The West Dec 4: Bethany Hiatt writes about the lowering standards of our education system. At least, I think that's what she's writing about. "One in four 15-year-olds is unable to complete basic reading tasks..."
In her article Hiatt refers to globally poor results. Globally? So, how does *Australia* rate? She offers a WA high school as an example of an improving school. Is the article really about a global situation or WA schools?
But wait, "students in Australian ... schools..." Is this an Australia-wide study? A state study? A global -- world-wide -- study? No idea.
An article reporting student learning problems and it is not clear which students have been measured. The article is a mish-mash of inarticulate nonsense. Definitely, "could do better". And here are some suggestions:
1. Write coherently. Write to be understood.
2. Do not hack the article just to fit the space. Do not hack the article just to fit the second headline, "Dumbed Down Under".
3. Employ sub-editors. Is that the right name? Employ people whose job is to read every article -- before publication -- to ensure that each article makes sense.
There's a related, second article on the same page, headlined "Sumthing wrong with our pupils". Ha ha.
Did you know that the editor of this paper won an award for the most catchy headline in WA? Not much competition, of course.
The standard of news reporting is already poor. It doesn't help when a potentially serious problem is headlined with a weak joke. Here's another suggestion:
4. Cover a serious issue with a sensible article. Don't spoil the impact with a joke headline.
Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
... Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved
===
"Experience is the comb life gives you once you're bald" … per Ginger Meggs
===
1 comment:
Didn't read the article. But assume you are correct.
Post a Comment