Count Four

The AP Needs a Good Editor

Does the Associated Press not hire writers and/or editors who can actually write proper English?

While reading this article about Interior Secretary Kempthorne touring the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, I was horrified to run across the following sentence in the third paragraph down:

His flight from Deadhorse, 120 miles to the west, had been turn backed earlier when a heavy fog prevented his chartered twin-engine turboprop from landing.

(emphasis added)

“Turn backed”?!?!?! What the hell? Does the author not know which word is the verb there? Did his editors not realize which word was the verb? This is not exactly rocket science here, folks, it’s very basic English grammar skills. Unbelievable.