Electric Fishwrap

Who winced at the title? I did when writing it. Trust me there’s a reason. One of the sites I read on a daily basis is Apostrophe Abuse. I especially love when schools and colleges improperly use apostrophies or there/they’re/their. Restaurants seem to be the highest offenders.

Regret the Error is another good one. It seems this site especially targets the high-profile papers and their corrections. It’s amazing to see how many papers mistakenly claim someone is dead, rather than missing or whatever. RtE also writes a plagiarism roundup at the end of the year.

Finally, Passive-Aggressive Notes. Who doesn’t know someone who put up a note in the kitchen urging people to pick up after themselves and reminding them that their mother doesn’t live here? Not all notes are passive-aggressive, though. Some are just plain funny.

Journalists are quick to point out the perks of their job. For me, that includes knowing things before others do, talking with high-profile people and poking my nose where it doesn’t belong.

But what about the bad side of journalism? Well… most people tend to sweep it under the rug. Now, thankfully there is a web site to vent our anger: AngryJournalist.com. You get to hear complaining from every angle: editors about reporters, reporters about editors, crappy pay, hours and benefits.

It’s all there in black and white. Even if you don’t post there, it’s good therapy to just read and know that other people have bad experiences too.

Tons of trades have had websites where they can vent their bad experiences, like tipthepizzaguy.com, bitterwaittress.com and any number of other groups if you just add “sucks” to the end of a search string.