As part of my job responsibilities at the ISU Foundation, I read the ISU Daily to document news of faculty, staff, alumni and friends of the university. I always have taken in stride the grammatical and typographical errors that I find. I tell myself “These are students; they’re still learning.”

However, nothing could have prepared me for the story written by Emily McNiel in the April 16 issue. In her description of the evidence shown on the police tape recorded after Kenny Pratt’s arrest, she felt compelled to include a direct transcript of the language used by Pratt. I measure a full 24 inches of little more than extreme profanity!

I live in the real world; I know people use the words used by Pratt in real life. But do those words have to appear in print over and over again? When they help to convey the story, the words (or some abbreviation of) may be justified. The Ames Tribune published a condensed version of the transcript and managed quite well to tell its readers that Pratt was very agitated and that he swore liberally. Why did the ISU Daily feel it was necessary to go so much further?

If ISU hopes to teach its budding journalists anything while they report and write for the Daily, perhaps it should look to industry standards for guidance. I doubt there is any reputable newspaper in the country that would publish the story Ms. McNiel wrote.

What a shame; I assume she will be looking for a job someday.

Rosemary Sokolik

Research Assistant

ISU Foundation