The Drudge Report routinely posts raw numbers like this for the cable news shows. One can make the usual arguments that audience share and demographics give a better picture than simple totals. What is notable here, however, is the inclusion of "South Park" in the list.
This headline from The Huffington Post is confusing, especially to those of us who have worked in the newsroom and seen "newspaper politics" in action. (Newsrooms are offices, after all, which is probably why many journalists like to watch "The Office.") What this headline needs is a "that" in the right place:
The Microsoft product is PowerPoint. Sure, making the second "p" uppercase is a marketing gimmick, but that's what Bill Gates' minions decided to call it. If we are going to use it in big type, let's get it right.
This paragraph from an AP story isn't the first time* a political figure has referred to the planet-destroying weapon from "Star Wars." But that weapon has a proper name: the Death Star. "Jedi" should also be uppercase, but I will stop there at the expense of exposing my "Star Wars" geekiness.
There's been some scrambling to fill slots for copy editing and designing on the weekend. They're just discovering someone's not going to be there.Speaking of the Minneapolis paper, its public editor has an interesting column on the editing and trimming of wire stories — and the conspiracy theories posited by readers.
Can we all agree to end the use of "basket-brawl"? Has anyone really used that word in everyday conversation? It still pops up routinely in the sports media.Because of unusual number of invalid login attempts on you account, we had to believe that, their might be some security problem on you account. So we have decided to put an extra verification process to ensure your identity and your account security. Please click the link bellow:
[LINK DELETED]
It is all about your security. Thank you. and visit the customer service section.
PUBLICATION: The Drudge Report.
PUBLICATION: The Huffington Post.
PUBLICATION: The Charlotte Observer.“Has ODAG ever called Carol Lam and woodshedded her re immigration enforcement? Has anyone?”
Here's why it pays to doublecheck phone numbers, e-mail addresses, etc. It's one of those things copy editors have done forever, but the practice is being pushed aside as editing is pushed aside in the rush to post to the Web.
Layering of information is important in display type, which includes headlines and cutlines. Each element can contribute to the storytelling and add facts before the reader gets to the text. This story package from The Daily Tar Heel doesn't do that well.
Fellow editing professor Bill Cloud passed this one along. It's from the Times-Dispatch in Richmond, Va.
Yet another headline goof courtesy of the news aggregator at my employer's Web site. The link took you to a story that got it right: Sadr City.
The Associated Press may have relented in the Burma/Myanmar debate, but the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal isn't budging. The Asian country's military leaders renamed it in 1988, a change that hasn't been universally embraced. For example, in this piece critical of a U.N. official for insisting on using "Myanmar" as the name, the Journal says:The Burmese democracy movement of Aung San Suu Kyi continues to call it by its rightful name, and we'll stick with her over the junta.I had my own experience about this country's name a few years ago. When I was on the wire desk at The News & Observer, the managing editor collared me one afternoon and asked: "Why is the BBC calling this place Burma, and the wire story we used today called it Myanmar?" I told her I would look into the matter and make a recommendation. After some calls and e-mails to the wire services as well as some quick research, here's what I came up with:
Stories should use "Myanmar" in references to this country. The government there, however unpleasant it might be, has stated that this is the nation’s name, and international organizations have accepted it. Because the United States and some other Western countries have resisted the use of "Myanmar," stories that instead use "Burma" will imply support for the resistance by these countries. Stories about the country should include a phrase such as “also known as Burma” to indicate that some people continue to call it that and to remind readers that the country’s government has changed its name in the relatively recent past.The AP Stylebook has since added an entry preferring "Myanmar," and I have moved on from the newsroom to the classroom. My memo is still useful in class discussions on matters of geography and style.
