Sheriff officers search house-to-house as they look for survivors or those who may of been killed after a devastating tornado hit Joplin, Missouri May 23, 2011. At least 89 people have died in a monster tornado that left a path of destruction nearly a mile wide through the heart of of the city and directly hit the small Midwestern city’s main hospital. REUTERS
Looking at the pictures of the tornado destruction in Joplin, MO, I noticed several captions. Could you please inform your writer that “have” is a verb but “of” is not. “Of” is a preposition in case they no longer teach that in journalism school.
His photo caption stating that many “… may of been killed…” is a disgusting example of the decline in journalistic standards which permeates the news media these days.
I can’t believe your writer used this word in this manner, and I find it even more difficult to believe that some other editor or reviewer let this slide by as if this is perfectly normal usage.
If this is standard practice at Reuters, then my respect for this news service has certainly been diminished.
V.C.H.
I agree it was an unfortunate error that should not have slipped through onto the file.
I must say, however, when I see these pictures from Joplin, disgust over a typo isn’t the first thing on my mind: GBU Editor