Worst lede ever?

[Larry Kart]

http://jimromenesko.com/2013/01/19/what-the-hell-toronto-star/

[papsrus]

My god!

[JSngry]

this world is not my home

[johnlitweiler]

Is the Toronto Star a Conrad Black paper? If so, don't be surprised if they're proud of that lede.

[Ted O'Reilly]

Not a Black paper. I believe he is completely out of the biz, save for an interest in The Catholic Herald, a UK Roman Catholic newspaper. According to Wikipedia: "The Catholic Herald is now owned by Sir Rocco Forte and Lord Black of Crossharbour, the latter a convert."

Black is currently "on leave" from the House of Lords, and having given up his Canadian citizenship in order to accept the peerage, a citizen of the UK. I believe that being a foreigner to Canada, he would not be able to own much of any Canadian media. I think....

Back to the lede: the writer has been much more (shall we say) extravagant than that, in the past. Personally, I can't quite understand how The Star (a very family-oriented mainstream wishy-washy leftish/centrist paper) keeps her on.

[Brad]

Thought that was a top paper. Hemingway would not be happy.

[king ubu]

(is a lede a lead?)

[JSngry]

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/lede

[Obsolete spelling of lead, revived in modern journalism to distinguish the word from lead, strip of metal separating lines of type.]

I guess it's a rebellion against the overarching tyranny of typesetting in the modern world.

'Bout time!

[Jazzmoose]

It's just necessary because many journalists have trouble understanding things in context...

Edited January 20, 2013 by Jazzmoose

[Ted O'Reilly]

Thought that was a top paper. Hemingway would not be happy.

I suppose it still is, but the Star is suffering in the same way almost all print sources are. It's my paper of choice in Toronto, with the Globe & Mail a close second. Now, if you want a BAD paper, that'd be the Sun...

[BruceH]

And here I thought Toronto was supposed to be a nice, civilized place.

[Larry Kart]

(is a lede a lead?)

http://grammarist.com/usage/lead-lede/

[Blue Train]

How about the first two sentences?

She lost a womb but gained a penis.

The former was being removed surgically — full hysterectomy — while the latter was forcibly shoved into her slack mouth.

[king ubu]

(is a lede a lead?)

http://grammarist.com/usage/lead-lede/

Thanks Larry, appreciated! This thread is the very first time I noticed this word.

[Larry Kart]

How about the first two sentences?

She lost a womb but gained a penis.

The former was being removed surgically — full hysterectomy — while the latter was forcibly shoved into her slack mouth.

Just to be clear -- in this case, the first two sentences are the lede because the second one fills out or explains the first.

[B. Clugston]

Just awful. This is the talk of the Canadian newspaper world and the Star is facing quite a backlash. And how about worst copy editing job ever.

[papsrus]

Just awful. This is the talk of the Canadian newspaper world and the Star is facing quite a backlash. And how about worst copy editing job ever.

Thing is, that lede surely got approval far above the level of the copy desk.

[Spontooneous]

Just awful. This is the talk of the Canadian newspaper world and the Star is facing quite a backlash. And how about worst copy editing job ever.

Thing is, that lede surely got approval far above the level of the copy desk.

Papsrus is right.

Let's just say I know newspaper copy editors who are actively discouraged from trying to change or improve the masterly and immortal works of certain marquee columnists.

And some newspaper copy editors may be perfectly willing to let certain marquee columnists hang themselves.

[Jazzmoose]

And some newspaper copy editors may be perfectly willing to let certain marquee columnists hang themselves.

It makes sense now.

[Larry Kart]

At odd times at my old paper I edited a regular column written by a prominent editor there. He had the rare gift of not only being semi-illiterate but also being semi-illiterate in ways that were almost impossible to fix. In particular, if someone puts something in an inept or goofily confused manner, usually one can tell what the writer meant to say and either change things around discretely or talk directly to the writer and make suggestions if there's time for that. In this guy's case, though, one usually couldn't tell what it was that the writer meant to say, which made attempts to untangle things quite a problem. Funny thing -- thanks in part to his East Coast prep school accent and no doubt related cool, languid manner, he was very good on TV talk shows about politics, where he often appeared. And what he said there pretty much made sense, too.

Wish I'd made a collection of his unedited copy; some of it was just amazing in its "you can't get there from here" convolutions. It could have been the base of a nice parlor game titled "Turn This Into English."