Editor’s That “Don’t Get It” Did You Say?

Oh my! It must be contagious. This morning I posted a featured story of how, no matter how many times someone has to explain a point to a newspaper editor, he/she just don’t get it and as such we can conclude that there is little reason to trust media as a source of intelligent, trustworthy information.

But here we go again. From a Maine television station website, a photo, with caption, appears in a short article on how Mainers can purchase lifetime hunting and fishing licenses.

Take note of the caption – “Maine’s deer population is bouncing back after several tough winters.” What does that mean and what is the editor attempting to say? Or maybe the editor just “don’t get it” and isn’t trying to say anything.

Assuming the editor is trying to make a point, one that the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW) has tried to run with for marketing purposes, that Maine’s deer herd is better than it was after two bad, back-to-back winters in 2008 and 2009, I don’t think two bad winters qualifies as several tough winters, when the three prior to the present one were pretty easy on deer. Perhaps the editor meant to say that the herd is recovering, or at least had been before this winter, after about 3 relatively mild winters. After all, MDIFW was even willing to admit that their hoped-for global warming is about the only thing that aided in any kind of deer recovery.

I would suppose that an editor who “got it” and had knowledge, or at least the time to put into the necessary effort, wouldn’t have made this mistake but then again, we are only human……right? That’s what it is, right?