We Regret the Error, Terra Poole

"Journalists are conditioned to fear and avoid mistakes. This helps send the message that accuracy is important," states Craig Silverman regarding how journalists have to make mistakes to learn, but also have to avoid them in order to have good reputations as journalists. Some mistakes, such as the word, "dilemma" have had no repercussions for making them because most people do not realize they are errors. For example, the Vancouver Sun has an article with the line, "But Saturday night at Rexall Place, Knorren faced an uncomfortable dilemma." The article addresses how Bev Knorren was left deciding between two Calgary rinks to play for to represent the woman's curling team. The definition of dilemma is somebody having to choose between two undesirable choices to make a decision. Knorren didn't really have a choice of what team she'd play for, it was dependent on how she played, and it's unlikely either of the outcomes would have been unfavourable if it gave her the chance to represent a team in the Olympics. Most people reading that article wouldn't realize "dilemma" was used improperly and would consider Knorren's two "choices" as part of a dilemma. Journalists need to be able to separate themselves from these errors so they properly represent the English language.

Silverman states, "one of the best ways to learn how to avoid errors is to make them in the first place," however, it is likely that journalists will make the similar errors of not separating the word "dilemma" with a decision, favourable or not. Without reprecussions from the public, there is little chance the journalist could then learn from his/her error. However, in truth, because most people do not realize it is an error, they are able to understand the sentence regardless of the statement paralleling itself to the prescriptive grammar in the English language. In fact, perhaps someday, the word dilemma's prescriptive meaning will catch up to its descriptive meaning (how it is used in everyday speech).

"Teaching accuracy is a multi-faceted process. It's complicated, and in truth it never really ends," Silverman also adds. This is true when regarding errors that stray from Canadian Press stylebook rules. For example, the Devon Dispatch states, "the 22-year-old died..." when referring to a woman who died. According to Canadian Press stylebook "22-year-old" shouldn't be hyphenated unless it says, "22-year-old woman." However, similar to what Silverman discusses, the truth is not a black and white thing. Just because Canadian Press says the sentence is incorrect, the readers are still able to decipher its meaning. Though, that is where the Canadian Press stylebook is important to set rules and guidelines for journalists. There is a lot of knowledge to gain for journalists and it is important for clarity that journalists follow the rules and guidelines whatever stylebook they are required to adhere to. This eliminates as much confusion as possible for all journalists to write according to the same guidelines which is why even minor errors such as "22-year-old" should be avoided when possible.

Nate Kornell suggests that "making errors is the best way to learn information that you want to learn." However, grammar provokes a different argument. A very common error that all people tend to make is separating the word "it's" from "its." In Grant MacEwan's Intercamp, the sentence "...only to find the backyard returned to it’s former glory," was used when the word "its" should have replaced "it's." This is a very confusing error to make for journalists because with a simple apostrophe it can change the meaning of a sentence. Similar to the "dilemma" debate, continually using the words "it's" and "its" incorrectly will not ensure accuracy for the future. Unless an editor catches these errors and discourages them for the future, journalists will continue to make them.

When it comes to journalism, Silverman's approach may be flawed in saying making errors is the only way to learn how not to. In some examples, this is the case, however there are many times errors even get past the editor, which makes it very difficult for the journalist to learn from those mistakes. Especially when the errors are not even recognized as errors by the public, the error is masked as correct. People are unable to learn from the mistakes they may have made when they do not realize they are mistakes.

Note: Image from Jeremy Pryor