Outside the News Box

Check the facts: 10 tips for copy editors

potterg2000 — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:23:57 +0000

Pam Nelson, with the American Copy Editors Society, has put together a nice Check list of items that ALWAYS need fact checking. A great reminder as we start the new year.
Pam readily admits her is list by no means is my list definitive. “Editors have many more things to be aware of — fairness, balance and internal consistency among them,” she writes.

1. If a date is mentioned in the story, either recent or historical, check it. Nothing will undermine credibility like misstating the date of a historic event. Even if you are almost certain that Pearl Harbor was attacked on Dec. 7, 1941, check it. If a writer refers to the Enlightenment being a part of the 17th and 18th century, check it. (I just did.)

2. If the name of a well-known person appears in a story and you have any hesitation about it at all, check it. I can’t even count the number of times I have corrected the spelling of actor Dan Aykroyd’s name. You should also check the spelling of lesser-known people if you have time or doubts.

3. If a writer uses a place name that you are unfamiliar with or that is often misspelled, check it. The copy that I read most often has North Carolina names that need to be checked. (Alleghany, not Allegheny, is one.)

4. If there is arithmetic in a story, check it. Keep a calculator handy. If a writer says that the Declaration of Independence was signed 235 years ago, check it (2011 – 1776 = 235). If a percentage change is mentioned, check it. If a person’s age appears in a story and you can check it, do. Check the birth date of well-known people and do the math.

5. If the story refers to a number of items within the story (15 steps to better health, 10 reasons to use an iPad), count the items. Make sure a well-known list (12 zodiac signs, 50 states) is complete if it is meant to be.

HERE IS THE LINK TO PAM’S COMPLETE POST:
http://grammarguide.copydesk.org/2012/01/02/check-the-facts-10-tips-for-copy-editors/

Top 100 most followed on Twitter

potterg2000 — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 22:07:54 +0000

The Twitter top 100 is ranked by followers count and refreshed daily by the folks at twittercounter.com. Great source of list on who’s hot and this site also shows you where your Twitter ID ranks.

Click here to view

COPY POINT – Perfect Present Tense

potterg2000 — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 21:24:47 +0000

Who, What, _____, Where, Why… Wait a Minute!!

Anyone watching television these days must be asking what happened to WHEN. Somewhere along the line television headline writers forgot that we need to know when something happened.

You’ve heard it:

“A Homeless man dies in a fire in Murray.”

“Golfers get Quite a Surprise when a plane lands on the ninth green”.

“An Earthquake Rocks the Philippines” we are told a full day after the event.

Now I know no one is deliberately trying to deceive the viewers, but we are creating more news-speak. Our attempts to improve our writing by making it more active and immediate are a great concept, but our results miss the mark.

Adding to the problem is that we then revert back and tell the rest of the story in past tense. If you watch FOX NEWS, they sometimes manage to get all three tenses of a verb of being in one sentence.

A long-time friend of mine Scott Libin at Poynter used to offer this suggestion for breaking the habit. Try talking that way to somebody in person and see what kind of funny look you get. “Come to think of it,” he says, “that’s probably the way a lot of people look at their televisions while the news is on.”

Emmy Awards Show Great Work Still Being Done

potterg2000 — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 22:11:15 +0000

Always good to honor the great work still being done in our industry. The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences presented its 32nd annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards Monday night. TVNEWSER reports: CBS News dominated its competition, pulling home 10 awards–the most for a network news division in a decade. In addition, former CNN host Larry King received a lifetime achievement Emmy (pictured right with Brian Williams and NATAS chairman Malachy Wienges).

National Geographic Channel was next with seven awards, followed by PBS with six awards and Discovery Channel with three awards. CNN, NBC News and the New York Times all tied with two awards each, with BBC America, MSNBC, HDNet HBO, the Los Angeles Times, CNBC, NPR and Smithsonian Channel each landing one Emmy.

See the Entire Winners List Here.

Mindset of the Class of 2015

potterg2000 — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 16:11:54 +0000

Deborah Potter over at NewsLab shared this gem on her blog today.

..one of my favorite rites of fall, Beloit College’s Mindset List. Before school starts each September, Beloit Professor Tom McBride along with the college’s former Public Affairs Director Ron Nief trot out a list of social and experiential realities that have shaped the lives of incoming college freshmen. The list is meant to give educators insights into the mindset of their students so there can be more productive classroom learning and dialogue. The list is not only instructive for college professors, it’s also useful for businesses, advertisers, marketing executives, and yes, even news organizations.

Tips for journalists using Twitter

potterg2000 — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 19:05:59 +0000

Updated and expanded Twitter tips for journalists

Someday Twitter tips will seem as unnecessary for most journalists as notebook tips. But in the past few weeks, Steve Buttry notes, “I have encountered several journalists who were not using Twitter yet. A couple just within the last week asked my advice, so I decided to update my tips for journalists using Twitter, originally published in July 2009.”

Here is a sampling:

Breaking news is probably where Twitter shows its greatest value again and again. When news breaks in your community, you can connect with sources and gather information in a variety of ways:

If you’re following lots of people in your community, you may see tweets from some eyewitnesses or some people feeling the impact.

