The Editor's Desk

Final post here: I've officially moved

2008-10-17T10:29:00.005-04:00

This will be my final post at this blog. I'm officially moved in at my new one. Here's the FAQ on this move:

Q. Why the move?

A. I thought it was time for a new look, and WordPress had some template options that Blogger doesn't. Plus, my custom Blogger template wouldn't allow for some of the new features in blogging.

Q. What's the new template?

A. It's called The Journalist. I think it's easier to read than this one, especially with body text. I hope you will let me know what you think of it and how I can improve it.

Q. What happens to all of the old posts and comments?

A. They are all there at the new address. Nothing was lost; even the images made the transition. It was remarkably easy to import them.

Q. Will you delete your blog here?

A. No, not for now. At some point I may delete it, but not for a while.

Q. Will the focus of the blog change as part of the move?

A. No, it has the same name, and it will still be about editing. I made, however, some subtle changes to the description to reflect journalism's move to online media.

Q. I linked to your blog from mine. Do I have to do anything?

A. I'd appreciate it if you would update links, bookmarks, etc. Here's the new address: editdesk.wordpress.com

Thanks to all who read, comment and link here. I appreciate how this blog's audience has grown since it began in June 2006. I hope you will join the conversation at the new address. See you there.

Interesting reading

2008-10-16T09:06:00.002-04:00

Dan Barkin of The News & Observer, on the use of the Generic Trader Photo in business news — you know, images like these.

Chris O'Brien of The Next Newsroom Project, on the 10 things you can do right now to change your newsroom.

David Sarno of the Los Angeles Times, on whether Fidel Castro is blogging and if so, does anyone edit his posts? (Related post here.)

On the move

2008-10-14T20:22:00.004-04:00

This blog is on the move. I've decided to take it to WordPress, where I hope you will follow me. I'll probably post in both places for the near term.

Here's the new address:

http://editdesk.wordpress.com/

Moving always requires effort and patience. I'll have some unpacking to do at the new site, and I hope you will take the moment to update the address in your blogroll if you have been kind enough to link here. If you read this blog through an RSS feed, you will have to suscribe again.

Thanks for reading and staying with me during this transition.

In search of Christopher Columbus

2008-10-13T15:01:00.007-04:00

Columbus Day is confusing. What's open? What's closed?

Back in the day, newspapers ran textboxes (usually in a grid format) that listed holiday closings for banks, post offices, courts, libraries and schools. Information about garbage pickup was usually included too.

Copy editors and page designers lucky enough to work for newspapers with zoned editions had to deal with "closings boxes" tailored to specific readers in different circulation areas. This made sense for those readers, but they were often a headache for the copy desk. The problem was the size of the box changed from edition to edition, requiring changes to the overall layout of a page — the one for Rockingham County may be a lot smaller than the one for Guilford County, for example.

Readers still want this information, and nowadays many are looking online. The Hot Trends list at Google has these search terms among the top 100 on this Columbus Day:

columbus day 2008 calendar
is there mail on columbus day
columbus day bank holiday
us postal service holidays
is the post office open on columbus day

So, readers are looking for this information. Are they finding it easily? Not at prominent North Carolina news sites. Searches at WRAL.com and the Greensboro paper's site were fruitless. The News & Observer's site has this brief tucked away. A search at the Charlotte Observer's site turned up this list.

None of these sites had Columbus Day information on its homepage. Was that the right call?

UPDATE: This post is attracting some readers looking for that elusive Columbus Day information. I'm sorry I cannot provide that, but be sure to let your local media know as they plan for the Veterans Day closings.

Carry on, newspaper carriers

2008-10-11T09:26:00.003-04:00

Today is International Newspaper Carrier Day. A story from a West Virginia paper explains what it's all about. And yes, some kids (like this one) still do this demanding work.

Related post here.

What it's like to be an intern at The Washington Post

2008-10-09T10:23:00.004-04:00

The Washington Post wants interns for summer 2009. If you are wondering about that experience, check out this Q&A with two former interns who are now full-time journalists there.

One is Caroline Hauser, a Post copy editor who earned her master's degree here at UNC-Chapel Hill a few years ago. She has some great advice for students applying for internships at the Post and elsewhere.

Copy editors as moderators

2008-10-08T10:08:00.005-04:00

Tom Brokaw has an accomplished career as a broadcaster. But if his performance as moderator in the “town hall” debate between John McCain and Barack Obama is any indication, Brokaw wouldn’t have made for a very good editor. Here’s why:

NEWS JUDGMENT: Brokaw got to pick the questions, which were submitted by the “town hall” audience and from others online. His task was to find the "front page" questions, focusing on the important news of the day while offering a range of topics. He got things going well enough on the economy, but he failed to pose questions about issues such as abortion, same-sex marriage and immigration. Instead he asked foreign policy questions on Iraq and Pakistan that were nearly identical to questions from the previous debate, hosted by Jim Lehrer. Those repeated questions drew the same responses from the candidates, making this segment of the “town hall” redundant. Brokaw is like the editor who doesn’t read his own paper and ends up running the same story on successive days.

LENGTH: Brokaw failed to rein in long answers. He occasionally chided Obama and McCain for exceeding the time limits — but only after letting them go on and on. Brokaw is like the assignment editor who talks tough about story length but then allows his reporters to write long, letting the copy desk and designers deal with the consequences.

WORD CHOICE: Brokaw picked an oddly worded question to wrap up the debate. “What don't you know, and how will you learn it?" Both candidates were understandably stumped, with McCain’s response echoing Donald Rumsfeld’s famous “known unknowns” remark from a few years ago. Brokaw is like the feeble editor who chooses cuteness over substance when unsure how to end a story.

These problems would have been less likely to pop up under the watch of an assertive editor. Perhaps it’s time for a copy editor to moderate one of these debates. Candidates would have to speak within the time alloted — or else. Questions would reflect the interest of the voters and complement questions from previous debates. More information would be packed into the 90-minute "news hole" of the debate.

I nominate John McIntyre of You Don’t Say. His measured tone and bow tie make him a natural for the role. Plus, he’s good on camera.

UPDATE: In comments to this post, Mr. McIntyre has politely declined the nomination. We'll open it up to suggestions.

Interesting reading (Alternative edition)

2008-10-07T11:12:00.002-04:00

Fiona Morgan of The Independent Weekly, on why readers should not give up on The News & Observer and (presumably) other newspapers dedicated to investigative journalism.

J. Patrick Best of The Sunday Paper, on the bankruptcy filing of Creative Loafing and the outlook for alternative weeklies.

Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo, on the site's evolution and how "balance" trumps "accuracy" in newspaper headlines.

For whomever likes Dwight Schrute

2008-10-03T14:07:00.001-04:00

If you were among those miffed that the Biden-Palin debate pre-empted "The Office" last night, here's something for you: the Scranton branch of Dunder-Mifflin discussing "whoever" vs. "whomever."

Speaking of "The Office," if you have ever wondered whether a copy desk is similar to a paper company, this video indicates that yes, it is. (Thanks for the link, Katie Schwing!)

ASFs in AJR

2008-10-02T10:49:00.002-04:00

It's nice to see alternative story forms (or "charticles," if you must) getting some detailed attention in the latest American Journalism Review. This story provides a decent look at what newspapers are doing in this area, and it identifies pros and cons of alternative approaches.

I wish the story, however, had made more mention of the importance of collaboration in making ASFs work well. That's a theme that runs throughout my NewsU course on the topic. It's not all about design; all journalists can and should participate in the conception and execution of story forms. In addition, the role of the copy editor is overlooked. Not only can copy editors significantly improve the writing and presentation of a story form, they can generate ideas for them, as noted here.

Finally, the AJR piece makes this curious assertion:

Charticles rely on authoritative, punchy writing, leaving room for opinion to seep in. And when news and opinion mix under a reporter's byline, well, you see where that could lead.

In my experience, the opposite is the case. Opinion is more likely to seep into a long-form narrative than an alternative story form. Punchy, authoritative writing is indeed an ingredient of story forms. This can be taken to an extreme, however, giving some ASFs a dry, almanac-like tone.

Of course, copy editors should guard against opinion words in any sort of news story, but the ASF is hardly a place where they proliferate. But copy editors also need to ensure that the writing is lively and interesting, regardless of the story form.

Bumstead/Marmaduke '08

2008-09-29T13:14:00.009-04:00

The News & Observer is asking its readers to let the paper know what they’d like to see on the comics pages. It’s the second such vote in less than a year, and people are taking notice of how the four-part ballot is set up.

This comics election also comes shortly after Ted Vaden, the public editor at the paper, suggested that “Mallard Fillmore” should be dropped from the comics lineup. (“Doonesbury” runs on the op-ed page.) The ballot includes a question about strips with a strong political angle.

I asked Debra Boyette, the paper’s features editor (and a top-notch copy editor) about the latest election. Here are her e-mail responses:
______________________________________

Q. Why is the N&O doing a comics vote again?

A. In January, we added additional space for comics. Rather than just choosing three strips, we decided to give some of the new strips that are being introduced tryouts. About every four weeks, we put in three new strips and ask readers to give up their feedback. We're winding up the guest-strip program now and are taking readers' comments into consideration as we decide on the strips that will make up our final lineup.

Q. The “Doonesbury” and “Mallard” comics are paired on the ballot. Readers can't pick one and drop the other. Is that by design?

A. Readers can vote for “Mallard” as one of their 12 favorites, and “Doonesbury” isn't on the ballot because the newsroom doesn't have any control over it. We hear from readers fairly regularly that they don't think “Mallard” belongs on the comics pages, that it's too political to go there. Many of them also put “Mallard” and “Doonesbury” in the same category — as political strips. We want to get feedback from a wider range of readers as to where they think political strips should go or whether they should even be in the paper.
__________________________________________

You can vote in the N&O poll here, and read related posts here and here. I only wish I could write in “Garfield Minus Garfield.”

UPDATE: John Drescher, executive editor at the paper, announces that "Mallard" will stay where it is.

Split the ticket

2008-09-24T08:53:00.003-04:00

When writing multiple-line headlines, should copy editors consider how they break from line to line?

Awkward “splits” used to be something to avoid, though some editors have said that the readers don’t notice the difference. Editors writing headlines for the Web don't seem to worry about this as much their print counterparts.

This print example splits the adjective (“hot”) and the noun it modifies (“topic”). That’s a no-no, according to this tip sheet on headline writing. Does the top line of this headline create a false impression about the story’s content, at least for a moment?

