Ahh, Editors!

Hving a editor would bee a tremindous luxry to we here,, at ASD. Unfortunately, our budget prevents us from having a grammar and spelling nazi to overlook our work. Newspapers, allegedly, do still employ them, which is why I bring up this little nugget. Just after Christmas, Duke assistant basketball coach Chris Collins just so happened to show up at a high school game featuring the top point guard recruit, who just so happens to be undecided as to his future. The game was held the day after Christmas, which is a recruiting dead period and therefore a violation by Coach Collins. The significance of the violation is not why I brought you here, but because of the editing of the local paper and the headlines that were used. Two local papers, the Charlotte Observer, and the Greensboro News and Observer share writers, but each handles their own editing and headlines. Let's take a quick gander at the differences in the exact same article written by Ken Tysiac.

Charlotte Observer- Headline: "Duke says Collins broke NCAA rule"
and an important quote, "Friday was the final day of the recruiting period when NCAA rules prohibit college coaches from attending high school games."

Greensboro News & Observer- Headline: "Duke to self-report violation"
and the same quote, "Friday was the final day of the Dec. 24-26 recruiting “dead period,” during which NCAA rules prohibit college coaches from attending high school games."

Not only is the Charlotte papers headline more inflammatory, but they edited out a crucial piece of information, "Dec. 24-26", why is it so important? Because UNC head coach had been in Florida to watch three of his prized recruits on Dec. 23. Obviously, they weren't considering that when they edited it out, but in doing so they cut out a piece that makes the writing much less informative. Anyone who reads the Observer knows their headline writers are also severely lacking, but that is more stylistic than anything. Papers wonder why their relevance is decreasing, but after reading their article any curious sort would turn to the internet to find the answer, and to find that they edited out the piece of info sought, is laughable.