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Old 06-18-08 | 02:20 AM
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Copy editing?

Does DVD Talk have an editor who proofs the reviews before they go online? Silly mistakes in spelling and grammar, especially by professional writers, are blemishes in a great and authoritative resource.
Old 06-18-08 | 03:56 AM
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Originally Posted by mnementh
Does DVD Talk have an editor who proofs the reviews before they go online? Silly mistakes in spelling and grammar, especially by professional writers, are blemishes in a great and authoritative resource.
In answer to your question and address your comment:
1) No, there is no copy editor proofing all the reviews for grammatical or spelling errors.
2) No one is paid to review for DVD Talk, though a few of the reviewers are "professional writers", and my experience is that using the email links on the reviews to point out such errors is the fastest way to get them fixed.
Old 06-18-08 | 11:03 AM
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I notice mistakes all the time, but assumed that people would get pissed off if I kept emailing to point out errors.
Old 06-18-08 | 12:15 PM
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Originally Posted by cultshock
I notice mistakes all the time, but assumed that people would get pissed off if I kept emailing to point out errors.
If the alternative is jumping up and down in a public forum as the self appointed grammar police, I'll take emails any day. I wouldn't mind if IB hired someone to edit the misspellings and grammatical errors but equating a few common mistakes with the downfall of DVD Talk's credibility as a whole strikes me as kind of harsh.
Old 06-18-08 | 01:13 PM
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Originally Posted by Houstondon
2) and my experience is that using the email links on the reviews to point out such errors is the fastest way to get them fixed.
Yes, but it's much more fun to complain about them in threads.
Old 06-18-08 | 01:24 PM
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Originally Posted by Shannon Nutt
Yes, but it's much more fun to complain about them in threads.
LOL... That said, have you ever thought about coming back to review mainstream titles? There are a lot of them available and I'll defend your quirky writing style just like the good old days...
Old 06-18-08 | 06:07 PM
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Originally Posted by cultshock
I notice mistakes all the time, but assumed that people would get pissed off if I kept emailing to point out errors.
That's why I brought up the issue. Besides, I don't read every review and wouldn't want to be the sole member of the grammar police.
Old 06-18-08 | 06:18 PM
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Originally Posted by Houstondon
If the alternative is jumping up and down in a public forum as the self appointed grammar police, I'll take emails any day.
self-appointed

I wouldn't mind if IB hired someone to edit the misspellings and grammatical errors but equating a few common mistakes with the downfall of DVD Talk's credibility as a whole strikes me as kind of harsh.
Equating mistakes with the downfall is an exaggeration. Some mistakes are minor but others make a reviewer look unprofessional and incompetent. Anyway, using a word processor to double-check spelling and grammar would catch most of the mistakes that irk me.

Last edited by mnementh; 06-18-08 at 06:27 PM.
Old 06-19-08 | 03:15 AM
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Heh, we have mods who can move this thread to the correct subforum so why can't we have mods who'll proofread and correct the reviews?
Old 06-19-08 | 06:27 AM
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Well, it only takes a minute to move a thread, but much longer to proof read a review.

If you're interested in being reading over all of the reviews (or even a good chunk of them) and reporting grammatical errors, I think that'd be great Mnementh. It wouldn't be a paid position (none of the mods or reviewers are paid) but it would help the site out a lot. Shoot me an e-mail (John at dvdtalk.com) and we'll talk about it if your interested.

As far as reviewers getting pissed at someone for pointing out mistakes, that hasn't been my experience if you do it in a civil manner. Yeah, people get pissed at rude e-mails. "You fucking moron! You used "roll" when you should have typed "role"! I'll never read anything you write again since you obviously don't know what you're talking about." (We do get those.) A simple note is always appreciated though.
Old 06-19-08 | 10:12 AM
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Originally Posted by John Sinnott
Shoot me an e-mail (John at dvdtalk.com) and we'll talk about it if your interested.
Old 06-19-08 | 11:02 AM
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Old 06-19-08 | 11:14 AM
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Originally Posted by Houstondon
LOL... That said, have you ever thought about coming back to review mainstream titles? There are a lot of them available and I'll defend your quirky writing style just like the good old days...
I've thought about seeing if I could return for theatrical titles, but Brian covers so many, I'm not sure the need is there.

I'm currently in over my head with DVD and Blu-ray reviews at my own site (most of you know where), so my schedule just doesn't have enough free time in it to freelance on the DVD/Blu-ray end for this site anymore...although I'll "never say never" (but a few of you may!).
Old 06-20-08 | 08:30 AM
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Re My previous post: D'oh!

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