Reader Rant
How Bad Is It?
This letter has nothing to do with wheeling. I've been a subscriber for several years. I really like the attitude and style of the magazine, and don't really care how many Jeeps or non-Jeeps you feature-it's all fun to read.
I would, however, like to request that somebody do some better proofreading before you run the stories. Here's what appeared in just one feature in the June '10 issue:
P. 35: "The handle locks similarly to that of an air chuck." What about a simple "locks like an air chuck"?
P. 35: "with fewer hurtles and turbulence" (hurdles).
P.38: "an antisheer bracket" (antishear).
P.39: "bucketheads steeling stuff." Yikes!
P.40; "lightweight vice." You mean like an O'Doul's?
p.42: "take a peak under your Jeep." Better have one helluva lift!
The only one missing was fender flairs.
Believe me, it's not like I go looking for mistakes to carp about. These things jump out at me and instantly lower the credibility of anything I'm reading, which is a shame because the content is great. While I'm aware that most of the rest of the world doesn't give a crap about this stuff anymore, this time it was way too much for me to just grit my teeth and let it slide.
As I said, I love the magazine; there's no way I'd quit buying it just because it's not perfect, so I hope you'll take this as constructive criticism. After all, if I was walking around with a toilet paper banner trailing off my shoe, I'd sure want somebody to tell me about it!
David Holmes
Santa Monica, CA
It amazes us as well, considering each staffer reads the copy twice, I read it four times, and our managing editor reads it two or three times. We do care, and we agree with you, but as a cost-cutting measure, all of the company's 54 copy editors were laid off last year, and now it's up to us to catch our own mistakes. While that's good in a way, it's far easier to catch someone else's mistakes, especially when we rely way too much on spell-check. That system simply spells the word correctly, but as you have shown, it may be the wrong word. So thanks for catching that toilet paper on the shoe, and if you want, come on down to our offices and we'll stick you in a cube for no pay and long hours so you can give us a hand making sure we are on the mark. Thanks again!
Submission Information
4-Wheel & Off-Road welcomes letters to the editor. Letters must include an address or a telephone number so the sender can be verified. Once verified, your name may be withheld at your request. Letters published in this magazine reflect the opinions of the writers, and we reserve the right to edit letters for clarity, brevity, or other purposes. Due to the large volume of mail we receive, we regret that we cannot reply to unpublished letters or return photos. Digital photos must measure no less than 1600 x 1200 pixels (or two megapixels) and be saved as a TIFF, an EPS, or a maximum-quality JPEG file.
Write to: Editor, 4-Wheel & Off-Road, 831 S. Douglas St., El Segundo, CA 90245; fax 310.531.9368
Email to: 4wheeloffroad@sorc.com