Interesting reading

2008-09-22T12:13:00.002-04:00

Jamie Gold of the Los Angeles Times, on the newspaper's corrections policy and errors in print vs. online.

Brian Cathcart of Kingston University, on efforts by British newspapers to eliminate copy editors (also known as sub-editors).

Richard Perez-Pena of The New York Times, on the media's word choices regarding the financial woes on Wall Street and throughout the country.

Stith says goodbye to N&O

2008-09-19T10:05:00.006-04:00

Veteran reporter Pat Stith is retiring from The News & Observer. The news comes as a relief to politicians across North Carolina, but readers will miss his investigative skills.

Copy editors may appreciate Stith's attention to detail, as described in the story announcing his departure. Any journalist would benefit from Stith's reporting tips, as he discusses here.

Farewell, Pat. You will be missed.

UPDATE: John Robinson at the Greensboro paper remembers Stith's role as a mentor.

Sorry, Mike: The students pick Mic

2008-09-18T15:21:00.003-04:00

Each semester, I have my editing classes settle a few style questions. This exercise helps students understand that style isn’t stagnant and that they can have a role in shaping style choices in the classroom now and in the newsroom later.

Here’s how it works:

We discuss a memo that I wrote when I was a wire editor at The News & Observer. The paper’s managing editor requested the memo after questioning why wire stories in the paper referred to “Myanmar” while the BBC called the same country “Burma.” (More on that here.)

I ask the students to break into groups of four to resolve several style quandaries. These change from semester to semester, depending on recent news events. Examples have included Mumbai vs. Bombay and refugee vs. evacuee.

Each group of students conducts research on the meanings, uses and histories of terms. They look at what other publications do and what guidelines in the AP stylebook may be applicable.

Each group offers its recommendations. The class as a whole discusses them until we come to an agreement. We then use the students’ style recommendations on assignments for the rest of the semester.

This time, I picked two serious style quandaries and one I hoped would be on the lighter side. Here they are and the students’ recommendations:

Freshman vs. first-year student. “Freshman” prevailed, though a few students preferred “first-year student.” A sports-minded student noted that “first-year student” would be awkward when writing about athletes who redshirt.

Ground Zero vs. ground zero, in reference to the site of the 9/11 attacks in New York. This was a pretty even split across two sections of the class. Some groups said that the World Trade Center area was a unique place that deserved a capitalized term. Others said that wasn’t fair to similar places, that there are other “grounds zero.”

Mike vs. mic, as a short form for “microphone.” This, to my surprise, was the slam dunk. Not one student took up for “mike.” Some hadn’t realized that the word could be used that way. Many said they were influenced by campus fliers and other advertising for “open mic nights.” A few others said “mike” looked like a person’s name, a viewpoint I took in this post. For both sections of the editing course, we adopted “mic” as an acceptable short form for “microphone,” should that come up again this semester.

And every day, the paperboy brings more

2008-09-17T12:30:00.010-04:00

Poor Richard Wright. The Pink Floyd keyboardist, who died earlier this week at the age of 65, deserves better.

In life, Wright labored in the shadow of band leaders Syd Barrett and, later, Roger Waters. Despite significant contributions during Pink Floyd's glory years of the 1970s, Wright was ousted from the band by the increasingly imperious Waters. Given that, it's a tribute to Wright that he participated in the Floyd reunion at the Live 8 concert in 2005.

In death, Wright continues to get little respect. The Associated Press, as seen here, got the details of the band's history wrong. "Atom Heart Mother" and "Echoes" were recorded and released before "Dark Side of the Moon," not afterward. A bit of fact checking could have prevented that error — yet another example of the need to edit wire stories. Even worse is the headline from The Huffington Post. "Pink Floyd guy" is flippant and disrespectful. It's also not great for search engine opitimization — "Richard Wright" was the top search term on Google Trends when news of Wright's death hit the Web.

For a proper sendoff as Wright goes to the great gig in the sky, try this appreciation at NPR's site and this post at David Menconi's blog, On the Beat.

Places to go for grammar

2008-09-16T11:08:00.003-04:00

This blog is about editing, which includes grammar. But it's not a grammar blog.

Some readers find their way here looking for grammar tips. They will find some here and there, but such posts are infrequent.

If you are here for grammar and only grammar, allow me to point you in some helpful directions. The New York Times has an excellent topics page about grammar. Grammarphobia, led by "Woe Is I" author Patricia O'Conner, is also a great resource.

If you are looking for grammar exercises, here are some sites to visit:

Triangle Grammar Guide by copy editor Pam Nelson includes fun, five-question grammar quizzes. Here's the full collection of those.

Newsroom 101 has exercises on topics such as subject-verb agreement and dangling modifiers.

EditTeach has a nice list of grammar resources.

The American Copy Editors Society site has a few grammar quizzes in this trove of tests.

NewsU offers "Cleaning Your Copy," a course by copy editor Vicki Krueger. This one is the "Dark Side of the Moon" of NewsU — it has been on the "Hot Courses" list for as long as I can remember.

All of these sites are free. Enjoy!

Recognizing great catches by copy editors

2008-09-15T10:47:00.002-04:00

You sometimes hear copy editors say: "If you could only see the things we do catch, you would understand how a few errors still slip into publication." Readers, of course, never see what was corrected at the last minute. They only read what ends up in print or online.

This column by John Robinson, editor of the News & Record in Greensboro, N.C., offers some examples of good catches. Copy editors there stopped a variety of errors of spelling and fact, including the dreaded "pubic/public" glitch.

The column's headline is "In appreciation of copy editors." The copy editors at the News & Record most certainly appreciate Robinson's kind words.

You can see other mistakes caught by copy editors at Why Editing Matters.

Interesting reading (and listening)

2008-09-14T16:20:00.000-04:00

Cat Warren of the Common Sense Foundation, on the problem of offensive comments on stories at newspaper Web sites.

Kathy English of The Toronto Star, on the shared responsibility between writers and editors on issues of style, spelling and grammar.

Grey Blackwell of The News & Observer, on his animated cartoons for the paper's site. (An audio interview.)

Anniversary of the 9/12 front pages

2008-09-12T10:44:00.004-04:00

Today is the seventh anniversary of the front pages that covered the Sept. 11 attacks. The Freedom Forum has an archive of these pages. They make for interesting browsing.

The one here is from The News & Observer. (Click on the image for a better view.) The best story on the page is in the left-hand column. It's a wire story, told as a narrative, that gives an inside view of what it was like to be on the plane that hit the Pentagon. It was an exclusive story from The Washington Post.

The other stories (a roundup from the wires on the day's events and another about local reaction) are less compelling because similar stories were on television and the Web throughout the day of the attacks. Neither story told readers much beyond what they already knew.

That's something to consider if such news happens again.

Come with me and escape

2008-09-10T08:07:00.003-04:00

Rick Edmonds at The Poynter Institute has a column this week comparing newspapers to the Bennigan's restaurant chain. As you may know, Bennigan's is no longer in business, and the newspaper industry isn't looking so good either. Both have been overtaken by the times because of their failure to change, Edmonds says. The blurb on the Poynter homepage put it this way: "Stuck in the '70s is the wrong place to be now."

The column got me thinking about what music from the 1970s might tell us something about the plight of newspapers in 2008. Almost immediately, the Rupert Holmes hit "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" came to mind.

The song, released in 1979, tells the tale of a man who's bored with his relationship. Then this happens:

I read the paper in bed
And in the personal columns
There was this letter I read

The lyrics then recite the wording of a classified ad:

If you like pina coladas
And getting caught in the rain
If you're not into yoga
If you have half a brain
If you'd like making love at midnight
In the dunes on the cape
Then I'm the love that you've looked for
Write to me and escape.

The song's protaganist and love interest continue their courtship through the classified section of their local paper. They set up a meeting at a bar called O'Malley's, where they will plan their escape. When they do meet in person, our hero realizes that his classified correspondent was "his own lovely lady." Ah, the irony!

In 1979, the story of the song was silly yet somehow plausible. Holmes was reportedly inspired by an actual ad when he wrote the song. Now, however, the idea that the classified section of a newspaper could be the vehicle for a love affair seems antiquated. Classified advertising was a significant source of revenue for newspapers, but it is fading, never to return.

If Holmes were to write "Escape" today, he would probably use Craigslist, eHarmony or Twitter to tell this story, not the print newspaper. Perhaps we've reached a low point: Even Rupert Holmes has little use for print media.

Yet, there is hope. News itself — along with the reporting and editing skills required to produce it — is not a throwback to 1979. Readers still want it, and a few even like it on paper. But news has to be presented, delivered and paid for in ways never dreamed of a few decades ago. That's the challenge of 2008 and beyond.

Questions for Fannie and Freddie

2008-09-09T11:33:00.002-04:00

The news about Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae requires some background and explanation. As noted here, the coverage hasn't been as complete as it could be.

Editors at the Los Angeles Times and the Daily Telegraph have smartly decided that a Q&A will help. Read the one from L.A. first. Then try the Telegraph's version. Together, they provide an interesting example of writing and editing to your audience.

More Charlotte creep

2008-09-08T10:56:00.002-04:00

The News & Observer and Charlotte Observer are increasingly sharing stories. The idea is to save money and resources on stories that both McClatchy papers would cover — North Carolina sports teams, state government, etc.

It doesn't always work, as detailed here. Another example of "Charlotte creep" was in a prominent position in the Raleigh paper last week: the centerpiece of the Friday features section. The story on "shout music" is full of Charlotte-centric quotes and geographic references that mean little to audiences in Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill. A reader complained (twice) about that in the comments in the online version. But here's the "tell," as they say in poker:

Shout music is like NASCAR: They have it all over the country, but we do it right.

In Charlotte, the first-person claim to car racing makes sense. The city has deep connections to the sport and will be the home of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Raleigh (and the Triangle generally) does not have the background, and NASCAR is not as big in this part of the state. That's reflected in the N&O's coverage of car racing. The paper hasn't had a beat writer on NASCAR in several years, perhaps because it believes other sports are more important to its readership.

So what to do with the "shout" story? Maybe Raleigh editors could use the Charlotte story as a news tip for an entirely different story with the same theme for Triangle readers. Maybe localize the story itself or add a sidebar. And perhaps edit the telling analogy this way:

Shout music is like college basketball: They have it all over the country, but we do it right.

This sharing of content between the Charlotte and Raleigh papers is apparently here to stay. If so, this advice bears repeating: Careful editing — from story selection to word choice — will be essential to ensure that each paper maintains its identity.

