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Around the Web links about Newswriting

  • AP finally changes spellings -- look at the hyphens we’ll save
    Shared by Tommy Thomason 45 weeks 3 days ago

    Tell your reporters to put down their cell phones and check their e-mail – there could be a message there from your correspondent in Calcutta. And other than the obvious fantasy of having a correspondent in Calcutta, there are three errors in the first sentence, according to the latest style changes from AP. Last week, the sentence would have been OK. This week, AP joined the rest of the 21st century in changing e-mail to email and cell phone to cellphone (same with smartphones). And under the theory that we should go along with the spelling favored by more than one billion Indians, Calcutta has become Kolkata (how long will it take you to remember that one?). Last year, AP changed web site to the more popular website. But we’re sure you’ll find a use for those extra hyphens somewhere . . .
  • Stylebook includes new social media guidelines
    Shared by Tommy Thomason 50 weeks 4 days ago

    So is it smart phone or smartphone? Ereader or e-reader? And can you use "friend" as a verb now? The AP Stylebook has the answers in its new revision, which now includes guidelines for references to social media.
  • Great site for copyeditors and grammar nerds
    Shared by Tommy Thomason 1 year 22 weeks ago

    Copyeditor-types, if you just can’t find someone to engage in a deep discussion of comma splices and arcane points of word usage, check out this weekly column online from The New York Times.  There’s enough there every week to delight you and bore the pants off anyone around you.  And if that still doesn’t satisfy, check out writing coach Roy Peter Clark’s fascinating new book, The Glamour of Grammar:  A Guide to the Magic and Mystery of Practical English. Fascinating book – you’ll agree when you read the Times’ interview with Roy at http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/20/stray-questions-for-roy-pe....
  • Conquering the semicolon
    Shared by Tommy Thomason 1 year 30 weeks ago

    If you have reporters (or maybe even yourself, but I'll never tell) who have trouble knowing when to use a comma and when to use a semicolon, check out this hilarious explanation. It's well-illustrated and it answers questions some folk have had since eighth grade. Of course, in journalism we don't use that many semicolons -- periods and new sentences often work better. But check this out anyway; you'll enjoy it; I promise. (Three in one sentence; are you impressed?)
  • Avoiding errors in news copy
    Shared by Tommy Thomason 1 year 34 weeks ago

    You’ll want to read this one and then post it in several places around the office, and maybe put it in your online stylebook (if you don’t have one, that’s another issue to address). There are actually 44 tips for reducing errors, and they’re down-to-earth, common-sense ideas. Like #3: Always find the first reference to a person in copy. Make sure that on first reference you have a first name and title, and doublecheck to make sure the first reference hasn’t be omitted rearranged or deleted in trimming copy. To which I would add: Make sure the reporter hasn’t omitted the first name of the mayor, just calling him Mayor Smith on first reference. Simple stuff, but really valuable as a review for new employees.
  • Must-read tips on blogging from some of the best
    Shared by Andrew Chavez 2 years 33 weeks ago

    Steve Buttry from Gazette Communications has put together a great tip sheet on blogging, composed largely of tips from some great journalists/bloggers. It's a must-read post if you're thinking about blogging or already blogging for your site.