Remember when newspapers had copy editors? Back in the good old days, a couple of people would read the paper’s copy before it went to press.
But those days are over, leaving room for pesky profanity — like “fuck,” for example — to sneak into the print edition. That’s exactly what happened last week in The Greenville News, a South Carolina daily newspaper.
The story was an Associated Press report in the paper’s sports section. Here’s how it appeared in print:
If that means taking a shot at No. 1 LSU, the more touted team the Bulldogs will be facing Saturday in the Southeastern Conference championship, so be it.
fuck
“Our defense, I think, is better than theirs,” said Commings, a junior cornerback for No. 12 Georgia…”
Ill-edited expletive or subliminal comment on the state of newspapers? We report, you decide.
The paper’s editor, John Pittman, wrote an apology: “In the Thursday edition of The Greenville News, someone added a vulgar word to a wire story inside the Sports section. We are saddened by this and assure everyone we will deal appropriately with it. We apologize to our readers and the reporter whose name appeared over the story.”
David Taintor
David Taintor is TPM’s News Editor. He contributes to TPM’s Livewire coverage, among other areas. David is from Chanhassen, Minnesota, where, yes, it gets very cold. Reach him at taintor [at] talkingpointsmemo.com
Disqus Conversations
Click here to read the Disqus Commenting FAQ.