Interesting reading

2008-09-05T10:19:00.001-04:00

Al Tompkins of The Poynter Institute, on the national media's meager coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav. Is there a story beyond New Orleans?

Jamie Gold of the Los Angeles Times, on the paper's policy on profanity in quotes. Does it matter whether the offending word appears in print or online?

Ryan Teague Beckwith of Under the Dome, on the difficulty of defining the Southeast. What to do with Kentucky and West Virginia?

Weather with you

2008-09-03T07:41:00.003-04:00

The Weather Channel, led by intrepid reporter Jim Cantore, is the place to go for hurricane coverage, either on television or on the Web. In broadcast, grammar errors go by in a blur. In print or online, they stay for all to see. Here's a sentence from The Weather Channel site that needs some help:

Though in a weakened state, the conventional thinking is that the pesky upper level northwesterly winds will finally begin to diminish on Wednesday.

Conventional thinking isn't in a weakened state, but that's what the sentence says thanks to the position of the modifier. What is intended here is to say that a tropical storm has weakened. Dangling modifiers may not be as dangerous as a Category 5 hurricane, but we should still try to avoid them.

For tips on how to find and repair misplaced modifiers, try this at the Purdue University Online Writing Lab. Or consult the AP Stylebook under "dangling modifiers."

Sarah Palin, journalism major

2008-09-01T12:51:00.008-04:00

John McCain’s pick for his running mate, Sarah Palin, is the governor of Alaska, a former mayor and a beauty pageant contestant. She’s also a journalism major, with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Idaho.

Palin didn’t leave much of an impression at Idaho, according to this Associated Press story. She didn’t work for the campus newspaper or TV station, but she worked in broadcast news after graduation. You can watch a sample of her work here.

Upon reading more about Palin, I recalled that Pat Buchanan, who was the Reform Party’s nominee in the 2000 presidential race, also studied journalism, earning a master’s degree in that subject from Columbia University. Buchanan’s journalism career includes work as an editorial writer at a St. Louis newspaper. And yes, he blogs.

I asked my colleagues at the journalism school at UNC-Chapel Hill whether they knew of any other journalism majors who went on to contend for the White House. Chris Roush, who teaches business journalism, pointed to President Warren G. Harding, who studied journalism at Ohio Central College. Others mentioned politicians, including Dan Quayle and Adlai Stevenson, who didn’t major in journalism but had newspaper connections and experience.

Is a journalism degree a pathway to the White House? My colleague Donald Shaw offers this: “I hope that the new candidate, with her journalism education, like all the candidates, can do what we educate our students to do so well: Listen ... and then communicate clearly and responsibly. A journalism education is an excellent background for all citizens and leaders.”

UPDATE: Since she was selected as McCain's running mate, Palin has fallen into the "blame the media" mindset. Certainly she must have learned in her journalism courses that the press serves as a watchdog on government and powerful institutions. That scrutiny includes candidates for vice president. Perhaps Palin's political ambition has overtaken her journalism education.

I took your name

2008-08-29T11:11:00.005-04:00

The guideline for using a person’s surname in a newspaper headline is fairly simple. If we have reason to believe that readers will instantly recognize that name, go ahead and use it. If not, use a description of that person.

An example: “Meeker” is fine for media in Raleigh in stories about the city’s mayor. But if hizzoner is mentioned outside the Triangle, “Raleigh mayor” is a better choice.

These rules change some for the Web, where many readers use proper names to arrive at stories through Google searches. To get them to our story rather than our competitor’s, use that name even if it’s only marginally known. First names may be handy here, too, where in print the last name usually suffices. (More on online headlines here.)

Of course, sometimes that surname may not conjure the correct person in the reader’s mind. Here are two examples today where that happened to me:

HEADLINE: McClaren works to reunite religions
PERSON INTENDED: Brian McClaren, leader in the “emergent church movement”
PERSON I THOUGHT OF: Malcolm McClaren, music impresario best known for the rise and fall of the Sex Pistols

HEADLINE: Palin emerges as potential McCain VP
PERSON INTENDED: Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska
PERSON I THOUGHT OF: Michael Palin, comedian and travel writer best known for his work with Monty Python

Recognition of surnames in headlines is, of course, colored by our own experiences and interests. Your household may know names that others don't. Sometimes the solution is to use the proper name and a description. That’s what the Los Angeles Times did with the Palin story on its home page: “McCain VP choice is Alaska's Palin.”

Interesting reading

2008-08-27T07:44:00.001-04:00

Eric Zorn of the Chicago Tribune, on Joe Biden's frequent use of "literally" in a recent, high-profile speech.

David Judson of The Turkish Daily News, on how a single word added by a copy editor caused a correction and an apology.

Alex Beam of The Boston Globe, on what the Christian Science Monitor may tell us about the future of newspapers.

Bracket interference

2008-08-26T10:04:00.008-04:00

Here's another example of the hazards of inserting bracketed information into direct quotes. This time, the insidious practice has created a fact error.

The problem pops up in an otherwise effective story about Lou Holtz, who has been a football coach at N.C. State and South Carolina, among other destinations. The story, which appears today in both The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer, has Holtz compare his highs and lows at each school. It's told in an alternative form, organized by theme. Here is what appears in The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer under "disappointing losses":

The rush to splice in brackets to clarify Holtz's reference to this disputed play has led to an error. Clemson scored a field goal to win that game, not a touchdown.

A better option is to use a sentence before the quote to set up the play that Holtz is talking about. That will eliminate the awkwardness of the bracketed material. Then check to make sure that sentence is correct.

This is a curious mistake from a reporter who has written books about Clemson football, but perhaps an editor is to blame. It may be small thing in the scope of world events, but these details matter to sports fans, especially in coverage of a rivalry game. They expect sports departments, as the experts on lore and arcana, to get those details right.

UPDATE: The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C., also ran the story. No one there caught the error either.

When things break your way

2008-08-23T09:09:00.003-04:00

The timing of Barack Obama's "text message" announcement of his running mate had copy desks scrambling Friday night and early Saturday. A news alert from the Los Angeles Times site arrived in my inbox at 1:12 a.m. EDT. The Obama message itself was sent at 3 a.m., according to this CNN story.

Many papers on the East Coast didn't have the story, but things got better as they went west. And in one case, mechanical problems helped a newspaper get the story. A former student who now works at a paper in North Dakota reports this on Facebook:

Our press blew apart and ran a few hours late, so we were able to get the VP stuff in. Lucky and unlucky at the same time.

Indeed. Sometimes this is just the sort of break you need.

Two magazines that do it well

2008-08-21T14:12:00.011-04:00

A comment responding to this post about textboxes made a good point: Magazines have been doing that sort of thing longer (and often better) than most newspapers. Here are two magazines that newspapers can learn from:

1. Fast Company magazine routinely includes textboxes to accompany its stories. For example, an article about Web video in the latest issue comes with a list five famous bits of online comedy. Another story uses a “tale of the tape” textbox to compare Facebook and MySpace. Yet another has a “by the numbers” textbox that works because each number has a clear connection to the story and is presented in context. Some of these examples are available at the Fast Company site, but curiously, they look better in print.

2. ShopSmart magazine takes the alternative approach a step further. This magazine is essentially Consumer Reports “remixed” into alternative story forms. It uses forms such as the Q&A format, “by the numbers” and checklists to help readers learn about classic Consumer Reports topics such as how to get a deal on a credit card or how to buy a bra. ShopSmart offers .pdf versions of some stories at its site, but like Fast Company, the magazine works better in print.

Fast Company and ShopSmart provide good examples of how to do textboxes and free-standing alternative story forms. They are written well, edited well and designed well. Indeed, the content always guides the design — not vice versa. Newspapers would be wise to use these magazines as role models.

More about story forms here.

Beats and bylines

2008-08-19T10:31:00.004-04:00

Do bylines matter? That question came up this week in chat at the journalism school’s annual cookout.

Two of my colleagues were baffled by a recent story in The News & Observer announcing changes in sports coverage. The newspaper’s writers for Carolina Hurricanes hockey and the N.C. State Wolfpack are getting new beats. And a Charlotte Observer reporter, part of the merger of the two papers’ sports departments, is now on the Wolfpack beat.

The story about these moves was on the front page of the Sunday sports section of the Raleigh paper. That drew criticism from my colleagues: Why is the N&O wasting space on this? Who cares?

I responded that the N&O announcement made sense. Beat writers build a relationship with readers. For example, the hockey reporter, Luke DeCock, had covered the Hurricanes for eight years, a span that includes the team’s Stanley Cup win in 2006. Readers came to know him, and when his byline disappears from hockey stories, they will notice. They deserve an explanation.

That reporter-reader relationship is evident in blog comments about this change. Read them here and here.

Interesting reading

2008-08-18T08:44:00.001-04:00

Katie Schwing of The Gazette in Colorado Springs, on how the paper hired her, laid her off and rehired her.

Jamie Gold of the Los Angeles Times, on "flaunt" versus "flout" in a headline.

John Drescher of The News & Observer, on a request from John Edwards regarding the paper that arrived on his doorstep every day.

The world where you live

2008-08-14T10:13:00.003-04:00

The war in Georgia requires a locator map. Many Americans probably need help finding Macon and Valdosta on a map, not to mention places in this Georgia.

This map from The Associated Press gets us halfway there. Let's add:

A compass pointer. Sure, up is (usually) north, but for this distant location, it doesn't hurt to make that clear.

A scale. How many miles from Gori to Buron? How big of a piece of land are we looking at?

An inset. Where on the globe is this?

This is where a copy editor can work with our friends in graphics to increase the usefulness of a map. And the wire desk can help too by using a Q&A like this one and textboxes to explain what it all means.

I remember California

2008-08-12T10:57:00.003-04:00

The kind people at The Poynter Institute have published a piece that I wrote about my experiences at the Los Angeles Times site. It's called "Eight Things I Learned as a 40-Year-Old Intern."

How boffo is Batman?

2008-08-11T08:46:00.004-04:00

In the media speculation about whether "The Dark Knight" will surpass "Titanic" at the box office, it's nice to see The Associated Press put those numbers into perspective. (It's also heartening that this paragraph wasn't cut from the story.)

If Batman does go on to beat Leo in raw totals, that will be news. But stories about that need to have a disclaimer. Inflation matters.

Here's a list of the biggest hits at the American box office, as adjusted for inflation. ("Gone With the Wind" still rules.) And the Bureau of Labor Statistics has a convenient calculator to help you understand the impact of rising prices over time.

