NYCkayaker NY Times: The Lure of Seeing a Hushed City at Water Level

[David Gottlieb]

Eric,
In journalism, there is no excuse for errors. Organizations, like the NY
Times, have numerous editors, assistants, copy editors and fact checkers on
their payroll. Poor reporting and then poor editing and laziness cause
errors. True, sometimes text needs to be tightened up due to certain
reporters¹ poor writing skills. But if false information is written in the
article, that false information will be tightened up. Basically, this was
not even a breaking news story, and the time could have been taken to reduce
errors in such a story, but it wasn¹t.

As a former journalist in the New England area, I am quite familiar with
deadlines and quirky editors. No reporter likes to get facts wrong. It
happens, but should only happen on occasion. But in this case there seems to
be a number of errors that frankly, I would have been embarrassed about if I
had written the story. This is the New York Times after all;  the so called
pinnacle of written journalism. Shouldn¹t we expect more and demand more
from them. No excuses please. Just get the facts correct. What¹s so hard
about that??? 

That being said, I believe potential regulation of kayakers appears to be
completely arbitrary, considering the amount of irresponsible power boaters
out there, many under the influence of all sorts of substances, who are not
regulated any more than we kayakers are.

Be well, David


On 5/29/07 12:20 PM, "Erik Baard" <erik at baard.com> wrote:

> While entirely agreeing with Mike (and I do strive to avoid goofs in my own
> work), errors creep in through several cracks: editors and copy editors (who
> "tighten up" text or revise text in the middle of the night for "clarity"),
> unfamiliarity (the word "journalist," I often joke, is a slurring of the word
> "generalist," because we're navigating unfamiliar waters with each new,
> unrelated article), and the need to communicate for a general readership (in
> science writing, we refer to the extremely particular objections of
> researchers as "geek rage").
>  
> The essence of the article, however, is true: the growth of kayaking is
> bringing greater support but perhaps also greater regulation.
> 
> Erik Baard
> 
> http://www.licboathouse.org <http://www.licboathouse.org/>
> http://www.naturecalendar.com
> 
>  
> 
> 
>> -------- Original Message --------
>> Subject: RE: NYCkayaker NY Times: The Lure of Seeing a Hushed City at
>> Water Level
>> From: mike <mpidel at optonline.net>
>> Date: Tue, May 29, 2007 12:11 pm
>> To: 'Erik Baard' <erik at baard.com>,  'nyckayaker'
>> <nyckayaker at rockandwater.net>
>> 
>> As always they seem to make things up
>> ³among them a rule requiring kayakers to have a parks department permit to be
>> out after sunset²
>> ³The only maritime rule affecting kayakers is that each one wear a life
>> jacket.²
>>  
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nyckayaker-bounces at rockandwater.net
>> [mailto:nyckayaker-bounces at rockandwater.net] On Behalf Of Erik Baard
>> Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2007 9:45 AM
>> To: nyckayaker
>> Subject: NYCkayaker NY Times: The Lure of Seeing a Hushed City at Water Level
>>  
>> Hi All,
>>  
>> The NY Times is running its article about the growth of kayaking, and the
>> coming NYC Water Trail today.
>>  
>> http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/29/nyregion/29kayak.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&ore
>> f=slogin 
>> <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/29/nyregion/29kayak.html?_r=1&amp;ref=nyregio
>> n&amp;oref=slogin>
>> 
>> In fourth, distant, kayaker in the photo is Warren Stevens.
>>  
>> Overall, the article is informative and has a decent tone, for which I'm very
>> appreciative. But there are a few glitches. The largest one might be the
>> statement that the only marine law applying to kayakers is the requirement to
>> have a PFD. I would have also been happy to read about the variety of
>> approaches to water access -- the LIC Community Boathouse, for example, has a
>> NYC Parks agreement for access and a private waterfront patron providing a
>> launch point. A heterogenous approach is useful.
>>  
>> Best regards,
>>  
>> Erik
>> 
>> Erik Baard
>> 
>> http://www.licboathouse.org <http://www.licboathouse.org/>
>> http://www.naturecalendar.com <http://www.naturecalendar.com/>
>>  
> 
> 
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