The Saratogian (sigh). OK I need to beat up on them a little bit, not because I want to, just because they keep showing me they deserve it. In addition to their typos, amateurish writing, overall lack of professionalism, and apparent lack of knowledge about basic journalism, they simply are incorrect just too often in their reporting.
A while back, in reporting on the Breeders Cup, a Saratogian reporter wrote that the racehorse "Lava Man" was "a five year old colt". OK, first of all it was a gelding, and second of all a five year old male horse can never be considered a colt - anyone that knows anything about horses knows it would either be a stallion or a gelding. They were amazingly wrong on not one but two counts. In the same issue, our esteemed hometown daily had an editorial on the then hot Sweeney-Gillebrand election battle, and they wrote that the twentieth Congressional District bordered Canada. No. Wrong again. It just doesn't, and the Saratogian editorial staff should have known that.
Now this Sunday's edition (January 7, 2007) had an article on the Union Avenue Townhomes being built on the site of the former Skidmore dormitory building on Union Avenue in Saratoga Springs ("The Pink Palace"). Again, these are townhomes, yet at one point the article referred to the buildings as "condominium buildings". No, "townhome" and "condominium" are not interchangeable words - they are different things. Owning a townhome means you own not only part of the building, but the land underneath it and sometimes some land adjacent to the building. Owning a condominium means you own just that inside part of a building - like owning an apartment. These townhomes are not condominiums, and the article is wrong to refer to them as such.
Are these three examples of mistakes, which seem to me to be common in the Saratogian, quibbling about minor things? No way. Think about it. These pieces (articles and editorial) were about horse racing, the Congressional District representing Saratoga Springs, and new housing developments in our city. These are things that are extremely relevant to Saratoga Springs and its residents, and they are reported in the news often. Saratogian reporters should be experts on horse racing, our one Congressional district, and new residential construction terminology. If they made a mistake reporting on NASCAR, the British Parliament, or oceanfront hotels, I would hope I would cut them a little slack. But being inaccurate on those relevant Saratoga issues is simply inexcusable.
I've asked this once before, and I'll ask it again: If I'm catching such blatant errors, with what seems to be regularity, what errors am I not catching and just how misinformed are they making me and other readers? With the internet really taking off and threatening conventional forms of media, like newspapers and television, all I can tell the powers that be at the Saratogian is to look out. In a way they are the only game in town these days, but the changes are coming fast and with their lack of accuracy and professionalism these guys may be in trouble a short way down the road. I believe the saying goes "Adapt, migrate, or die." No one wants to see the Saratogian die, and they can't migrate, so they better adapt and improve.
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