Editing from Nashville to Jerusalem

2008-08-08T10:28:00.005-04:00

You may recall the BusinessWeek profile of the company in India that wants to handle editing and layout for U.S. newspapers.

The magazine has published a response in the form of this column by Hanan Sher. He is a copy editor whose career took him from the American South to the Middle East. Here's the gist of his argument:

Cheaper outsourced editing may sound like a good idea to profit-squeezed, advertising-challenged media barons. But they're deluded if they think their readers won't notice, or care.

Endless summer

2008-08-07T14:12:00.004-04:00

When is a movie a "summer movie"?

That question arises from this Associated Press story about how summer comedies have a raunchier tone nowadays. The story includes this paragraph:

The wave of R-rated hits over the last few summers includes "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" and "Superbad."

Alas, the wonderfully titled Borat movie wasn't a summer movie. It was released in November 2006. A quick check of sites such as the Internet Movie Database or Rotten Tomatoes would have prevented this fact error.

A similar problem popped up online recently in a Los Angeles Times slideshow about summer movies. The photo gallery included "The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie," which was released in November 2004. The image from the movie probably led the LAT astray — it was of SpongeBob on the beach with David Hasselhoff. It looked like summer, not Thanksgiving.

"Summer movie" may be as much of a reference to genre as it is to season. But the term needs a place on the calendar too. How about blockbuster films released from Memorial Day and Labor Day? We'll entertain making reasonable exceptions for movies such as "Iron Man" (released May 2) and the upcoming Bruno movie, a sequel of sorts to the Borat movie, which is set for release on May 15, 2009.

Is this any way to write a headline?

2008-08-05T11:41:00.005-04:00

Allow me to pose a question: Do headlines that ask something a good idea?

Poynter thinks so. Sara Quinn, who is on the faculty there, says asking a question is a way to make a headline more engaging. My supervisors during my News & Observer days had other ideas. The directive there was to avoid question headlines — we should tell, not ask.

I asked award-winning headline writer Jim Thomsen what he thought of question headlines. He is a copy editor at The Kitsap Sun in Washington state and a board member at the American Copy Editors Society. (Thomsen also blogs.) Here is his response via Facebook:

As we look for new ways to invite readers to buy our newspapers and read our Web sites, I think we need to embrace new ways to bring them into the conversations that newspapers should be inspiring.

And what better way to start a conversation than to ask a question? It got me to realizing that most stories I read prompt more questions than they answer.

And that, I think is the nature of news: Every newspaper, every day, predominantly publishes stories about people considering something, investigating something, studying something, about to make a decision on something.

Rarely are stories so factually black-and-white as to anticipate and answer every question a reader would reasonably have.

Why not write headlines that reflect that?

Thomsen makes a compelling case. What do you think?

Let's go the mall

2008-08-03T12:55:00.006-04:00

When you are the most popular news site in the region, you need to get things right. If you don't, you put your position at risk.

So it goes here. WRAL.com has the name of a Raleigh mall two different ways (in the headline and lead), with neither correct. It's called Triangle Town Center.

This is where a local stylebook comes in handy. Such a reference may also remind you, for example, that Cary Towne Center does indeed have that annoying "e" in the middle of its name.

While we are on the topic of malls, take a look at this curiously worded entry at Wikipedia for a defunct mall in Greensboro. The wiki-writers include interesting "facts" about why the mall failed and have an unusual flair for metaphor.

Interesting reading (Blogroll Edition)

2008-08-01T11:24:00.004-04:00

My fellow editing bloggers are on a roll:

Common Sense Journalism, on why we need to edit Associated Press cutlines.

Headsup, on why passive voice is just fine on some occasions. (Related post here.)

Editrix, on how some women recoil at the word "moist."

I've also added to my blogroll: TootsNYC, Mighty Red Pen and Talk Wordy To Me. Please check 'em out.

When restaurant reviews are news

2008-07-30T15:59:00.003-04:00

A recent New York Times story about the culinary scene in New Orleans is noteworthy for obvious reasons — but some subtle ones as well.

The readily apparent news of the story is the return of restaurant reviews in The Times-Picayune, the daily newspaper in the New Orleans area. Regular reviews were suspended in the aftermath of the Katrina disaster in 2005. The paper's food critic, Brett Anderson, turned to straight-up reporting as New Orleans began its long recovery. Now, as a sign of the city's rebuilding efforts, that writer has filed his first restaurant review. He's back on that beat, and that return is the focus of the NYT story.

The less obvious component of the story is the primacy of The Times-Picayune in the city's famed restaurant culture. Its reviews — and its authority — were missed. Did bloggers fill the gap? Not really. How about the alternative weekly in the area? Not so much. Here's the key quote from a New Orleans chef:

“We cooks love to wake up on Friday mornings and open up The Times-Picayune and learn what other people are doing. The key thing is to stay competitive, and that’s where the role of the critic comes in.”

The brand name that is The Times-Picayune still gives the newspaper a prominent role in this aspect of the culture of New Orleans. Whether that name exists in print or online doesn't matter. The Times-Picayune is the go-to place for restaurant criticism. That's food for thought as newspapers consider how to "own" a story in an ever-increasing market of media.

Enjoy the review of Mr. B's Bistro, and laissez les bons temps rouler!

Charlotte creep

2008-07-28T09:09:00.008-04:00

The promised merger of some content between The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer is under way. The two North Carolina papers, once informal rivals but now both owned by McClatchy, are indeed joining forces and sharing stories. Here's some evidence of how Charlotte is creeping into the Raleigh paper:

Earlier this month, the Observer's Scott Fowler listed the top individual performances that he's witnessed as a sports writer. The column, while entertaining, is localized to a fault. It's littered with Charlotte references (a high school, the Bobcats and "the Charlotte swim community") that would have little or no interest to readers in the Triangle (or Raleigh-Durham, if you must). The column also encourages readers to chime in on his paper's Web site — not the site of the Raleigh paper.

Three of the four stories on page 4B of the N&O today are out of Charlotte. One is about the Charlotte area's United Way campaign. Again, how is this relevant to a Triangle audience? Perhaps that space could instead be used to restore the recently truncated op-ed page in the Monday N&O.

A fluffy business story from the Observer refers to a CEO as "the wealthiest Carolinian on Forbes' 2008 list." The story appears on the N&O business page. The Charlotte paper has long used "Carolinian" in an effort to appeal to readers in nearby South Carolina; the word is rare in N&O copy because it has virtually no circulation south of the border. In addition, the CEO in the story, Jim Goodnight, lives in Cary, N.C., which is in the heart of the N&O's circulation area.

Reporters from the Charlotte paper are now getting "staff writer" as part of their bylines when their stories run in the N&O. This story by Ken Tysiac, which ran on the N&O sports front today, is an example. Tysiac is fine reporter and accomplished author, but he is not an N&O reporter. His byline should read "The Charlotte Observer" when it appears in the Raleigh paper.

What does it all mean for readers? It's hard to tell just yet. But it's ironic that in the era of "hyper-local news" that North Carolina's two largest newspapers seem to be moving in the opposite direction. Careful editing — from story selection to word choice — will be essential to ensure that each paper maintains its identity.

UPDATE: Three of the five stories on the N&O sports front Wednesday are by Charlotte reporters. Each is credited as a "staff writer." Just one of the stories is by an actual N&O sportswriter; the other is a wire story from Newsday.

FURTHER UPDATE: Ted Vaden, public editor at the N&O, chimes in on his blog and explains the new byline policy.

Vacation — all I ever wanted

2008-07-18T11:28:00.002-04:00

This blog will be on hiatus for the next week as I go on a family vacation.

Interesting reading

2008-07-17T10:11:00.005-04:00

James Rainey of the Los Angeles Times, on the decline of editorial cartoonists.

Paul Chaney of Practical eCommerce, on the hazards of editing your own blog.

Jarkko Laine of North x East, on the 50 most influential female bloggers.

Craig Silverman of Regret the Error, on his visit to the men's room at the Newseum.

I kid you not

2008-07-16T13:14:00.013-04:00

When R.E.M. sang "hey, kids" throughout "Drive," listeners understood that Michael Stipe wasn't addressing a group of baby goats. Similarly, the Indigo Girls were not saying they were scared of youthful livestock when they performed "Kid Fears."

Yet, as reflected in this James Kilpatrick column, some still insist that "kids" should never be used as a synonym for children or young people. It's all about goats.

In one of his "court of peeves" pieces, Kilpatrick rules on a plea from readers who were "justifiably irked" with the use of "kids" in this Randy Cohen column in The New York Times Magazine. In his decision, Kilpatrick admits that several dictionaries recognize "kid" as a word meaning "child." (The dictionary on my computer lists it as the first definition.) However, he waves off that evidence, siding with the readers: "Their motion will be emphatically granted."

We need more testimony. I asked three copy editors what they thought of using "kid" this way in newspapers and news Web sites. Here are their answers:

Bill Cloud of UNC-Chapel Hill: I think "kid" is fine in casual uses. I wouldn't change it in a column, for example, but would question its use in a crime story. We all talk about the wife, husband and kids.

Kathleen Flynn of The New York Times: Since starting to work at The Times in 2005, I have become ever more conservative about word choice and grammar, even in my off hours, even when I am not really thinking about it consciously. You might say I drank the Kool-Aid, but that would be far too informal to say in print. So, yes, I would avoid "kids" to describe young human beings in all but the most informal written usage. But I also have to recognize that I am probably in the minority here, and there is really nothing wrong with the word.

Bill Walsh of The Washington Post: I wouldn't write "6 Kids Killed in Fire," but for more casual references there's nothing wrong with the word. As I recall, I wrote in "Lapsing Into a Comma" that the kids-are-goats argument "belongs in the assisted-living facility."

After weighing this expert testimony and reading the magazine column in question, I dissent from the Kilpatrick court. Although ethics is a weighty topic, Cohen writes in an informal way, which is part of his appeal as a columnist. Additionally, we as editors should grant some leeway (but not carte blanche) to columnists.

Thus, in this case, "kids" is all right.

UPDATE: Cohen responds and elaborates in a comment to this post. Thank you, Randy.

No more weasel words at The Associated Press

2008-07-14T14:06:00.004-04:00

Politico has an in-depth look at changes at the Washington bureau of The Associated Press. Under new leader Ron Fournier, the bureau is focusing on "accountability journalism." The Politico article describes that like so:

Reporters are encouraged to throw away the weasel words and call it like they see it when they think public officials have revealed themselves as phonies or flip-floppers.

