Errors

I am sometimes surprised at the errors in this newspaper. These are not just grammatical, but also include errors in use of names and word choice. For instance, a couple of weeks ago there was an article on your City Page with an interview with a foreign property dealer. In the second reference the man was referred to by Malcolm, his first name, as is customary for Indonesian people, instead of his surname, customary for people from the West.

The paper on July 26 was full of errors, particularly City and National pages. In the Two muggers....(focus), the lead "Police shot to (sic) muggers to...." The story on the starlet on the same page is quite horribly written. In the lead it says the man was a businessman; this is repeated in the fourth paragraph where it says the actress "received" the businessman. Received, or so I've learned, is a very passive way of saying met. The rest of the article is also written in the passive voice. And boyfriend is one word, not hyphenated.

On National Page's Across the Archipelago, a principal, the head of a school, is called a principle!

One thing which always irritates me is how The Jakarta Post always uses gender specific language, especially in business stories. Why do you always say "businessmen", or "newsmen"? Surely, some female journalists work at JP?

G. VILLANUEVA

Jakarta