Journalism 101: Raging Pandas

The panda, eats, shoots, and leaves.

This is why I love my job. The aforementioned line is a well-known headline used for the sole purpose of teaching everyone the importance of well-placed commas. While grammar isn’t everybody’s favorite subject, it’s headlines like these that make me love my chosen career.

Seriously, who wrote that headline, and can I have their autograph? How did that ever get past editors and copy editors into print? Clearly the headline was meant to say that pandas eat shoots and leaves, not that they’re violent murders with assault rifles, (though I have to admit the visual is pretty hilarious).

While I have not made such a blatantly funny mistake, I have made plenty of others. For instance, last week’s Volante featured a photo in my section with a cutline referring to someone as a “senot.” That typo was abruptly followed by another line saying the theater department at the University of South Dakota would not be featuring a wide variety of plays, (I’m so sorry!). The little word “not” can have such big consequences.

So, while I will probably continue to make mistakes, I just pray that I don’t ever have any violent panda situations, and if I do, lets just hope they’re as funny.