As luck would have it, this issue’s Red Phone is all about your
local five-day-a-week paper. Yep, it’s time for the Red Phone to
shine a light under its own roof. We’re not holding any calls
back.
As luck would have it, this issue’s Red Phone is all about your local five-day-a-week paper. Yep, it’s time for the Red Phone to shine a light under its own roof. We’re not holding any calls back. We’re running them all, including the words of one caller who basically told The Dispatch to fire its proofreader. Read on.
“We get the Dispatch and have for several years now. I just have to say that I really think you need a better proofreader or something because I have continually found grammatical errors, misspellings, that kind of thing in the paper. And then today, on page 8 I believe, where you’re advertising that the South Valley Newspapers are hiring instead of saying ‘are hiring’ it says ‘is hiring,’ which I believe is incorrect. Anyway I just think especially since it is a newspaper, it should strive to meet those professional standards set forth by journalists.”
In this instance, “is hiring” is correct. South Valley Newspapers is a singular noun although it ends in an “s.” OK, poor case in point. But that’s not to say errors don’t occasionally creep onto the pages of The Dispatch. If we pull back the curtain, you won’t find a team of proofreaders working in the Dispatch newsroom like at a much larger paper. Instead, you would find a team of dedicated reporters and editors copy editing the editorial content of the paper each day. Even multiple sets of eyes can miss a mistake, from a misplaced comma to a misspelled word – after all, we are human. As for ads, the people who build the ads proof their work, and the ads are also sent to the clients for a final check.
The Dispatch does strive to meet the highest standards of journalism. Recently, the paper received 11 California Newspaper Publishers Association awards. Now, that’s something the staff at The Dispatch can be proud of.
***
The Dispatch is also pleased to be unveiling a redesigned paper, which will be delivered to subscribers’ doorsteps in the mornings by mid-August. Fortunately, it won’t happen exactly like this caller’s carrier said.
“Our Dispatch carrier, the boy that delivers The Dispatch, was telling me in August – sometime in the middle of August – they are going to deliver the newspaper at 12 midnight. That is not going to work. You’re not going to get any kids out there at 12 or 1 o’clock in the morning. That is all the information our Dispatch carrier told us. I don’t know if there is more to this or what. But if it’s true what he’s saying, it’s going to be very unsafe and I don’t think they’re going to get any kids out there at 12 midnight or 1 in the morning to deliver the paper. I think you might getting more phone calls if it is true what he is saying. Like I said, I don’t know if there is more to this.”
The Dispatch won’t be delivered at midnight. Instead, adult, professional motor carriers will deliver the papers shortly before 5:30 a.m. to subscribers, similar to other metropolitan dailies such as the San Jose Mercury News. This will allow Dispatch readers to enjoy the latest local news while drinking their morning coffee. For you sports fans, the sports section will have all of the scores from the night before.
Spread the word.
***
Speaking of sports, this call should boost a Dispatch sports reporter’s spirits – after being ever-so humbled on the greens recently.
“My message isn’t that juicy. But I just want to comment to Brett Edgerton’s report with his golfing against Ryan Slater. That was a great article. And I like his timeline. He did a great job. I hope somebody lets him know that we really appreciate it.”
Of course, we passed this caller’s compliments onto Brett. We’ll let you know if there’s a round two (probably not anytime soon).
***
That’s a wrap.
After all that, a vacation might be in order for the Red Phone. Luckily, we didn’t delete this call.
“I have been trying to reach you regarding the invitation that we sent to you a few weeks ago regarding the six-day, five-night Orlando theme park and Florida vacation, you might have mistaken it for junk mail …”
What we want to know is who did he mistake the Red Phone for? Do people actually listen to the greeting on our answering machine? Obviously, some of you have listened because the next Red Phone should be juicy. Until then, we might just be picking sea shells from a beach in the Sunshine State.
