I'm Being a Grammar Nazi Today

The majority of us in Barbados have moved away from physical newspapers and now get our news online from Barbados Today and Nation News. On almost given day, you can observe comments on these articles complaining either about the spelling errors or the poor structure of the articles. Why is it that these errors persist even in the face of so much criticism?




1. The writers and editors are incompetent
     This is the general consensus among the complaints. Many of the commentators wonder how people with such poor writing skills are given these positions, while some who would do a much better job are not given the chance. Many times people write the way they speak, and not the way it was meant to be written. It is clear that the "writers" in the local newspapers fall under this category. However, even if the writers are incompetent, why are the editors not catching these errors? This brings me to the next possible reason.

2. They just don't care 
     After all, everyone knows that Barbadians are a passive people. We all want to know what is happening around us. With these being our two main sources for news on the island, many will complain, but the majority will continue to rely on these poorly written articles for information. With that being the case, why would any care be taken on their part to improve? But this is also brings up the question of if...

3. Barbadian readers don't have high standards
    Maybe the majority do not care about the grammar or structure of articles, or maybe our level of education is not as high as we like to boast. One of our crowning glories is a 98% literacy level. But read online comments or even the same local newspapers and you may begin to wonder on what these statistics are based. It's a possibility that the myriad of grammatical errors and poor sentence structures go unnoticed by the readers.  If this is the case, I fear we will see no improvement any time soon.


I hate using other countries as comparisons, but I think it is merited in this case. Read an article from those considered the best news sources in the world, and you will notice the difference immediately. I don't profess to be the best writer of the English language, nor do I say that humans are not granted mistakes. However, I think that if you are paid to be a writer or editor of a national publication, due care should be taken to ensure that the highest possible standards are met in all areas, including basic grammar.

Do you agree with me about the poor level of writing in our newspapers? Why/why not? Do you think there can ever be any improvement? Comment below and let's discuss.