Here's a note from a very pleasant and patient reader:
would you be able to tell me what it means in an article when we see mdashsym
In today's paper we have noticed it a few times with in an article
for example"
Page D6 article Next Stop New Orleans it is in the first and second paragraph
We also noticed it on A4 3 Illinois Screen kids article in the 1st paragraph.
Would appreciate if you could just clarify why we see that in articles and what it means.
Unfortunately, "mdashsym" means we screwed up -- it's a string of computer code (otherwise known as gibberish) for what was supposed to be an "em-dash," or what non-journalists simply call dashes. We're transitioning to new software programs this week and obviously have a few bugs to work out...