First-person pieces and more analytical writing are encouraged as well. Politico dutifully notes that not everyone likes the changes at the AP. Elsewhere, Talking Points Memo (among others) has been critical of the wire service's recent coverage of the presidential campaign.

UPDATE: Doug Fisher at Common Sense Journalism discusses AP's new direction in a first-person and analytical piece. A former AP man himself, Fisher beat my post on this news by a couple of hours.

On advice of counsel

2008-07-10T09:56:00.002-04:00

This headline and lead gave me pause, as it probably did for many readers. The problem is in the verb: continue.

"To continue" and "continuance" in the legal sense are not the same as we use them in conversation. One legal glossary, for example, defines "continuance" this way:

Adjournment of the proceedings in a case from one day to another.

In news stories, the word usually means that a hearing or trial has been pushed back on the calendar. But what everyday word works best in place of this bit of legal jargon? With legal matters, it's especially important that we are precise.

I asked a friend, a copy editor turned lawyer turning law librarian, for some advice. Here's her response:

I'd go with "postponed" because "continuance" literally means you are moving the trial (or appearance or whatever) to a new definite date (the judge always picks the new date when granting the continuance). So "put off" might make it sound like something less definite — like the trial has been put off and we don't know when or whether it will actually happen.

So ordered. More on continuances here.

Why be normal?

2008-07-09T12:15:00.006-04:00

The News & Observer reporter who covers the Wake County schools has an active blog at the paper's site. One recent post generated (as of this posting) 40 comments from readers.

Many of these comments, of course, are off topic or lengthy. Yet, buried deep among the chatter, comes a curious request from reader to reporter, with emphasis added:

Please report this in a normal article in the print version of the N&O also.

It's interesting that this reader sees a reporter's blog post this way — as less significant, if not "abnormal." The request also indicates that the post would have greater weight on newsprint than on screen. It's somehow less serious in the blog format — and of course, not as widely read as it would be in the print newspaper.

As producing print media becomes less profitable and reporting through blogs increases, readers can expect to see more news that appears only on the Web. Just when those posts will have the same impact as a story in the paper is unclear.

UPDATE: John Robinson at the News & Record offers his thoughts on this sort of request.

Inside outsourcing

2008-07-08T12:11:00.002-04:00

You've likely heard about the outsourcing of newspaper editing to India. So who will be doing the work there?

The editors and designers at Mindworks Global Media, that's who. BusinessWeek magazine takes us to the company's headquarters outside New Delhi.

Summertime blues

2008-07-07T13:54:00.004-04:00

"Summertime Blues" seems like an appropriate soundtrack for the newspaper business. Every which way we turn this summer, the answer seems to be: "No dice, son..." At least we are still raising a fuss and holler about why editing matters.

We're seeing layoffs, reduced news hole and outsourcing. Many of my fellow bloggers have been writing eloquently on what is happening, and Pam Robinson at Words at Work has been especially vigilant on the outsourcing issue. And this piece at Poynter offers a look at what it all means for the future of the copy desk.

In addition, recent posts at an L.A. Times blog also speak to the situation at that paper and more broadly. Jamie Gold, the paper's reader representative, recently posted the memo from the paper's editor about impending layoffs and reduction in pages in the newspaper. That's followed by another memo from the Web site's executive editor discussing how the site has increased its readership and expanded its offerings. So yes, the L.A. Times, like most newspapers, has more readers now than it did 10 years ago thanks to the Web. But its finances do not reflect that.

This is our problem: People want news, but it's no longer profitable to provide them with it. It's enough to drive an editor to drink.

Fortunately, John McIntyre has arrived just in time to show us how to make a proper martini. Here's some "Summertime Blues" to go with it:

Eddie Cochran.

The Who.

The Flying Lizards.

UPDATE: Perhaps this Webinar at NewsU, set for July 16, will offer some hope.

How to declare independence

2008-07-04T09:03:00.003-04:00

On every Fourth of July, the News & Observer publishes the Bill of Rights on its editorial page. Usually, a letter to the editor follows a few days later, asking why the paper would publish that document and not the Declaration of Independence.

It's a reasonable question. The declaration, not the Constitution, is the "reason for the season." It would make more sense to publish the Bill of Rights on Dec. 15, its date in history.

As one of the best breakup letters of world history, the declaration makes for a great read. The checklist of complaints against the king is especially interesting in its detail. That section is introduced this way: "Let Facts be submitted to a candid world."

On this day, I encourage you to read the full text of the Declaration of Independence. Or listen to a reading and learn more at NPR's site.

Either way, enjoy the declaration's language, structure and message, and have a safe and happy Fourth of July.

Q&A: How the L.A. Times edits for the Web

2008-07-02T15:18:00.008-04:00

My summer stint at the Los Angeles Times is over. I learned a tremendous amount in my seven weeks at the paper's Web site, and I am eager to take this newsroom experience back to the classroom.

This Q&A with Henry Fuhrmann, conducted by e-mail, offers a look at how online editing works at the L.A. paper, where he is the senior copy desk chief for the Web. Fuhrmann has been at the L.A. Times since 1990 and in his current position for about a year.

The AM copy desk recently marked its first anniversary. How did the desk get started, and what is its main purpose?

I deserve no credit for the AM desk concept — I am merely the lucky guy who got the job after the leaders of the L.A. Times copy editing department decided that we needed to set up a team to handle the rapidly growing flood of material being sent to the Web.

At the time, by the way, I was an assigning editor — specifically deputy business editor — although I had previously run the business copy desk and worked on desks all around the newsroom. I happily rejoined the copy editing department when this opportunity arose. I knew it would be a terrific challenge, a lot of fun and, to my mind, even more important than helping run one of our largest newsgathering staffs.

Back to the your question: Our main purpose on the morning crew is to serve as a universal copy desk from about 7 a.m. onward, when stories, blog posts and photos are being offered for the Web and before the traditional nightside copy desks arrive.

As a result, we handle material from our foreign, national, metro, business and sports staffs. We also read quite a bit of entertainment content, mostly photos and blog posts, from 7 to 10 a.m., when the features copy desk checks in, and then throughout the day to back those folks up. The night desks are all in by 3 p.m.; we work a few hours beyond that, finishing tasks we’ve started during the day that may not have required immediate posting to the Web.

The copy desk department is not quite a 24/7 operation — more like 17/7 — but the 60 hours of service we provide Monday through Friday have filled in big gaps in coverage. In addition to working 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on those days, we provide an editor from 8 to 4 on Saturdays. We are off Sundays, when we have the features and night desks split the Web copy editing chores.

You come from a print background. How is editing for the Web different from print?

When people ask me what it takes to edit for the Web, I ask two questions: Can you work fast? And can you right-click? (That mouse function is required to “export” stories from the newspaper editorial content system, CCI, to our Web content management system.)

Whatever the medium, good editing is still, in essence, getting the words in the right order and communicating as effectively as we can with the reader-user. The difference with the Web is the lack of a firm deadline (other than “right now”) and the demand for speed.

The ever-ticking clock has required that we eliminate a few layers from the traditional print editing sequence. Instead of going from reporter to assigning editor to copy editor to slot (and usually proofreader), material for the Web moves from reporter to assigning editor to copy editor, or from blogger to editor to copy editor, or often from blogger directly to copy editor. At odd hours, when, say, a foreign correspondent files while the assigning desk is asleep in Los Angeles, he or she will work directly with one of our two overnight Web producers, cutting yet another layer from the process. (Those two producers, no surprise, were ace copy editors in previous jobs.)

Because fewer hands are touching the copy, we have recruited slot-capable editors to our ranks for the most part. After a year, we have trained four editors and sent them back to their home desks to help spread their Web knowledge to their print peers. We’ll keep rotating people in and out on six-month stints.

What about headlines for the Web?

Writing headlines is a crucial part of the Web copy editing process. In many respects this is the area in which we can make the most difference to the Times’ efforts to build its online audience, as we try to optimize our heds for search engines in an effort to draw Web users to our stories.

There’s probably nothing unusual about how we approach the task. We try to use the obvious search terms that we think would apply to a given story, including specific names and other key subject words. To put this another way, we aim to replicate what a typical Google user might type to find our story.

All stories that go through the morning copy desk get Web heds because all of our material is posted online. But we also ask that copy editors working for print write a Web-specific hed for practically every story.

Optimizing search is a newsroom-wide effort, with reporters and their editors adding hyperlinks, Web producers filling in keywords in Assembler and so forth. But our understanding is that the Web hed is the most important tool, so we on the desks take that responsibility very seriously.

The L.A. Times site has dozens of blogs, with more added each week. What is the paper's approach on editing blog posts?

Our stance is that the blogs carry our good name, so they also must carry our usual stamp of quality. That said, we copy edit relatively lightly (as we do with any opinion journalism) and quickly (by necessity — we have so much else to do). We correct for typos and errors of fact and watch for legal and taste issues. But we discourage heavy rewriting; again, time is a factor, but we also acknowledge the importance of maintaining the blogger’s voice. I gather that copy editing blogs is considered somewhat novel, so we’re happy we can provide even this modest level of scrutiny.

The challenge is certainly big — and getting bigger. Three years ago the Times had three blogs. As of this writing, we have 42, with at least two more coming this summer and several others planned for the fall. Nearly every member of the copy editing staff has his or her hand in at least one blog.

You get out a lot to see cool concerts and sporting events. Is the idea of a morning copy desk good for the social lives of copy editors?

Yes, definitely. Getting out earlier has been one of the great side benefits of the job. It has enabled me and my daughters (ages 16 and nearly 14) to have more quality time together every evening. I attended a lot more of the girls’ softball games and other after-school activities than in years past. I’ve seen a personal record nine concerts this year (and it’s only the halfway mark as I write this) and also attended two Dodgers games and four Lakers games.

The flip side of this has been an interesting development in our recruiting efforts. I always thought that copy editors worked for years to get those coveted, rare openings on the day side and a presumably “normal” schedule in real life. But, in fact, many otherwise interested copy editors have told us that they love nights and couldn’t imagine how they could convert to days, even for just a few months.

Thanks to Henry for these insights and to everyone at the L.A. Times for your hospitality this summer.

Further studies on alternative story forms

2008-07-01T13:58:00.005-04:00

This blog is seeing a bump in traffic, thanks in part to the recently released NewsU course on alternative story forms. Thanks to everyone who has taken this free course and taken a moment to visit here.

