I read, yesterday and today, with dismay the news items of the Punch Newspapers wreathed with poor editing. I felt particularly disappointed when I encountered the avoidable error emanating from poor editing. Many people, especially its readers who esteem and revere the news outfit, will now be pushed to cast a doubt on the editing strength of the media giant.
Below are the screen-shots excerpt from the Punch Newspapers… I brought to you the excerpt as language enthusiasts to critique in terms of grammatical correctness and the semantic implication emanating from it.
“A gynaecologist and the Head of Clinical Services at Life International Hospital, Awka, Anambra State, Dr Nwajiaku Louis, has urged couples battling infertility to go for In Vitro Fertilisation.” Punch Newspaper, 5 March, 2024.
“The Court of Appeal in Abuja has rejected the Federal Government’s attempt to retry the former governor of Abia and the Senator representing Abia North, Orji Uzor Kalu, in the N7.6bn fraud case referred against him.” Punch Newspaper, 6 March, 2024. See screenshots below.
It’s true that no one is infallible, especially when it comes to the use of language, any language at all, but prominent media practitioners like the Punch are least expected to commit such disastrous blunder. It’d have been pardonable if this were committed by other media up-comings… it’s unarguably true that we all struggle with perfection and accuracy as humans in all our every-day engagements, hence the near impossibility to live an error-free life, but it’s not to the level in which Punch is caught.
Many times, I have criticized most of the national dailies as concerns editing of their papers without a language expert. Most times I wonder if the dearth of good language practitioners has gone that bad, or that the language experts are now dispensable in the corridor of media. Every national daily should, at least, have a language practitioner to proofread clinically before publication. But many of them have not seen the need to infuse language experts into their organisations.
The emphasis is on the fact that the success of any organisation whose material is language depends on the capacity of the language practitioners they are able to muster. One of the ways grammarians are nurtured is the development of high consciousness of grammatical correctness. An expert in grammar usually sees a blunder as a reproachable bleach. This is why he is instinctively conscious of grammatical accuracy, especially when in the domain of public service.
I have approached most of the MD’s of these national dailies for business as a language expert, and I know what their responses were. Not that they turned me down bluntly. They played cold on my request. Yet it’s erroneous to conclude that for one to be at the corridor of the media, say an editor or a proofreader, one must have had an experience in journalism, whether as an editor or a reporter. I don’t think this is something totally true. Given a considerable time, a graduate in English can do far better than those of mass communication.
So, every news outfit aspiring to do well must do well to employ the service of a language expert. I’m so interested in this excerpt from Punch because of how highly they usually rate themselves. Their self-acclaimed champion in the world of news is as good as nothing if they can’t simply edit their news properly.
The other time, sometime last year, I had a very lengthy chat with one of the managing editors of Punch laying bare my intention to be part of the editors. One thousand and one questions he asked me revolved around ‘experience in journalism’ even when assured him that, as a language expert, given the opportunity and time I would do very well, beyond expectation.
Yet Akeem Lasisi runs a grammar column in Punch Newspapers. I’m certain he knows the implication of poor editing in prominent newspapers like Punch. He knows, equally, the importance of English language expert in the company, he could have ensured that gigantic news outfit like Punch is properly edited by experts.
So, the correct version of the excerpt should read:
“A gynaecologist and Head of Clinical Services at Life International Hospital, Awka, Anambra State, Dr Nwajiaku Louis, has urged couples battling infertility to go for In Vitro Fertilisation.”
“The Court of Appeal in Abuja has rejected the Federal Government’s attempt to retry the former governor of Abia and Senator representing Abia North, Orji Uzor Kalu, in the N7.6bn fraud case referred against him.”
The presence of the definite article “the” immediately after the coordinating conjunction “and” is NOT NEEDED since the subject of the sentence, Dr Nwajiaku Louis, is singular. The implication is that with the presence of the article “the” it expresses and refers to two persons.
So, it’s clearly seen now why it is nearly impossible to do away with the service of a language expert in media outfits.
