New Word?

This morning I was listening to CNN out of the corner of my ear as they reported on Donald Trump attending church services.  A reporter named John Zeleny said the following:

"Donald Trump indeed has been studying some history on its own.  He's been reading, I'm told, and WATCHENING and even, uh, listening to some old inauguration addresses..."
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Methinks Mr. Zeleny has been covering Trump too long.

I'm Confused

This article was on the CNN web site yesterday.








They've since corrected this awful first sentence.

Calling All Proofreaders

"The cause of both fires are under investigation."

Susan Hendricks, CNN Headline News, 29 April 2006

Susie baby,

The fires are out. They can't be under investigation if they're out.
The "cause" is under investigation.
The correct conjugation of the verb: is

"The cause of both fires is under investigation" is what you should have said.

"Both fires" is an object of the preposition.
"Of" is the preposition.
"Of both fires" is a prepositional phrase.
"Cause" is the subject of the investigation and must agree with the verb, in this case is.

I think I got that rule right. Either way, fire your writer.