iPods and Ineptitude

Editor Alert! Would someone please give Renee a list of suitable topics so she can write something worth reading? iPod research? ARGHH!

Here are some excerpts from her latest column:

In my room, I can belt out the lyrics and dance like nobody is watching (because no one is watching).

How sad for you. Maybe your romantic life will improve.
When we're sad, we listen to sad music, and when we're optimistic, we listen to a song like, "Beautiful Day."

There's a deep sociological insight. I never would have guessed. Tell me more...
Maybe you were one of the lucky few I stopped right in front of, smiled at, and asked what you were listening to. Every person returned the smile and some laughed with embarrassment.

Shiny, happy people....great.

I was invading their private life.

This mixing of plural and singular is painful. They all had ONE private life. Interesting.
The most popular artists, all with two people listening to their music,...

Can you say statistically significant?


So do my results have any true significance? Most likely, no.

Then why share them?

I'm not sure what role the editors play over at the DI, but building Renee's self-esteem by telling her that every idea she gets is worth publication doesn't seem to be working. I'm sure she's a good person (after all, the folks she interrupted smiled and answered her questions without slugging her), and of course this is a student publication, but that's no excuse for accepting this work as journalism.

The buck stops with the editors, and they need to step up, guiding their writers toward starting with solid ideas, trudging through a revision process to refine those ideas, and publishing only the best material. Anything less is damaging to the whole paper.