Please read this...What is...or isn't...what might be...or might not...
<p class="p1">When, exactly, is something that is supposed to be what is says it is not exactly what it's supposed to be?</p><p class="p1">During the course of a week, the newspaper receives hundreds, perhaps thousands, or maybe even millions, of important submissions.</p><p class="p1">Back in the day, when dinosaurs ruled the earth and your intrepid crafter of words occasionally had to change a ribbon on a typewriter, important submissions generally arrived in a rather limited number of ways.</p><p class="p1">Nowadays, information comes from all sorts of places. Over the counter. By telephone. Online. Facebook. Twitter. Etc. Etc. One of the duties yours truly has at The Paragraph Factory is to peruse each and every important document which is submitted for publication. This endeavor, quite honestly, can be quite taxing.</p><p class="p1">But in all of the years I've been doing what I do, until last week, I don't think that I'd ever seen a document submitted to us which included a message that basically said that the item was not what it was. The document clearly stated what it was. And, then, the document clearly stated what it wasn't. </p><p class="p1">The document clearly was identified as a news release. Well, I think it was. The words "NEWS RELEASE" appeared at the top of the document. </p><p class="p1">We get lots and lots and lots of news releases at the paper. All of the news releases we receive are about things which are very, very, very important. At least to the people who send us the news releases. As trained word crafters, we know that items are really important when some of the words are ALL TYPED IN BIG LETTERS. </p><p class="p1">Such was the case of this particular news release, um, NEWS RELEASE. Fortunately, the NEWS RELEASE was pretty short. Three paragraphs. Some news releases, and even some NEWS RELEASES, are really L-O-N-G. They go on for pages and pages and pages. Sometimes, they make me fall asleep.</p><p class="p1">Generally, folks who send us NEWS RELEASES want the information which is contained therein to actually be published. </p><p class="p1">JUST NOT THIS NEWS RELEASE. </p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">PLEASE NOTE:</span> THIS IS A "NEWS RELEASE" ONLY. THIS IS NOT AN ITEM FOR PUBLICATION.</p><p class="p1">I could tell that the <span class="s1">PLEASE NOTE</span> message was important. Not only did all of the letters appear as big letters, they also were underlined. And, in order to emphasize the point, the same message was shared in a separate cover letter which accompanied the NEWS RELEASE.</p><p class="p1">I guess the whole thing should not have been surprising. The document was submitted by attorneys. Who better knows what is supposed to be, and not supposed to be, than an attorney? Except, maybe, a journalist...</p><p class="p1">The NEWS RELEASE has been assigned to File 13, which is a cardboard box which sits under the news desk in the news room at The Paragraph Factory.</p><p class="p1">In the future, I guess I'll have to really pay attention to items which are submitted to the paper. Just to make sure that they are what they seem to be. Or, if the item isn't what it is. Savvy?</p>