Categories: OLD Media Moves

“Shame on you” a popular phrase in Forbes letters

Jim Romenesko got to the bottom of the matter as to what phrases appear most often in letters to the editor to Forbes magazine.

Romenesko writes, “A few months ago, someone asked on Quora: ‘Why must at least one letter to the editor in every magazine contain the word kudos?’

“Forbes managing editor Bruce Upbin replied:

I don’t think it is a must. The most frequently appearing phrases in our letters from readers are:
“Shame on you”
“I expected more from you”
“We expect this error/assertion/omission/confusion to be corrected ASAP”
“I’ve been a subscriber for XX years…until now”
“What a shoddy piece of work that article was”
but kudos to you for asking the question.

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.