Would you be willing to don your schoolmarm persona long enough to comment on a few statements made in this article?
1) Boston.com: “Thomas C. Frongillo, a principal in the firm, has been represting the trustees in their negotiations with Dobelle.”
Question; Represting?
2) Boston.com: “But Dobelle’s publicist, George Regan issued a scathing statement saying that Dobelle’s suspension plans to file a federal lawsuit against the trustees for the “egregious” violation of his rights.”
Question: WHO is going to file a federal lawsuit?
3) Boston.com: “It also came as Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office launched an investigation into whether Dobelle made illegal false claims to obtain reimbursement for his expenses.”
Question: Would that be as opposed to LEGAL false claims?
I’m a lifelong southerner and I found them jarring. I rather thought Boston, with its boatload of top-shelf academics (or so I hear), held itself to a literary higher standard. No?
Dear Juliet: Well, this is what prose looks like when a newspaper is excitedly publishing, as it happens, every new morsel of a rather fast-moving story. The reporter is rushing, the editor (if they’re even bothering with one) is rushing, and the result is the mess you’ve noticed. Letters gets dropped (represting); whole phrases get dropped (“is illegal and he”). As for #3, this is not as egregious (Dobelle’s pomposity led him to hire a pompous publicist – bad idea) as #1 and #2, but I suppose it’s redundant.
On academics and literary standards… If I had to guess, I’d guess that the person who wrote the latest Dobelle dispatch is a twentyish recent grad of a journalism schoool.
October 18th, 2013 at 1:05AM
Dear SOS,
Would you be willing to don your schoolmarm persona long enough to comment on a few statements made in this article?
1) Boston.com: “Thomas C. Frongillo, a principal in the firm, has been represting the trustees in their negotiations with Dobelle.”
Question; Represting?
2) Boston.com: “But Dobelle’s publicist, George Regan issued a scathing statement saying that Dobelle’s suspension plans to file a federal lawsuit against the trustees for the “egregious” violation of his rights.”
Question: WHO is going to file a federal lawsuit?
3) Boston.com: “It also came as Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office launched an investigation into whether Dobelle made illegal false claims to obtain reimbursement for his expenses.”
Question: Would that be as opposed to LEGAL false claims?
I’m a lifelong southerner and I found them jarring. I rather thought Boston, with its boatload of top-shelf academics (or so I hear), held itself to a literary higher standard. No?
October 18th, 2013 at 1:45AM
Dear Juliet: Well, this is what prose looks like when a newspaper is excitedly publishing, as it happens, every new morsel of a rather fast-moving story. The reporter is rushing, the editor (if they’re even bothering with one) is rushing, and the result is the mess you’ve noticed. Letters gets dropped (represting); whole phrases get dropped (“is illegal and he”). As for #3, this is not as egregious (Dobelle’s pomposity led him to hire a pompous publicist – bad idea) as #1 and #2, but I suppose it’s redundant.
On academics and literary standards… If I had to guess, I’d guess that the person who wrote the latest Dobelle dispatch is a twentyish recent grad of a journalism schoool.