Communication Errors By Communication Director

Introduction
In an invitation letter to the media for coverage, a de facto Director of Communications writes the following address:

The Editor,
All Media Houses,
Accra.
With all humility, we of LANGUAGE AGENDA see this address as a showcase of elementary errors - technical and linguistic - that need some analyses for the benefit of the journalistic fraternity and academic community.

Justification of claim
The following explanation constitutes the justification of our claim:

Technically, letters for MEDIA COVERAGE are addressed to the News Editor NOT the Editor. This is because among the senior members of the editorial staff, the News Editor is responsible for news stories. As Head of the News Team, he or she assigns reporters to cover events and edits the news contents. Depending on the size of the Media House, the News Editor may have sub-editors to help shape the news component of the editorial contents.

Linguistically, the address is ridiculously misleading. In fact, it offends the grammatical number of singularity and plurality. Since the de facto Director of Communications mentions one "editor" and writes beneath it "All Media Houses", he creates the impression that "All Media Houses" in Accra have one "Editor." 😅😅😅😅! Certainly, this impression is logically and factually flawed.

Besides, the addition of "Accra" to the address implies that "All Media Houses" in Accra only are invited. Ironically, the event is related to a major religion and to the whole country. That the venue is Accra does not reduce the event of national outlook to an Accra affair. From Paga to Aflao, all media houses are equally important. Failure to extend the invitation to media houses in other parts of the country amounts to what sociologists and linguists call "REGIONALISM", which has the tendency to mar the coverage of the event.

Correction
The faulty address can be corrected on two tracks: Singular Track and Plural Track.

On the Singular Track, we may consider the following:

● The News Editor,
Each Media House,
Ghana.
Or
● The News Editor,
Every Media House,
Ghana.
On the Plural Track, we may consider the following:

● The News Editors,
All Media Houses,
Ghana.
Or
● The News Editors,
Various Media Houses,
Ghana.
Please, take NOTE of the S-morphem of plurality in "editors."

Alternatively, the de facto Director of Communications could globalize the letter of invitation. In that case, "Ghana" is NOT necessary in the address. Example:

● The News Editors,
All Media Houses.
Another option is to have a list of friendly media houses invited on the basis of their credibility and specialty. This way, each letter of invitation is separately addressed to each News Editor.

Conclusion
It is significant to state that the de facto Director of Communications is not only an elder in Media but also a senior in Academia. Indeed, he is a celebrated broadcast journalist of doctorate credentials. He also lectures a number of courses in Media Studies. As an intellectual, he best understands that our analyses of his errors are purely academic. No malice!!!! However, we stand to be sorry if our senior is offended by these error analyses.

As for the praise-singers who have gone gaga because of his stolen position, we owe them no apology in the whole saga. We wish him well in his endeavor, but we have a piece of advice for him: it is better to advise a senile than to hijack the position of a colleague on the orders of a senile.

Dedication
This discourse is dedicated to Alhaji A. R. Gomda, whose position has been stolen by the de facto Director of Communications. May Allah continue to raise Alhaji Gomda above detractors. May the icon of Ghanaian Media continue to stand tall in the face of a Mugabe-led campaign of vilification.

Allah is the Best Linguist.

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