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?
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Yeah, I am pretty sure if I was writing news releases as my job I think I would be able to spell check and proofread.This just shows laziness in a company. Sadly, even if the company is perfectly fine, it will lose credibility with an error like this. However, I did not catch the error until you pointed it out so to some people, this release did not lose the company credibility.
ReplyDeleteIf I were to enter a career in Public Relations I think I would know better then to miss spell words. I will admit I am one of the worst typers and spellers in the world but the good thing about that is the handy dandy spell check. Anyone who is writing something perfessional should not only use it but should come to love it. Public Relations looks alot at grammer and spelling along with the context and if it does its job. I enjoyed your blog. It not only pertained to the chapter but also showed that even professionals can screw up.
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