Writing to the Audience
“Uneducated, uninformed, unskilled, inept citizen-journalists would be gone in a flash if it were not for the fact that they have such a large audience of uneducated, uninformed, unskilled, inept readers. Unfortunately that audience is growing. Education is the answer, as it always has been. All good writers are frustrated by the fact that they have to write to an audience who cannot comprehend what they read.”—David Bresnahan, public relations consultant, 2009
Editor’s Note: Garbage in, garbage out?
Today’s Wish-I-Were-Here Photo: Seadogs. . .
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No … he’s right. The education system (K-12) for the most part is failing in its basic responsibility, to develop intelligent, articulate students for you guys to get to the next level. The lowest common denominator is getting lower almost every year. This can be evidenced in the cover letters that accompany the resumes guys like me get on a nearly daily basis. People who can’t read, can’t write. People who can’t write, often can’t speak intelligently or clearly. The “textosphere” is turning out exactly the people your PR consultant is talking about. Sad. And, worst of all, THEY VOTE and THEY PROCREATE!!!
ReplyDeleteBud (PR agency vice president)
Absolutely. No one would read the mass of bloggers if they wanted to be informed and journalists were doing their job.
ReplyDeleteTony
Hard to decide who is the baddest citizen-journalist of them all. I doubt that the last sentence refers to "good writer" George Will, who seems to write to his reflection in the mirror.
ReplyDeleteLois