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"ADHD Comes to the Newsroom"

As a journalist with ADHD, I might misspell names on rare occasion. But having attention deficit doesn’t make me a worse reporter; it makes me a better one.

3 Comments: "ADHD Comes to the Newsroom"

  1. Hi Janice,
    I really enjoy reading your articles. They have been insightful. I can empathize with with your struggles. I don’t think I had or have dyslexia either but I had so many difficulties reading. The nuns and teachers threatened my mom that I would be held back if I didn’t read and comprehend what I read at a second grade level. That was in 1963 when no one really knew exactly what ADD was. The only tool my mother used, was reading Dr. Seuss books to me and then she had me read it out loud back to her explaining what each sentence meant. For whatever reason, “The Cat in the Hat”, “Green Eggs & Ham”, ET AL got me through one of my most frustrating school experiences. To date I’m still a slow reader. I know that I did and still do for that matter have a learning disability. I hope some day they can get the exact formula for all the different variants that accompany ADHD/ADD. I say you’re human and ADHD or not you will make mistakes. Something puzzles me about your work going to the editor(s). Are there no proofreaders to submit your work to after the editor(s) have reviewed your articles? I find so many misspelled words and grammar errors when reading internet news articles or magazines. It’s obvious there are no proofreaders in that style of journalism much less proofreading their own work. I wish you continued success and look forward to future articles.

    Sincerely,

    Mark M.

    1. Hi, Mark. Thanks for the kind words and my apologies for the late response. I just saw your comment for the first time today.

      You’ve kind of hit a sore spot for many journalists. Papers used to employ full-time proofreaders and fact checkers. Now few to none do. Editors are supposed to perform this work. The good ones do. But, as with any profession, you have people who aren’t that great at what they do — who cut corners, who don’t care, who weren’t properly trained, etc. And then there’s the large majority in between: Editors who care passionately about their work, accuracy, and the reading public we serve. But they are overworked, as per Pew Research, newsroom employment has dropped by 23% over the last 10 years. At newspapers specifically, there’s been a 45% drop, which essentially means that 2 people have to do the work of 4 every day. They don’t have time to check everything but still face the ethical responsibility to do so. It’s hard.

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