Talk:Juan Williams

Mary, I think it's a good plan of attack to put topical articles up. Remember to start with an encyclopaedic opening. See my first edit. 5 W's, (and an 'H'!) Aleta Curry 21:09, 22 October 2010 (UTC)

Thanks Aleta! I was starting to make the same edits you did and noticed you had started editing so I did not save the changes. I agree with your edits as that's how I would have written it. I was trying to make the article sound more like an encyclopedia rather than a news story. If I were to write it as a news story it would have been:

Juan Williams was fired from his National Public Radio job after comments he made during a Fox News television show...blah, blah, blah. Love your edits and thank you! Mary Ash 21:45, 22 October 2010 (UTC)

Ooh - sorry! Didn't mean to cross-edit! Did you get ye olde 'edit conflict!' message? Irritating, but can't be helped.

Looking at your 'newspaper copy' - yes, it's pithy, but do you see that that assumes the reader knows who he is in the first place? Also, think of a teenager in Calcutta reading your piece...what's Fox News? Should it be in brackets so they can read all about it?

Keep in mind that (in my view at least) an encyclopaedia should provide easy, informative reading for a person who has never heard of the subject before. The goal is to make people want to browse through its pages.

Aleta Curry 21:59, 22 October 2010 (UTC)

Fox News is an organization that likes people to believe it is qualified to watch the chickens, possibly the turkeys as well? (bird turkeys, not politicians) Howard C. Berkowitz 00:48, 23 October 2010 (UTC)r

Suggestions

We need to create at least a brief National Public Radio article, and move some of the things that are more NPR than Williams there. The two articles, of course, should cross-link. Remember that there is also some topical involvement from George Soros.

This article might also link to Islamophobia.

Paragraphs 2 through 4 of the lede should move under the first heading, and the official correspondence under a 2nd level subhead. The whole NPR-Williams-Fox issue is not new, and should be documented before the firing. I'd hardly call Williams a little-known figure, but I'd also call nationwide fame a little strong. Howard C. Berkowitz 22:34, 22 October 2010 (UTC)

FDR properly called December 7, 1941, a day that will live in infamy. Does Williams really rise to that standard? (Incidentally, I'm deliberately not making content changes so I could later nominate as a Politics Editor). Howard C. Berkowitz 01:19, 23 October 2010 (UTC)

See recent additions to George Soros. Howard C. Berkowitz 01:43, 23 October 2010 (UTC)

Yes, Howard I do believe the Williams story is significant especially so as both the liberal and conservative media called into question his firing. The firing also brings into question free speech too as Williams was fired after his Fox News interview, according to NPR. This is a timely article with plenty of questions.Mary Ash 02:17, 23 October 2010 (UTC)

I spliced some

I did my thing with the first paragraph! Didn't add or subtract, only moved around. It needs some more finesse. D. Matt Innis 22:41, 22 October 2010 (UTC)

Thanks everyone! Nice to see some collaboration at work. I had fun starting the article and I look forward to everyone helping out.Mary Ash 22:45, 22 October 2010 (UTC)

Photo

I was thinking about emailing either NPR or Fox News for a mug shot. Any suggestions on how to write the photo request?Mary Ash 22:46, 22 October 2010 (UTC)

I agree, I was just looking online for a PR shot, but couldn't find one real easy. You'd think they'd have headshots for us to use. D. Matt Innis 23:13, 22 October 2010 (UTC)

NPR probably did. I'll try to take a head shot off the TV tonight.Mary Ash 01:23, 23 October 2010 (UTC)

Lead or led??

I do believe lead is the correct word not led. I did not make the change back to lead but what do you all think??. And here's the MW definition: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/leadMary Ash 23:06, 22 October 2010 (UTC)

whar are we talking about? There's lead, then there's lead, and lede, and of course, led. Which one are we using where? D. Matt Innis 23:14, 22 October 2010 (UTC)

...lead to his firing...Mary Ash 23:18, 22 October 2010 (UTC)

"Williams reached nationwide fame after his firing from National Public Radio (NPR) after comments he made on a Fox News television show that led to his firing on October 20, 2010."Mary Ash 23:19, 22 October 2010 (UTC)

See English irregular verbs. Léd is the past of lêad, but it sounds like léad, the metal, hence the confusion. Ro Thorpe 23:26, 22 October 2010 (UTC)

(edit conflict - but I had to leave it in because it's funny that Ro posted as I was writing it!) That's "led". The lĕd that is spelled "lead" is the heavy metal. But, ask Ro or Hayford, they'll know for sure. They have language computers for brains. D. Matt Innis 23:31, 22 October 2010 (UTC)

I'll just add, because I'm time-wasting instead of editing, that I hate 'lede' substituted for 'lead' with the passion of a thousand fiery suns! I don't care that 'lead' could be lead, or lead, or lead! That's English for you...ewe...yew!! Aleta Curry 23:42, 22 October 2010 (UTC)

I hate it too! Exterminate!! Ro Thorpe 23:57, 22 October 2010 (UTC)

That settles it, if *you* two feel that way, then I will no longer be swayed to write "lede" again! Of course, unless Hayford makes me :) D. Matt Innis 00:03, 23 October 2010 (UTC)

Lede canot be transmuted into gold. Howard C. Berkowitz 00:07, 23 October 2010 (UTC)

I used to hate it too, but someone here at CZ who used it (Prof. Jensen?) explained that U.S. newspaper editors began using it 30 or 40 years ago in order to avoid confusion in the re-write room. Editors were *always* referring to the first paragraph, or the first sentence, and yet "lead" and "led" etc. were also *very* common verbs and there was a lot of confusion. So someone, I forget who, invented the word "lede", which would specifically refer to only a single thing. Once I had this firmly in mind, and bearing in mind the needs of CZ, I reluctantly came to the conclusion that we should use it. After all, I'll bet that 50% of all drive-by edits are made to the lede paragraph -- anyone want to challenge me on that? And anything that makes comprehension easier is always a virtue. After all, we don't, in English, have an Academie Francaise trying (fruitlessly) to preserve the purity of our language. English has become the universal language it is because, mostly, it can change, mutate, and import from other sources better than any other language. Ro? Comments? Or, comment? Hayford Peirce 01:50, 23 October 2010 (UTC)

ah, dang. D. Matt Innis 02:01, 23 October 2010 (UTC)

Good to know you used to hate it, Hayford. English spelling is complicated enough already, and "lede" is truly grotesque. Did Prof Jensen (or whoever) outline what that "lot of confusion" involved, I wonder? Ro Thorpe 02:15, 23 October 2010 (UTC)

(undent) the Venetian blind leading the... Howard C. Berkowitz 02:18, 23 October 2010 (UTC)

Definition, and Williams' history

At the moment, the definition says he came to public attention due to the firing. Not so! First, he's been a well-known political journalist for many years.

Not even the NPR-Fox issue is new; it had been a matter of conflict since he first started appearing on Fox, perhaps as a token liberal. Howard C. Berkowitz 02:17, 23 October 2010 (UTC)