I've noticed that today lots of publications, such as textbook, newspapers, magazines, etc, often don't use the indefinite articles "a", "an" with indefinite singular and countable nouns especially in adverbial phrases and clauses. I don't see any consistency in the use along with a strict following of a grammar rule – every countable singular noun should be preceded by an article (with exceptions).
Examples from media:
The CDC came under scrutiny last year
…delaying life events like marriage, having a child, buying a home,
or starting a business……prospective students put cost at the top of their priority list.
The University of Oslo says Friday July 17, 2015, convicted mass
killer Anders Behring Breivik has been admitted to……as O'Malley, a former Maryland governor, was interviewed on stage.
… and she was taken to county jail.
Buckingham Palace voiced disappointment after…
All the aforementioned nouns in bold can be used as plurals, which means they need an article when singular.
Please help understand.
Best Answer
This is known as Zero-marking.
And it isn't just the omission of indefinite articles, it's the omission of the article completely. In all of your examples you could still have used a definite article... or an indefinite one.