You can use Twitter’s Advanced Search to search for keywords that might be likely to pop up in tweets about the breaking story, such as “flood,” “tornado” or “crash.”

You can use Twitter Search to find hashtag discussions already forming around the event, again trying different keywords. You can save searches for a keyword or a hashtag as a column in TweetDeck or HootSuite or as a saved search in your Twitter account (searches are a column on the Twitter home page).

If you jump on a breaking story quickly, try to promote a hashtag that others will pick up. If the hashtag catches on, you will see tweets from people you aren’t following. NewsOK.com promotes #okstorm during bad weather.

As you find tweets indicating that people have first-hand experience with the story you are covering, reply to them (or direct-message them, if you follow them), asking them to call you directly for an interview.

Search also for photos posted on services such as Twitpic or Instagram. Ask people for permission to publish their photos

Use NearbyTweets or advanced Twitter search to see what people near the news site are tweeting.

Feed a hashtag or some feeds of people witnessing the news into your blog or story, using CoverItLive, ScribbleLive or a Twitter widget that feeds them in automatically or using Storify to curate the best tweets or to group tweets by topic or weave them into a story.

Embed individual tweets or a group of tweets into a story using QuoteURL or Blackbird Pie.

READ JOHN’S ENTIRE POST HERE.

COPY POINT: Nasty Overuse of the word “Nasty”

potterg2000 — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 19:21:31 +0000

One of the goals of COPY POINT is to dispose of overused words and hyperbole. I’ve just uncovered another one spreading faster than a pandemic. The word is nasty. These are some of the many ways we have used it in the past 30 days:

Nasty storms
Nasty Flash Flooding
Nasty consequences (Debt Ceiling)
Nasty Spill (on shirt)
Nasty Surprise (lottery ticket)
Nasty Sore Throat
Nasty Spring(the entire season)
Nasty Road conditions
Nasty Start (holiday accidents)
Nasty Gashes

A good half of these don’t fit any dictionary definition of the word,

–adjective

1. physically filthy; disgustingly unclean: a nasty pigsty of a room.
2. offensive to taste or smell; nauseating.
3. offensive; objectionable: a nasty habit.

OTNB IDEA: How about “storms packing 69 mph winds, a sore raspy sour throat, icy road conditions, unwelcome surprise..”.

Adjectives can add to understanding in a story, or clutter our copy. Let’s re-commit to precision of language and temporarily put “nasty” on hold.

I Like “3 Creative Ways To Get Your Perfect Twitter Name”

potterg2000 — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 15:58:47 +0000

Struggling with Twitter names and hashtags for one of my projects and came across this today. I recommend it.

By Lauren Dugan at AllTwitter on June 20, 2011 11:15 AM

With well over 200 million accounts and growing by the day, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find the perfect username on Twitter. But there’s nothing wrong with getting a little creative! Here are three ways you can grab your ideal Twitter name, even if the one you want has been taken.

COPY POINT: Effectively Using “How, Where, When, etc” in teases

potterg2000 — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 22:36:52 +0000

You’ve all heard my thoughts on our over-use of “How, Where, When, etc” in our story sells. You know “Drunk driving crackdown, We’ll show you what cities are involved.. “,

Today, I want to point out how those words can be used effectively to create a truly unique content promise.

COMING UP ON THE TODAY SHOW… ROYAL MEMORIES: THE MAN WHO OFFICIATED WILLIAM AND KATE’S WEDDING..ON WHAT WE DIDN’T SEE ON THAT SPECIAL DAY… NEXT ON TODAY.

How, Where, When teases often do not work because they promise what viewers already expect in our story.

This one tantalizes with the prospect of insider knowledge. The underlying message is that it will be new, fresh news.

5 Reasons Why Twitter is Not a Fad

potterg2000 — Mon, 23 May 2011 16:02:26 +0000

Over at oneforty.com they are singing the praises of Twitter. And, you need to pay attention to what they are saying:

Even in 2011, there are many people who are hesitant or skeptical regarding the use and benefits of Twitter. I shake my head and “sigh” at these folks. Twitter, although simple to begin using (such as tweeting, retweeting, hashtags, etc), is not so simple to finesse and engage with. It takes time and effort to get the art and science balance of Twitter and its benefits. But when used correctly, brands (whether personal or companies) can truly increase their marketing efforts. Thus, it is not an app that is going to go away anytime soon…face it folks, Twitter is still here and you should take the time to embrace it. And here’s why…

1. Customer Service: Like the idea of instant customer service in real-time? Who doesn’t?

2. Targeted element: Rather than reaching out to the mass media and just Tweeting to no-man’s-land…Twitter helps people target who they’re talking to.

3. Open vs. closed: Certain platforms are good for some things and others are better for other things. But the way Twitter is set up, it’s very easy for businesses to have a conversation with customers but still drive traffic to their site and take the conversation and activity elsewhere.

4. Building Relationships: Unlike those who just Tweet stuff about themselves, Twitter can be a great vehicle to build relationships with both potential and current consumers.

5. All the cool kids are doing it: When a social media tool goes beyond brands and trendy people using it, that’s when it causes a real stir.

Eds. Note: Read the entire post here. This is not my work and all credit goes to: http://oneforty.com/blog/5-reasons-why-twitter-is-not-a-fad/