I started to comment on this a couple of minutes ago and somehow shot it into the ozone so I apologize in advance for an incomplete response that might appear.
   
  I took a few distance learning courses from a major university and found myself in a virtual classroom with students who couldn't write coherent sentences.  In order to attend, I was required to demonstrate my writing ability.  In the classroom I was stunned to find myself trying to communicate with students who were writing (and comprehending) at 6th grade level or worse.  How'd they get into the class?  Obviously, school officials were willing to lower the bar to fill the seats, which impacted the quality of the learning experience for those of us who recognized the problem.  Dumbing down is a reality at every level.
   
  

Kathleen Much <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
  On 2/12/07, Fred Fausz wrote:
> I have learned
never to trust information unless I have found it, seen it, and
verified its accuracy myself. This is especially critical these
days, because all of the careful copyeditors and conscientious
critics seem to have become extinct. Was there a purge? <

As good as. Publishers don't pay enough to attract the kind of
well-educated editors I used to work with. In fact, many of them
explicitly tell copyeditors to fix only the most egregious errors and
not to "waste time" on fact-checking. They usually dispense with
content and line editing altogether unless a book is expected to sell
in very large quantities. Some authors hire their own editors, knowing
that they won't get more than a cursory glance from their publisher's
hired hands.

And most colleges don't pay attention to writing skills, so their
young graduates are generally ill-prepared to learn the editorial
craft (the exceptions seem to be self-educated). Well-trained editors
are dying and retiring, and the pipeline is running dry.

Kathleen
The Book Doctor

To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html


To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html