#j102

Past 5 p.m., JUROR office, Department of Justice. Rach calls the desk for further instructions on her next beat. "Hello Ma'am Lynette, Rachel here." "Oh hi Rachel. How are you?" "Okay lang po." "Parang...pagod tayo ah." Rach chuckles. "Hindi naman po." "Ahhh, fulfilled, huh? Great coverage yesterday ah." Rach smiles with glee. "Thank you po." Wee! ^_____^ -------------------------------------------------------------- Almost 4 p.m., same place. M'Tetch hands me over the freshly delivered April 2008 issue of PJR Reports. "Sa'yo na 'yan," she said. I put on the widest smile on my face as I said thanks. For the next few minutes I was stuck in Page Four while laughing my head off. Now PJR is not exactly a comedic publication, but why am I laughing, you ask? See, UP Journalism Department Chair Prof. Rachel Khan wrote a letter to PJR about their February 2008 article on what should reporters do when the beats are dry and there are no stories to tell. It was a really long letter, occupying almost half a page (and you know how big their pages are). She said:

"It saddened us to see an article in the February 2008 issue that we found contrary to what we teach our students in J102 or Newswriting "

But the editor responded a few lines longer. It was, to borrow Thedd's line, "sarcasm at its finest." Consider this second sentence of the reply:

"Ms. Khan et.al. also say they are 'saddened' (sic) by it. 'Saddened' is not the right word. 'Disappointed' is, and that's what I am by this misreading of the article."