. Putin recently sent Trump a letter, only a few brief paragraphs, and Trump gave a statement in reply: “A very nice letter from Vladimir Putin; his thoughts are so correct,” Trump said in a statement. “I hope both sides are able to live up to…

Federal Government, Language, Trump

Kakistocracy

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There’s a vast difference between the average Trump supporter (similar in most ways to most people) and the people who served in the Trump Campaign and who will serve in a Trump Administration (composed of generous helpings of mediocrities, liars, or bigots). Ryan Lizza’s found the Greek term kakistocracy, a term that will apply nicely to…

Language

This Is What It’s Like To Read Lips

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How do you use one sense to do the work of another? Can You Read My Lips? is a short film about the imprecise art of lip-reading based on the essay “Seeing at the Speed of Sound,” by Rachel Kolb, who narrates and stars in the video. “Lipreading…is an inherently tenuous mode of communication,” she…