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Angling Journalism


Barnese

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gilbertron:

i'm off duty here, so can be excused the errors, if i'm getting paid for it i'm a lot more thorough

I think that is a pretty sad statement. Surely if you are going to do something, then it is worth doing it to the best of your ability all of the time? I'm afraid that your statement does not do much for the point you are trying to make when you complain that angling journalists are anglers first and journalists second. Certainly if I was a young angler hoping to break into the journalistic world, I would take heart from what you have submitted while explaining that you are a professional journalist.

***********************************************************

 

Politicians are not responsible for a country's rise to greatness; The people are.

 

The people are not responsible for a country's fall to mediocrity; the politicians are.

 

 

 

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gilbertron:

i dont write for any publication, thats why my punctuation is non existent! i wasnt aware of any grammatical errors, but it wouldnt surprise me if there were a few

No full stops, no apostrophes in abbreviations and the lower case 'i' for the first person singular.

 

As Chevin says, it's sad when any 'man of letters' only bothers with the correct presentation of English when being paid to do so.

 

I think your 'journalist first' comment has, ever so slightly, bitten you in the ar5e, my friend. Surely a case of journalist, heal thyself.

 

Terry

And on the eighth day God created carp fishing...and he saw that it was pukka.

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when writing on here, as when writing emails etc, punctuation, capital letters etc go out the window, and no, things arent worth doing to the best of your ability all the time, things are worth doing as well as they need to be done, most of the time. surely when expressing opinions, swapping stories, giving advice etc, as is mostly done on here, its the content that matters not the finer points of punctuation, grammar etc. or should i get my editor to check all copy before i post it on here

i didnt expect personal attacks when i posted my comments and, and to be called sad because of my comments is outrageous.

if this is the kind of treatment i can expect when i post on here, i probably wont bother again, no great loss you're probably thinking, and for you, you would be right, but i enjoyed coming on this forum

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Guys,

 

Chill - this is supposed to be a thread about helping somebody.

 

Gilbertron, you state that you "didnt expect personal attacks" when you posted your comments, yet your initial comment was a direct personal attack on Matt Hayes, a long-time contributor to this site and a genuinely nice guy.

 

Perhaps we can call it quits, eh, and get back to the topic in question?

 

Please? :)

 

Tight lines,

 

Elton

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all i was saying elton was that i dont like matts writing style, i'm sure he is a nice guy, and i know he's a fantastic fisherman who does a lot of good things for fishing, but i dont rate him as a writer. thats not an attack, just a point of view, now if i'd said he was sad, then that would be a different matter.

i intended my comments to make barnese think that there were openings for new writers, and if you're reading this barnese and then go for it, angling needs some decent new writers

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gilbertron:

i didnt expect personal attacks when i posted my comments and, and to be called sad because of my comments is outrageous.

You were not 'called sad', mate. Chevin and I were simply referring to the statement you made, not yourself.

 

I guess he and I have an old-fashioned mindset that doesn't appreciate the 'don't bother if you don't have to' attitude, especially when applied to written English.

 

No personal attack intended, but I think the point is a valid one all the same.

 

Terry

And on the eighth day God created carp fishing...and he saw that it was pukka.

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gilbertron:

i didnt expect personal attacks when i posted my comments and, and to be called sad because of my comments is outrageous.

As Wordbender pointed out, I certainly did not call you sad, I expressed an opinion on a statement you made. I wouldn't consider my comment to be outrageous or aggressive in any way. I must say though that I do have difficulty in understanding someone who does not wish to maintain a standard of which he could be proud. In fact I would have thought it would come naturally to someone who earned a living as you do.

***********************************************************

 

Politicians are not responsible for a country's rise to greatness; The people are.

 

The people are not responsible for a country's fall to mediocrity; the politicians are.

 

 

 

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as i write for a living, its nice to not have to bother worrying about all the grammatical niceties etc when i'm not writing for work.

i'm amazed my lack of punctuation etc has caused such a stir when all i was doing was agreeing with the previous post by peter sharpe that much of the writing in magazines today is not up to scratch.

there are a wealth of good angling writers about, its a shame that the magazines dont seem to be able to attract them. but i'm not convinced that the quality of writing is foremost in the editors mind, price and deadlines are far more pressing matters.

and sorry chevin, but if i make a statement about the way i live my life, and you say that statement is sad, then as far as i can see you are calling me sad

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gilbertron:

 

i'm amazed my lack of punctuation etc has caused such a stir when all i was doing was agreeing with the previous post by peter sharpe that much of the writing in magazines today is not up to scratch.

Perhaps Wordbender and I were mistaken when we assumed that someone criticising others would try to display a higher standard than those of whom he was being critical. As an angler first and a journalist second, I could take your comments as a personal attack. However, as a part time writer I do try to be professional in my approach, and that includes reading what others say and appreciating the context in which things are said.

 

When we are trying to help someone who has a desire to become an angling journalist, it is distressing to see the only contributer to the discussion who claims to be a professional journalist writing in a way that appears to be more like the work of a semi-illiterate. That is not meant as a personal attack, that is the impression your postings will give many others - not just me. No one really expects everything that is posted here to be perfect in every way - few of us are professional enough to achieve that. But it really doesn't take a great deal of effort to use punctuation etc if, most of the time, it is mandatory when you are at work. Hardly a matter of bothering about niceties I would have thought. To be honest, despite the fact I am not a professional writer, my fingers can't go past the keys that achieve those things!

 

I will reiterate that this note is not intended to be a personal attack. It is simply in the vein in which you remarked upon Mat Hayes's work, and the work of anglers who write about angling.

***********************************************************

 

Politicians are not responsible for a country's rise to greatness; The people are.

 

The people are not responsible for a country's fall to mediocrity; the politicians are.

 

 

 

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my comments were intended on a far more fundamental level, i never critised anyones use of punctuation or grammar, as i believe these are irrelavent to the argument, what i dont like is the way most angling journalism seems to be written to appeal to the lowest common denominator, theres no imaginationn, no spark, certainly no risk taking, its just dull repetition of the same old themes. read the book jeremy paxman edited (i think its called fish, fishing and the meaning of life, but i may be mistaken) and you'll see some fantastic angling writing, also read any john geirach book, or george mellies memoires, all make fantastic reading, indeed the first book i mentioned evoked such magical scenes in my head that i started fly fishing because of it, i'd never been interested before, but i wanted to experience some of that which was being written about.

 

i find it amusing to be called a semi illiterate the irony of that is almost too much to take. i only claim to be a professional journalist because thats exactly what i am, and the fact i've got where i am with such a cavalier attitude to all that crap i was taught at school only shows that you should write what and how you feel, not what and how other people say. subject matter and style are everything, punctuation and correct use of capital letters when using the first person singular are nothing. and on that note hopefully this thread will wither up and fade away

unless anyone else wants to insult me, slag me off, tell me i shouldnt be doing what i do, etc etc

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