LSD LDS Contribute to Prop 8 Campaign

The Wall Street Journal reports on the central role individual Mormons are playing in the Proposition 8 campaign in California: "Mormons Boost Antigay Marriage Effort." The lead sentence: "Mormons have emerged as a dominant fund-raising force in the hotly contested California ballot fight to ban same-sex marriage."

Whoever wrote the headline should get sent back to the mail room. The effort is not "antigay", it is "anti-gay marriage," a significant distinction and one the WSJ really ought to get right. If you can't use words correctly, don't write headlines for a living. Just another sign of rising incompetence in journalism.

Comments

[David H. Sundwall]

I agree that's some unfair headline writing.

But is your own headline pro-drug? ;-)

[Steve Evans]

Awesome typo.

[David G.]

LSD. Sorry Dave, but that's really funny considering the content and criticisms in the post.

[Bull Moose]

"If you can't use words correctly, don't write headlines for a living."

Amen! and Amen.

[Dave]

Okay, typo corrected. Fortunately, I don't write headlines for a living.

[Ardis Parshall]

Gee, until Dave called it a typo, I assumed it was a really clever way to make his point!

[Nick Literski]

Yes, we're all very aware that LDS leaders do not wish for their crusade to be recognized as an "anti-gay" action. Nevertheless, many will perceive it as such. You ultimately seem to demand that all media coverage of the LDS church meet the spin approval of the LDS Public Affairs department, and that's simply not going to happen.

[Ardis Parshall]

Nick, master of the obvious. {yawn}

[Nick Literski]

Sigh..... So much for my hopes that the personal animosity and insults had blown over. If it was so "obvious," this blogger wouldn't be claiming that the WSJ was "incompetent" for not writing their story the way that LDS leaders want them to.

[Sam B.]

Nick,
It may be that Dave was only calling attention to the clearly bad grammar of the W$J headline. What "Antigay Marriage" is I do not know; to the best of my knowledge, there is no such word as "antigay." That hyphen not only clarifies, it correctifies. It's not that the headline spun the wrong way: it's that "antigay marriage" makes no sense at all (maybe it's the marriage of two people who are opposed to gays?).

Of course, misuse or lack of hyphens tends to drive me crazy, so maybe I'm reading Dave's criticism of the headline through the lense of my own prejudices (that is, anti-grammatically incompetent people who write for a living).

[Kim Siever]

Actually, Dave, since the main noun is "effort", "anti-gay marriage effort" is not any clearer than "antigay marriage effort". Arguably, they are synonymous. What it should be is "anti–gay-marriage effort".

[Kim Siever]

Sorry. That first hyphen should be an en dash.

[Peter LLC]

I'll be a monkey's uncle; Ardis is being uncivil again. Or would that be un-civil?

[English Teacher]

Antigay is indeed a legitimate English language word. Check dictionary.com. Nothing to scoff at here, folks!

[Bruce]

I find it ironic that a church that was historically persecuted for their own controversial definition of family (polygamy) is so self righteous to define it for others. A evil and dangerous cult indeed. I'm so glad I left it

[Dave]

Bruce, everyone is trying to define the family for others. Does that make the whole world a cult? Nice you are moving on with life. Sort of.