No less than Stephen Pinker claiming this is news?

This happened with a fresh-out-of-college designer (god forbid copyeditors had editing skills) in 2016. In Austin. I was there that night.

I was on a different team, but come morning, yeah, we were all mocking her for her lack of a hyphen. At the same time, I was the only designer exempt from running a site’s heds verbatim. Of course something like this was going to happen.

To claim this recently happened with a nonsensical upside-down folio is … I usually reach for “absurd” here, and as I’ve already burned “nonsensical,” I’ll just go with “unhinged.”

Pinker knows better, and I’m slightly inclined to point out the provenance that claims a local paper (already an ethical violation) was responsible for what I saw happen in real time in Austin.

God, I hated those stylesheets, but they’re rather damning when it comes to proving A) this was designed at the hub; and B) you’re claiming local reporting – complete with byline – you didn’t do.

Anyone still confused about why I walked away?

  • tiredofsametab@fedia.io
    0·
    2 months ago

    A guy I knew who worked for the County paper when I was a student did this on purpose.

    “XXXXXX high school wins with Peters out” and the like.

  • rozwud@beehaw.orgEnglish
    0·
    2 months ago

    Hah, I remember someone posting this on Facebook back in the day. I thought it was hilarious that the article started with “Eager students”… I bet they were!

    • Powderhorn@beehaw.orgOPEnglish
      0·
      2 months ago

      It’s worth noting that she was … not exactly a prude, but unaware of entendre. She was just dutifully flowing in the hed from the CMS and had never learned to question display copy, which was exactly what GateHouse was hiring for.

      The first time I questioned a hed for a paper I’d not worked at in the past, the assigning ed went to management and said that I had no right to alter their display copy after I’d run it up the flagpole, and management (please sit down here) defended me. It was explained that my hed would run, and in the future, don’t fuck up like this again and drag us into this shit.

  • lime!@feddit.nuEnglish
    0·
    2 months ago

    screw pinker for a myriad reasons but i think he just thought it was funny.

    • ranandtoldthat@beehaw.orgEnglish
      0·
      2 months ago

      Literally the best case for pinker is accessory after the fact to child abuse. But I don’t give any epstein associates the benefit of the doubt at this point. He probably raped children.