The decline of journalism

I remember a time when journalists were expected to be excellent with grammar and spelling. How could they not be when their work would be read daily by thousands? I'm not sure what the qualifications are now, but communicating in English is apparently not one.

Example: www.keloland.com had this piece today:

The newest member of the Rapid City Police Department is a 2-year-old Dutch Shepherd from Holland named Xander.

Xander is certified for patrol duties such as tracking, evidence recovery and building searches but is also certified in detecting narcotics.

Officer Jason LaHaie and his new partner spent two months training in Alabama after Xander arrived from overseas. Xander understands commands in Dutch and German.

The dog lives LaHaie, and the two have developed a close bond. LaHaie says he interacts with Xander like he would a normal pet, but there's also a serious side.

Xander's cost to the department including training and travel expenses is close to $14,000.

At first I thought keloland was to blame, but on digging further it appears this is copied straight off the AP (which did a miserable job of cutting down the original report). Unfortunately, when I found the original it had more information, but the structure was even worse.

www.kotatv.com:

He's traveled from overseas to be the newest member of the Rapid City Police Department's K9 Unit.

The department welcomes two year old Xander, a Dutch Shepherd from Holland. Officer Jason LaHaie and his new partner spent two months training in Alabama.

Xander is a dual purpose canine, he's certified for patrol duties such as tracking, evidence recovery and building searches. He's also certified in detecting narcotics.

Xander understands commands are in Dutch and German.

Officer LaHaie says Xander lives with him and the duo develop a very close bond.

"We interact like you would your normal pet, but there's also a serious side. When I tell him to do something he has to do that for me. So we get to play, so the bond is greater then somebody with a normal pet, but I spend more time with him than I do my wife," says Officer LaHaie.

Officer LaHaie says his newest partner, including training and travel expenses, cost the department close to 14 thousand dollars.

Perhaps part of the problem is in the old days an editor would have bled red marks all over this before throwing it back to the writer. You would be forced to learn just to avoid the humiliation!