I blog about ASFs on occasion. In case you are reading here for the first time or just want a look at some previous thoughts on ASFs, try these previous posts, along with a new link or two:

TIPS

What ASFs mean for copy editing.
How to "remix" a traditional profile into an ASF.
Where to place the full story when using an ASF as a front-page promo.
When to use textboxes: here and here and here.
How to use timelines in print and online.

CRITIQUES

BEFORE and AFTER

The Los Angeles Times covers July 4th travel one way and then another.

CASE STUDY

The story of one ASF from conception to publication at The Morning Call in Allentown, Pa.

OTHER VIEWS

Thanks again for taking the course and reading here. I hope you find it all helpful.

Interesting reading

2008-06-30T16:30:00.003-04:00

Steve Benen of The Carpetbagger Report, on how searching for "gay" and replacing with "homosexual" can lead to trouble.

T.J. Sullivan of L.A. Observed, on how the copy editors in India who will benefit from U.S. outsourcing have some editing to do at home first.

The Associated Press, on how the latest edition of the AP Stylebook is significantly different this time around.

Learn about alternative story forms — for free

2008-06-26T10:38:00.000-04:00

My course on alternative story forms for NewsU, the e-learning program of The Poynter Institute, officially launches this week. "Beyond the Inverted Pyramid: Creating Alternative Story Forms" will help you learn how to tell stories in different and interesting ways.

The course, intended for reporters and editors, will take you no more than two hours to complete. And it's free.

Here's an outline of what you'll get to do there:

Get an introduction into what alternative story forms are.
Understand how ASFs make readers smarter, as shown in EyeTrack research.
Learn how to root out textboxes and other content that's hiding in conventional text.
Match the news to the right form.
Remix an inverted pyramid story into a different form.
Share your work with others.

Thanks to the NewsU crew — especially Howard Finberg, Casey Frechette and Vicki Krueger — for supporting the idea for this course and making it a reality.

More on McClatchy and the N&O

2008-06-24T01:55:00.004-04:00

Analysis and reaction is still coming in a week after the news that The News & Observer is trimming its newsroom staff as part of a larger McClatchy cutback. The merger of some coverage between the N&O and Charlotte Observer is drawing some especially interesting commentary.

Here's a sampling of what they are saying:

FROM THE COMPANY LINE

McClatchy executive Howard Weaver outlines the future: "We have to tailor this 151-year old company differently to operate profitably and respond efficiently in the new arena."

FROM THE N&O OFFICES

John Drescher, executive editor, sees hope in growing readership, combining print and online: "We've worked for several years to meet your needs in print and online. Our readership data show our reach is greater than ever."

Ted Vaden, public editor, strikes a somber tone: "It is a sad time for the newspaper and for the people here who will see long-time colleagues leave."

FROM THE BLOGS

Doug Fisher, journalism instructor at the University of South Carolina, offers insight into what the Charlotte-Raleigh collaboration means for coverage of state government: "The digital age seems to be giving us a barbell shape for news — the big national stuff on one end, the hyperlocal stuff on the other, and in-between? But in between is where the state capitals lie."

John Zhu, a former staffer at The Herald-Sun in Durham, criticizes the N&O's outsourcing of leadership in the sports department to Charlotte: "The two papers are about 2.5 hours apart, but the focuses of their coverage are much farther apart."

FROM THE READERS

Fans sound off in comments on a blog from a Raleigh sports-talk station: "Pretty soon they’ll merge with all the papers for one USA Today type of paper called NC Today."

UPDATE: Vaden offers more reader reaction (as well as a correction regarding the number of copy editors let go) at the end of this column.

The words of George Carlin

2008-06-23T10:09:00.003-04:00

Comedian George Carlin has died at age 71. He was known for his profane style of comedy, epitomized by his "seven dirty words." (Yes, you can read them on Wikipedia even if you can't say them on TV.)

Carlin was also keenly interested in the meaning of words. This quote illustrated that as he listed the ingredients of his work:

Those three things which wax and wane in importance are English language and wordplay; secondly, mundane, everyday observational comedy — dogs, cats and all that stuff; and thirdly, sociopolitical attitude comedy.

You can see a bit of that first aspect of Carlin's work in this clip on YouTube. It appears to be from the mid-1980s, and yes, it includes some dirty words.

Pam Nelson's blog is on the move

2008-06-21T14:47:00.004-04:00

You may be familiar with Pam Nelson, an ace copy editor at The News & Observer, and her blog, Triangle Grammar Guide. If not, you should be.

Either way, you'll need a new address to follow Pam's posts and quizzes. It's changed as part of a blog overhaul at the N&O site. You can now find Pam at:

http://blogs.newsobserver.com/grammar/home

Interesting reading (Humor edition)

2008-06-19T10:25:00.003-04:00

We could use a laugh. Here are ~~two~~ three places to get one:

Jane Black of The Washington Post, on her desire to edit restaurant menus.

"Joanne Cohen" of The Onion, on her desire to edit the Great American Novel.

Gene Weingarten of The Washington Post, on how he won't miss copy editors ... or will he?

Dark day in Raleigh

2008-06-17T10:26:00.006-04:00

As an alumnus of The News & Observer, I was distressed — but not surprised — to hear that the paper would lose 70 people, including 16 in the newsroom. The N&O announcement is part of job cuts across the McClatchy chain.

The Raleigh paper has yet to say publicly which 16 people in the newsroom are among those losing their jobs. They are "known unknowns," as someone once said. The Web staff and the news copy desk apparently survived intact, although sports lost a copy editor.

The lack of detail is puzzling. It seems imperative for a newspaper to tell its readers which journalists will no longer be providing news in the community. As my colleague Leroy Towns suggested recently, transparency is essential, especially in this day and age. Yet, judging from this story at WRAL.com, the N&O will be reluctant to explain who is being let go, leaving readers to figure out whose bylines have vanished.

Equally disheartening is the indication that local news coverage will suffer. That's a bit difficult to decipher from the story about the cuts, but here is a sentence that says a lot:

The N&O will begin producing only two daily editions: one for the Triangle and one for the rest of its circulation area.

In other words, Chapel Hill and Durham will no longer have a separate edition of the N&O, resulting in a "one size fits all" local coverage across the Triangle. That's unfortunate and ironic, given the increasing emphasis on local news.

Only a dozen years ago, the N&O was vigorously competing with the Durham paper for readers there. That seems like an eon now.

UPDATE: John Drescher, executive editor of the N&O, told me in an e-mail that he has no plans to publicly announce who was let go. Also, a previous version of this post said no copy editors were laid off; one sports copy editor is affected.

Reporting from inside Myanmar

2008-06-13T16:16:00.004-04:00

While we editors discuss whether to call the place Burma and Myanmar, an American reporter takes us inside the closed country, which was recently hit by a deadly cyclone. It's a compelling read, told from the first person.

The waiting is the hardest part

2008-06-10T20:41:00.002-04:00

The writing conventions of the Web find their way into mainstream news stories, for better or worse. For example, this New York Times story deploys the "wait for it" device:

CSX is, of course, one of the largest railroad companies in the nation. And given all the hubbub, you’d imagine the hedge fund was based in the Middle East. But the hedge fund is — wait for it — based in London.

I have never understood why readers should "wait for it." It's a feeble way to build drama or surprise into a story, and it's become a cliche. Go ahead and deliver the information.

Others share my "wait for it" irritation.

Interesting reading

2008-06-08T12:45:00.001-04:00

Scott Karp of Publishing 2.0, on how newspapers still don't get the Web, as shown through The Washington Post's coverage of a weather story.

Neil Hallows of the BBC on how some writers prefer the typewriter over the computer.

BoingBoing, on how a spoof of Google puts a happier spin on the news — a new definition of search engine optimization.

Headhunters at Poynter

2008-06-04T10:21:00.000-04:00

The Poynter Institute is looking for the best headlines of the presidential campaign. News stories, editorials and op-ed pieces are eligible.

Here are some things that "engaging" headlines do, according to Poynter:

Ask questions.

Use punctuation cleverly.

Use alliteration, a pun or onomatopoeia.

Directly address the reader.

You can read more and submit your nominations here.

More than 25,000 served

2008-06-03T10:16:00.002-04:00

This blog, which is nearly two years old, recently welcomed its 25,000th visitor. Everyone knows the press is a sucker for big, round numbers as "milestones," so in that spirit, I offer this recap, highs and lows alike, at The Editor's Desk so far:

Number of posts: 494

Most visitors in one month: 1,731 (March 2008).

Most enduring post: When I discussed alternative story forms and copy editing, a post from 2007 that still gets several hits a day.

Most enduring post via Google Image search: When I mentioned the demise of The Weekly World News and included a photo of Bat Boy.

Number of semi-fictional characters mentioned as potentially great copy editors: 2 (Larry David and Charles Foster Kane).

Number of semi-anonymous detractors: 3.

Faraway visitors: South Africa, Germany, India.

Friend and foil: John Robinson, editor of the News & Record in Greensboro, N.C., who is willing to say some things just don't need editing.

Unfortunate prescriptivist moment: When I called out a member of Congress on "regimen" vs. "regime." I agree with the commenter who told me: You are right for what you do, and she is right for what she does.

Number of times linked from Romenesko: 2.

Silly error: Spelling Romenesko as "Romanesko" in my blog roll.

Kind words: "His commentaries on what he reads in newspapers or online are refreshingly direct and free of academic jargon." (John McIntyre at You Don't Say)

Favorite headline with an R.E.M. reference: Chronic Town; for a post about Cary, N.C.

Favorite headline without an R.EM. reference: To be a blog and not to roll; for a post about blog rolls.

What's ahead: Another 500 posts, and (I hope) more visits. Thanks to all for reading.

That's entertainment

2008-05-31T14:23:00.004-04:00

GraphJam is a fun site that consists of user-generated graphics that reflect song lyrics, movies and other elements of popular culture. Bar graphs, flow charts, Venn diagrams and the dreaded pie chart are all represented.

Anyone who has assigned, created or edited a graphic for a newspaper or magazine will likely get a laugh out of some of these. And you can make and submit your own.

Digital graffiti

2008-05-28T22:47:00.006-04:00

Los Angeles has been tagged. The city is covered in graffiti: on vacant buildings, on street signs, on walls along the freeways, on park benches at bus stops — even on tree trunks.

Because graffiti is so much a part of L.A. life, it's only natural that it comes up frequently in the news. In the past week, editors at the L.A. Times have had to deal with front-page stories that bear the mark of the graffiti artist.

In the first instance, graffiti was not the focus of a story; it was about red-light cameras. Yet the photo with the story included a graffiti-stained sign, prompting complaints from readers: Why would the LAT publish such an image? Wouldn't doing so encourage others to commit the same crime? Could graffiti be scrubbed from such photos?

