This is a link to an article from PR Newswire about Windstar Cruises. Because we're studying clarity in writing and grammar in class right now, I looked at the quality of the writing, examining whether it fits into PR guidelines or not.
If you read the article, the beginning sentence is pretty complex (a no-no for PR writers). Yes, it pretty much explains exactly what Windstar Cruises offers, but people may become confused with all the commas. On a positive note, though, that paragraph just features three sentences--the right amount. And the second paragraph is only one whole sentence long (which is a good thing--in PR). The rest of the sentences and paragraphs (with the exception of lists of dates, which there's really no way around) seem to fit the guidelines of PR writing quite well.
But keep reading and you'll find a grammar error...find it yet? "Ischia is located at the northern end of the Bay of Naples and is know for volcanic..." That's right...they forgot an n (on know). What does this tell us? Windstar Cruises just lost credibility. It's not that big or an error, it doesn't even change the meaning of the sentence, but it does confuse the readers a bit, thus taking away from the message delivery. Plus, "grammar police" may lose respect for this company just because of that one little error.
As PR practitioners, we need to proofread everything, and probably not just once. It's so easy to miss little, common errors that we often overlook them. I know I do. What else I do, though, is proofread other's work (probably more than my own). I don't try to, but I tend to notice when words are mispelled or puncuation is used incorrectly. I've seen errors on quite a few credible places, including a Coke can. That was so long ago, I forgot what the error was; I just remember there was one. That idea is crucial to PR practitioners' credibility. Readers may not remember what the error was, but they'll always remember the presence of one.
Do you notice errors in writing? Do you care if there are errors?
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
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