l-hanson

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Bad P.R.

Dan Turner’s column (“The New Generation Has Arrived, and It Can’t Write,” Aug. 17) is all too accurate despite what I would characterize as a major omission.

As a P.R. professional who has practiced in Los Angeles for more than a decade, and as an adjunct professor who taught the introductory P.R. course for upper-class communications majors at one of the area’s respected universities, I can affirm that too many have gotten too far without basic writing skills. I am convinced that one key reason for this deficit is a total dependence on computer word processing programs.

After each assignment, I spent a healthy portion of limited class time going over a host of computer-approved spelling mistakes. It’s and its; there, their, and they’re; hear and here students consistently substituted computer spell checks for proofreading. Too often, my admonition that students in communication studies must read had to be applied to their own writing.

A significant majority of my students “graded” my courses with an A because they thought the “real world” approach was more valuable than a “campus” perspective, but they rolled their eyes and groaned in unison every time I delivered a spell-check tirade. I came away convinced that the eloquent Hobbes, of comic strip Calvin & Hobbes, is right we’re well on the way to making language a complete impediment to understanding.

DAVID HAMLIN

Weisman Hamlin Public Relations

Los Angeles

???

Dan Turner’s Aug. 17 column was of particular interest to me. Moreover, West Coast PR Newsletter’s survey should be required reading for anyone in the public relations field concerned about the future of the profession.

There can be no question: Neophyte practitioners who can’t compose a simple declarative sentence in English are lined up, applications in hand, expecting to begin careers in “communications.” Never mind that an unacceptable number, despite the benefits of higher education, lack rudimentary language and people skills not to mention intellectual curiosity that are basic to such a career.

But, as a press-relations specialist at a large U.S. consulting firm with a longtime corporate and large-agency (as well as business press editorial) background, I find it difficult to work up much empathy for the agency people quoted in the column. The longstanding market dictum, I would be the first to tell them, is that “you get what you pay for.”

Go bottom fishing for low-wage, entry-level employees with little experience and knowledge, and you’ll get a procession of unskilled, unmotivated and practically unlettered job candidates passing through your office. So stop whining, guys, and face the fact that talent and experience do not come cheaply.

EDWARD L. HANSEN

Hartsdale, N.Y.

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