Jamie Gold, the paper's reader representative, responded to their concerns. First, she made it clear that the newspaper cannot alter photographs by wiping them clean of graffiti. Second, graffiti is an inevitable feature of the street in Los Angeles. To reflect its existence is not to endorse it. Graffiti is difficult to avoid, and doing so in every photo assignment would be to deny reality.

In the second instance, the story was all about graffiti, particularly the practice of tagging. The story was about a man accused of being a "tagger" who was posting videos of himself leaving his mark on overpasses and and city buses. He did his work in broad daylight. The print story itself was a straight-ahead crime piece. Online, the L.A. Times site added a link to one of the videos of the tagger in action.

That's where the AM copy desk, which edits stories for the Web site and posts for L.A. Times blogs, raised a question. The tagging video opened with a title slide that included profanity. Should the site warn readers that this video may not be safe work? Discussion led to the decision to put a warning about the strong language. The video itself would still be linked, and all agreed that it was an integral part of the story.

Graffiti is a fact of life in L.A. It isn't going to disappear from the city's streets — or from the coverage in its biggest newspaper.

Exclamations from L.A.

2008-05-22T17:30:00.002-04:00

I'm nearly 10 days into my "internship" at the Los Angeles Times. So far, so good.

I'm splitting my time between the morning copy desk (editing blog posts, photo galleries and stories) and the Web site itself (moderating reader comments and putting together information for the site's topics pages, among other duties). I'm already learning a lot about editing for the Web, and I am eager to take that knowledge and experience back to the classroom this fall.

I am also learning a lot about the history of the Los Angeles Times. That history greets visitors in its Globe Lobby, a stately room that, as the name indicates, has a huge globe in the center as well as artifacts, murals and photos. (Note: The globe labels the cyclone-stricken country in Southeast Asia as Myanmar, not Burma.)

Throughout the L.A. Times complex, framed newspaper front pages line the walls, showing how the paper covered the big events of the past. They are mere decoration to most of the busy employees, but as a new person, I have found myself stopping and looking at these pages closely as I go from the newsroom to the cafeteria and back again.

One thing that pops out from these front pages is the paper's use of exclamation marks in headlines from the 1940s through the 1960s, many in ALLCAPS. Here are some examples:

INVASION!

V-E DAY!

PEACE!

EISENHOWER LANDSLIDE!

ON THE MOON!

When it comes to displaying history, print is still the standard. A framed homepage from latimes.com has not yet made it onto the main corridors of the L.A. Times. Perhaps that time will come sooner rather than later, as the paper is making a major push in that direction as the Web site takes center stage. Then, the interns of the future will stop and look at the famous homepages of the 21st century.

Interesting reading (Digital Edition)

2008-05-20T01:38:00.003-04:00

David Sarno of the Los Angeles Times, on the difficulty of defining and measuring "views" of videos on sites such as YouTube.

Siobhain Butterworth of The Guardian newspaper, on the editing of digital archives.

Jock Lauterer of UNC-Chapel Hill, on a community newspaper's efforts to add online content, including the deployment of the "Star Car."

Appeasement in context

2008-05-17T12:37:00.006-04:00

This loud exchange between Chris Matthews of MSNBC and a radio host from Southern California has been making noise on the Web. Matthews challenges the host to define "appeasement" and explain its historical context. He has no answer.

Sometimes this sort of thing can come off as a "gotcha" moment. ("Who is the leader of Uzbekistan? Why don't you know that?") But here, "appeasement" is crucial to the discussion regarding recent comments by President Bush and Barack Obama. Matthews was correct to press the point.

The "appeasement" discussion also presents an opportunity for newspapers to provide this context to readers. Why not include a textbox with stories about this news? Start with the dictionary definition, and then summarize what the word means in relation to Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler.

Highly stressful moments at High Times

2008-05-15T01:14:00.005-04:00

Here's an interesting quote from Mike Edison, a former publisher of High Times magazine:

I like things to be really sharp and real spot-on. A typo in High Times is much worse than a typo in The New York Times. At High Times, people will figure that you were stoned.

Who knew that editing at a magazine about marijuana could be so stressful? Read the whole interview with Edison here.

Wish you were here

2008-05-09T09:28:00.002-04:00

This blog will likely be quiet for a while. I head out to Los Angeles this weekend and settle into my "internship" there next week.

Hillary Clinton on Burma/Myanmar

2008-05-07T16:12:00.003-04:00

Deep into her speech in Indiana on Tuesday night, Hillary Clinton mentioned a country in Southeast Asia like so:

I would like to take a moment to express my deepest sympathies to the victims of the devastating cyclone in Burma. Our hearts and prayers go out to the people there. And I call upon the junta that has ruled Burma for so many years to please let the rest of the world in to help.

This segment of her speech was hardly mentioned in news reports, though James Fallows of The Atlantic made note of it. It's interesting, however, to those of us who are aware of the ongoing Burma/Myanmar dilemma.

Related posts here and here.

UPDATE: Discussion of Burma vs. Myanmar at the ACES board.

Print media to the rescue!

2008-05-06T14:32:00.004-04:00

A paperboy in Illinois is being credited with saving the life of a 92-year-old woman. He noticed that something was amiss while delivering the paper.

Is the paperboy a hero? Sure, and the print media can bask in his reflective glory.

I'm not sure my "paperboy," a 40-year-old guy who tosses the paper on to my driveway while driving by at 15 mph, would have been as observant as this kid, however.

The last word from Denver

2008-05-05T14:38:00.003-04:00

Since the most recent ACES conference came to a close, Andrew Knapp, a copy editor at Florida Today, has been posting nice recaps of sessions he attended while in Denver. He also served as a panelist.

Now he's bundled those posts into this collection at his blog, The Offlede. He even put together a three-minute video summarizing his trip. Great work, Andrew!

Going to California

2008-05-04T16:04:00.006-04:00

Readers of this blog with long memories may recall this post, in which I offered my services as a 40-year-old intern for the summer of 2008. I'm happy to report that The Los Angeles Times has taken me up on the offer.

I will work on the paper's Web site from mid-May to early July, editing and writing. My plan is to refresh my skills and pick up some new ones. I hope that my six weeks in the newsroom this summer will improve my work in the classroom this fall (and beyond) as I continue to beef up the online element of my courses.

Thanks to Deirdre Edgar and Eric Ulken at the Times for encouraging me to pursue this opportunity and to Daniel Gaines and Henry Fuhrmann for making it happen.

UPDATE: Here is a look at the state of the Times and its outlook, including its Web site.

In which we live in

2008-05-01T15:38:00.003-04:00

While at the grocery store the other day, I spotted a woman wearing a T-shirt with this message:

I am the grammarian about whom your mother warned you.

Apparently, my fellow shopper would not be a fan of the "Rules That Aren't" session at numerous ACES conferences. The leader of that session, Bill Walsh of The Washington Post, has said that the end of sentence is a reasonable place for a preposition. He’s not alone.

The T-shirt example certainly shows how stilted the language becomes when adhering to this "rule." The sentence is almost as awkward as this lyric by Paul McCartney, who tried to have it both ways:

But in this ever-changing world in which we live in...

I’m with Walsh on this. On this “rule,” let’s live and let it die.

Box out

2008-04-30T13:25:00.002-04:00

As noted here awhile ago, copy editors can play a significant role in making alternative story forms better. One way we can do that is identifying possible textboxes and pulling them out of the gray text of stories. Here are two recent examples:

This News & Observer sports story on the departure of Johnny Dawkins to Stanford includes several paragraphs at the end about other Duke coaches who have left to become head coaches elsewhere. With the obligatory "meanwhile," the section of the story feels tacked on, and its delivery is rushed and jumbled. It's a perfect opportunity to break that information out as a separate item as part of the story package. Make it a grid-style textbox with each person's name, destination and coaching record.

This Charlotte Observer news story attempts to tell the story of a possible burglary. It does so in a narrative style. (My fellow blogger FEV has a good critique of this here.) Near the end of the story, the writer introduces a detective with the Charlotte police who offers some tips on foiling such crimes. Then the story drops back into narrative mode. The bullet points should have been a clue: This is a textbox. Remove it from the story and make it a separate item. As is, the tips damage the flow of the "story" that the writer is trying to tell.

EyeTrack research has indicated that readers notice alternative story text and recall more information from it versus traditional text, whether it's in print or online. Let's help the reader and make that happen.

Interesting reading

2008-04-29T11:32:00.001-04:00

Brian Williams of NBC News, on the Sunday edition of The New York Times. (UPDATE: Glenn Greenwald of Salon responds.)

Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo, on the way The Associated Press covered an advertisement critical of John McCain.

Michael Kinsley of Time magazine, on editors vs. writers.

Calling all midcareer copy editors

2008-04-28T12:24:00.007-04:00

The Institute for Midcareer Copy Editors is back. If you would like to refresh your skills and pick up some new ones, this four-day gathering at UNC-Chapel Hill is for you.

The program, which begins July 13 and ends July 16, is open to 18 copy editors. Some costs (including lodging) are covered, but you must pay your own travel. The deadline for applying is May 9.

Topics will include online editing, alternative story forms and media ethics. Check out the institute's site for more information and an application. Once there, you can also order one of Bill Cloud's "Whip [Brackets] Now" buttons, a stylish accessory at the recent ACES conference.

War style

2008-04-25T08:41:00.005-04:00

The federal government has put together a "stylebook" for terms related to war and terrorism. "Islamo-fascism" is not recommended, but "totalitarian" is. The Associated Press tells us more in this story.

For further reading, check out how National Public Radio analyzed the language of war in this series of articles in 2006.

UPDATE: David Schanzer, director of the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security, offers his view on this topic.

Fashion news

2008-04-23T09:06:00.005-04:00

CNN is testing the idea of selling T-shirts with wacky headlines from its Web site. Check out the selection here.

Comments such as these show that not everyone is enthusiastic about the idea, and it seems odd to see a "serious" news site try to make money from the news of the weird and (occasionally) gruesome.

The Onion has been doing this sort of thing for some time, and it has extended the concept to the "make your own headline" magnet kit. Such merchandise is a natural for that site, but not so much for CNN.

UPDATE: A colleague chimes in: "No longer can headline writers really know how their words will break in different formats. For example, a line that fits on an XXL will not fit on an M."

