the smedley log - suburban scrawl

At least they’re not bragging about the copy-editing

From the text of an ad touting Philadelphia Media Holdings’ improved circulation numbers in last Sunday’s Inquirer special business section:

“Critics had said ‘pigs will fly’ before the Inquirer and the Daily News gain circulation. Well, they flew earlier this year and they’re flying again. The Philadelphia Inquirer had it’s largest circulation gain in five years and ranks #1 in daily circulation growth among the top 50 U.S. newspapers. The Daily News has had it’s first circulation gain in nine years. And not to be outdone, philly.com experienced a dramatic 42% growth in pageviews.” [emphasis added]

I’m one of those folks who’s genuinely rooting for the local newspapers to do well, so I should at least commend the Philly papers for improving circulation in a climate increasingly unsympathetic to dead tree journalism. Being familiar with a few of the faces behind the Inquirer and Daily News, I’m truly happy for them.

That said, here’s a brief grammar refresher:

its = possessive form of “it”
it’s = “it is”

There’s a lot more that is wrong with the writing there than the use of “it’s”.
I wouldn’t use “had said”, since it’s redundant. It should be “gained” circulation. I think the words are unneccessary.
Not starting sentences with “Well” and “And” is a personal preference, and may or may not be acceptable.

I have a hard time getting along without my daily newspaper. I’ve had one on my front doorstep since I was a child.
I suppose that someday the newspaper will be replaced by the computer screen. I like my dead trees.

I can chalk some of the informality in the writing to them trying to come across as more accessible (of the people, if you will), so I’ve learned (or been conditioned) to accept some of that. But the misuse of “it’s” actually changes the meaning of the sentence.

As for dead trees, I’m also a bit of an addict myself. The digital medium may someday eradicate dead tree news, but the digital literacy gap is far too broad for that to happen anytime soon, imho.

I’m surprised I can even notice informality, since I grew up reading the sports section first. For some reason, it bugs me.

I’m wondering if the future of newspapers lies in the advent of WiFi and these new electronic reader things that still appear to be in their infancy.
I can imagine being able to pull up the daily “paper” on the digital reader via wireless and carry it around with you. Very soon, Gloucester County will have available wireless Internet, and I’m figuring that other counties here in NJ will follow.
That might be a happy medium, if they can make the screens so that they won’t irritate my eyes.

But how will I do my crossword puzzle?