The Importance of Punctuation

A recent post about a newscaster’s gaffe prompted me to seek out this classic clip. It was first posted on YouTube almost five years ago, but is worth viewing as an example of the importance of punctuation – specifically, that a period should signify a full stop.

The text as it was written for the newscaster:

“Good evening, I’m Ken Bastida; Dana is off tonight.

He was murdered and set on fire while celebrating his birthday. The body of Jimmy Frezshi was found by firefighters on Monroe Street…”

The result as it was read off the teleprompter:

“Good evening, I’m Ken Bastida. Dana is off tonight; he was murdered and set on fire while celebrating his birthday.

The body of Jimmy Frezshi was found by firefighters on Monroe Street…”