Does Spelling Count? Not in the Media

It drives some of us crazy. Watch the captions on local TV. Look at the CCSD website.

No, I'm not talking about spelling errors by non-professionals. A student is not going to fail a literature test because he or she can't spell "villain" or "conscience." And while I try to hold myself to a high standard in posting on this blog, spelling errors in readers' comments bother me not at all.

It's just that, as I explain to students when they ask that question, if you are presenting yourself as a professional, spelling errors suggest that you are deficient in other ways as well. Would a sign company stay in business if even 10 percent of its signs were misspelled? My son, who was recently recruiting bloggers for on-line jobs, was inundated with emailed applications. The ones with misspellings in the application were the first to reach the circular file.

What set me off on this rant was the title of a story on Channel 4's website: Litter Is More Than an Eye Soar on Folly Beach.

At first I thought the headline on Channel 4's home page might have been a joke, but then I read the story. I'm still trying to imagine those eyes soaring on Folly Beach.