No, not really. We make mistakes. Just like everyone else.
Even professional societies can slip up. In this case, the typo in question (above) belongs to the Public Relations Society of America.
h8r?
This is NOT a pile on. It's more to tell PRSA -- we feel your pain. A typo is bad. A printed typo is worse. The typo running on a headline on the front page of an organization's print vehicle? Ouch! But let she who is without typo cast the first stone.
Proof EVERYTHING
When you're working with designers, you sometimes focus so much on the words that the design elements escape your eagle proof reading eyes.
When you're working with designers, you sometimes focus so much on the words that the design elements escape your eagle proof reading eyes.
Proof headlines and sub headlines. I worked on a newsletter in which the company president included a note to customers. It was a standing item in the newsletter. As it was an established item, I neglected to proof the sub headline identifying the company president. If I had proofed it I would have noticed his name was misspelled.
My president wasn't happy. I was mortified. He also didn't want to spend the time and money to fix the print version. We updated the electronic version and moved on.
Not everyone in these situations is as lucky.
Do you proof photos? Even when there's no text in them? You should.
As I noted a few years ago, we need to prooflook too.
>>>Proofreading needs to be more than simply reading copy. Graphics, photos, page numbers and other details we take for granted always need to be reviewed carefully.
>>>Proofreading needs to be more than simply reading copy. Graphics, photos, page numbers and other details we take for granted always need to be reviewed carefully.
This reminds me of a now legendary typo. NCR printed up large quantities of an important, corporate document. It included a full-length portrait of the CEO. Once it was proofed, it was printed and distributed.
It turned out the CEO’s zipper was down; his fly was unzipped; his barn door was open. And someone promptly lost their job over this proofreading mistake. Ouch.<<<
So to recap: PRSA? There but for the grace of spell check go I. And to you, gentle reader? Proof. EVERYTHING.
Kevin Dugan, @prblog
Maybe they just meant that those are the guys who still wear suits.
ReplyDeleteI have also learned that when mine are the only eyes on a project, that it also helps to read all text backwards, instead of as written. Forces the eye and the mind to think about each word individually, instead of being so familiar with what you were writing.
ReplyDeleteYou provided some solid proofreading tips. One that I’d add: Triple-check the revised pages that you upload to your printer’s FTP site. In this case, we noticed the missing “e” and fixed it, but — in the deadline scramble — didn’t include Page 1 with the other pages for revision. When it came time to check the revised pages, they were all OK! Job well done!
ReplyDeleteWilliam Shawn, the legendary editor of The New Yorker, hated (naturally) that typos/factual errors would still get by his army of proofreaders/fact-checkers at the magazine. His response: “Falling short of perfection is a process that just never stops.”
John Elsasser
Editor-in-Chief
PR Tactics, The Strategist
PRSA
John: I assumed there was a good explanation and I appreciate you stopping by and adding to the conversation.
ReplyDeleteThis versioning has happened to me when proofing a blue line (do people still do this?). We'd correct something after we went to print and it was corrected in the final, printed piece.
But we never updated the digital version. I was always worried that would haunt me at some point.
It was well before my time... but I have seen a copy of the NCR photo you reference. The photo was taken for the program at a professional golf tournament coming to the famed NCR Country Club in Dayton. The CEO was said to quip: "Well, it was the Womens Open."
ReplyDeleteYears ago, one of my staffers let a display ad go with the word "public" missing the "L" -- in the school market :-)
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't know anyone who worked in the old print world that hasn't had one transposed number or similar thing sometime in their career.
It can happen to anyone.
A college professor once told me to break up writing into 50%-50%. Half for the actual writing, and half for the editing and proofreading. Sometimes we are so focused on getting things finished we forget the latter. No one is perfect, and it greatly helps to have at least two pairs of eyes proofread anything that will be published, the more eyes the better to an extent. If you have to proofread your own writing, first take a quick break from it then go back. This helps to avoid reading over the same errors multiple times.
ReplyDeleteRenee
MyMediaInfo
http://mymediainfo.com/
MANY years ago, when I started out in radio news in a small-market radio station, I'd have to edit audio tape (back then done with a razor, an editing block, and special tape). An official from the state EPA was interviewed by a very rushed reporter on a story about pollution in a near-by lake, and kept making references to "unhealthy orgasms" in the water. The reporter just did not notice the gaff when doing the interview.
ReplyDeleteI was unable to reach the clueless official, so we had an announcer repeat, “unhealthy organisms” a dozen times while I recorded it. I then had the task of editing in the corrections. It sounded terrible as the tone of voice did not match the rest of the recording. I wanted to throw out the interview, but the station manager INSISTED we correct it, because he did not want the morning newspaper to beat us on the story.
Thanks to everyone for weighing in. The EPA audio is classic. I'd suggest a Freudian slip?
ReplyDeleteRegardless, it's good to learn how much of a common thread it is among us all. It's how you respond to these things that counts. And PRSA via John's comment did a great job in this regard.
Holly Michael - You really need to scan that NCR golf tournament program pic for posterity if you still have access to it. Your comment verifying its existence is much appreciated!