Voice coach

2008-04-22T12:49:00.004-04:00

John Robinson, my friend and former colleague at the News & Record, has said that reporters' blogs do not need editing in the same way as their stories in the print newspaper. Part of his argument is that copy editing will deaden the tone of newspaper blogs:

The best blogs have a unique voice, the voice of the blogger. Almost by definition, editing would quiet that.

That point of view came to mind again recently when a student stopped by my office. This student is one of five working at The News & Observer this semester, reporting for that newspaper's Under the Dome blog.

Under the Dome is a long-running column of political tidbits, mostly about state government. The blog version recently celebrated its first birthday. In print and online, the Dome column has a mildly snarky tone and speaks of itself in the third person once in a while: "Dome has learned..."

I asked the student about his semester at the N&O. Here's a reasonable recreation of that part of our conversation:

ME: How has your Dome experience been?

STUDENT: Good. I've really enjoyed it and learned a lot.

ME: Are your posts edited before they go online?

STUDENT: Yes. My posts are edited by the main reporter in charge of Dome.

ME: In what way?

STUDENT: The biggest thing was to put voice into the posts. He said my copy was a bit dry.

ME: So he reworked your writing to fit the tone of Dome?

STUDENT: Exactly. He really helped.

In this case at least, editing didn't diminish the blog's voice. It made it loud and clear.

Interesting reading

2008-04-20T12:03:00.002-04:00

Nicole Stockdale of The Dallas Morning News, on planning and editing the newspaper's Points section.

John Robinson of the News & Record in Greensboro, on what advice from retired editors fails to tell us about the present and the future.

Celia Rivenbark of McClatchy Newspapers, on the phrase "it is what it is." (Related discussions here and here.)

Things are going to slide, slide in all directions

2008-04-17T13:17:00.006-04:00

With slideshows proliferating on news sites, I added them to my editing class this year.

This semester, students used Soundslides Plus to put together a slideshow about a recent news event. I gave them 10 images and a wire story about a tornado hitting Atlanta. I asked the students to choose the best six photos and to put them in an order that made sense to tell a story. The students used the cutline information from each Associated Press photo and tapped into the wire story to bridge gaps in the larger story.

The students seemed to enjoy this assignment, and it was interesting to see what photo sequences they came up with. They found it challenging to turn the images and words into a larger story. They were also surprised how much editing the AP cutlines needed.

To get ready for this assignment, we looked at several well-done slideshows from The Washington Post and other sites. I also wanted to show one that didn't work so well. Too bad this one from Yahoo! came along too late in the semester. It wanders from the Northwest-Delta merger to Gloria Allred in seven slides.

For some tips about slideshows, check out this batch of posts from Mindy McAdams, who teaches at the University of Florida and blogs at Teaching Online Journalism.

UPDATE: My colleague Ryan Thornburg offers this possible explanation for the Yahoo slideshow: Photo galleries like this are created by a computer, based on keyword. In this case, "TSA" was the keyword. Thus, the shot of a mannequin wearing a nipple ring. Humans set up the keywords that create the galleries, and humans have the ability to re-order the photos once the gallery is generated.

Spelling is a snap

2008-04-16T09:21:00.002-04:00

Students in my editing classes may submit errors that they find in the print media and get extra credit. I encourage such finds in newspapers, magazines and books. I accept other professionally produced writing, however.

Today, someone brought in a spelling mistake. That's typical. The place where the error appeared was not: on a Snapple bottle cap. The cap reads as follows:

Real Fact #127

A humminbird's heart beats 1,400 times a minute.

Get all the "Real Facts" at snapple.com

The missing "g" is there on the Web version. I suppose it's less expensive to fix that than to recall thousands of bottle caps.

Tax tips

2008-04-15T08:35:00.002-04:00

On this April 15, let's do our best to avoid these tired phrases:

A taxing day

Death and taxes

The taxman cometh

Best wishes to all of you filing your returns on deadline.

After ACES

2008-04-14T12:30:00.007-04:00

The 12th annual conference of the American Copy Editors Society is over. Eyewitness accounts such as these from Jim Thomsen of The Kitsap Sun testify to the success of this year's gathering. Here's my "takeaway" and a look ahead:

THE HIGHS

Going to great session after great session. I learned about the "Rules That Aren't" and realized that yes, we have to do "All This and Ethics Too."

Seeing old friends and making new ones, including readers of this blog. (Hi, Eileen!)

Bridging the gap with page designers by talking honestly about how we work together. (Thanks, Josh!)

Discussing the identity of the organization and considering widening the scope of "copy editor" beyond the newspaper tradition of ACES.

Checking out Red Rocks with a friend who's a copy editor turned lawyer turning librarian.

Drinking beer. It's better in Colorado.

THE LOWS

Lower attendance.

Declining membership.

Malaise about the business side of journalism — countered by our dedication to what we do. It's frustrating to see good journalists laid off and left out in the cold by hiring freezes.

WHAT'S AHEAD

The next conference is set for April 2009 in Minneapolis. As reflected by the state of the profession overall, ACES is in transition and has a lot of work to do. There's no time for fiddling. Luckily, the leadership and membership understand the challenges ahead and are committed to taking them on.

On the lighter side, there's also talk of an "editing smackdown" between Bill Walsh of The Washington Post and Merrill Perlman of The New York Times. This would be a marquee event, a clash of editing titans. I'm suggesting that my colleague Bill Cloud serve as referee.

Read more memories of the 2008 conference and check out the collection of handouts and exercises.

Wish you were here

2008-04-09T09:28:00.004-04:00

This blog will be quiet for the rest of the week. I will be at the ACES conference in Denver. I hope to see you there. If you cannot attend this year, you can still follow the fun online.

Interesting reading

2008-04-08T12:22:00.004-04:00

Harvey Araton of The New York Times, on the top 10 reasons that he prefers to cover the Final Four of women's basketball.

Sandy Bucknam of The Telegraph in Nashua, N.H., on the damage inflicted by a renegade spell-check program.

Daniel Hunt of the American Copy Editors Society, on his "impatient enthusiasm" for the organization's national conference, which begins Thursday.

Going Mad online

2008-04-05T10:24:00.003-04:00

If you thought Mad magazine's famous "fold-in" feature worked only in print, guess again. As this gallery at The New York Times shows, the format works on the Web as well.

Check out the accompanying profile on Mad artist Al Jaffee too. His wordplay to rename the Times features section is a good example of why he's been successful all these years.

Fall on me

2008-04-03T07:43:00.004-04:00

When my wife detected a discrepancy in our cell phone bill, she called the company to ask why we were being charged $9 more this month than in past months.

The answer from customer service: My wife's employee discount "fell off" the bill. This $9 fall happened on March 4, but it was unclear what caused it. The fallen discount has been picked up and put back on the bill.

In the days of the newspaper composing room, type sometimes fell off a page before it went to press. The result was a missing period or missing paragraph in a story. But how does something fall off of a .pdf statement? And how is that the one item that fell off is the discount?

I'm not falling for it.

WTH or WTF?

2008-04-02T09:59:00.003-04:00

My colleague Bill Cloud has found another curious example of bracketed information spliced into a direct quote. The story is about Skip Caray, the Atlanta Braves broadcaster. Here's a Caray quote as it appeared in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

I was in intensive care for three weeks. I don't remember any of it. I woke up one day, and all my kids were there and my wife, and my cardiologist. I woke up and said, 'Where the hell am I and what are y'all doing here?' I had no idea.

Here is the same quote as published in the sports section of The News & Observer:

I was in intensive care for three weeks. I don't remember any of it. I woke up one day, and all my kids were there and my wife, and my cardiologist. I woke up and said, 'Where the [heck] am I and what are y'all doing here?' I had no idea.

As Cloud says: "When the quote appeared in The News & Observer, the 'hell' was replaced by a bracketed '[heck],' leaving readers to wonder whether he said something much worse."

Cloud and Bill Montgomery of the Houston Chronicle will lead a session at the ACES conference on working with quotes and the problems associated with inserting brackets into them. "[Eric] Clapton Is God" should be a good one.

Related post here.

Hello, Larry

2008-04-01T08:46:00.004-04:00

Poor Larry King. In recent years, he has often come off as woefully unprepared. Interviews with the surviving Beatles and Eric Clapton were especially awkward.

King is usually on steadier ground in the political realm, but perhaps less so about higher education, at least on this night. In a discussion about the presidential campaign on his show Monday, he says:

Chelsea Clinton, by the way, was confronted by another question about the Monica Lewinsky story today. It was from a student in a Q and A at North Carolina University.

That exchange took place at North Carolina State University, which is in Raleigh. North Carolina Central University, a historically black college, is in Durham. The University of North Carolina, as the flagship campus is known in the national media, is in Chapel Hill. It also refers to the 16-campus system. (See 'em all here.)

The state has yet to establish North Carolina University.

Interesting reading (Future edition)

2008-03-31T09:29:00.004-04:00

Jeremy Gilbert of The Poynter Institute, on the future of organization's Web site, including a sneak preview of the new look.

Brian Stelter of The New York Times, on the future of The Huffington Post, which plans to add sections on sports and books as part of its plan to be an "Internet newspaper." (I'd also suggest more careful photo editing as noted here.)

Phil Meyer of UNC-Chapel Hill, on the future of newspapers (part of this big splash on the outlook for The News & Observer of Raleigh).

Further comment

2008-03-29T13:31:00.010-04:00

The clever site Boing Boing recently published a lengthy but worthwhile post on its comments policy. It's presented in a helpful Q&A format; just about every question has been anticipated and answered.

Boing Boing moderates comments vigorously. Some are rejected. Others are published but "disemvowelled" — removed of their vowels for being lame.

I've allowed anonymous posting since I started this blog in 2006. That changes today. You'll need to identify yourself. I've noticed that the more meaningful comments here and elsewhere online are those with names attached.

My hope is that this will create a more interesting discourse here and a sense of ownership and accountability among those who comment. Perhaps it will also eliminate spam, which has popped up on occasion in the comments.

For the time being, I'm not planning to moderate comments as other editing blogs do. But as Boing Boing notes, all comments policies are subject to change.

Thanks for visiting, and please leave a comment that adds to the conversation and tells us a little bit about who you are. You won't be disemvowelled.

UPDATE: Some wonder whether this policy amounts to censorship, and if so, whether that's a hypocritical stance coming from a journalist. Far from it. A blogger is under the same obligation to publish a comment as a newspaper is to publish a letter to the editor. That is, no obligation. To put it another way, the First Amendment does not require HarperCollins to publish your manuscript for the Great American Novel.

Boing Boing gets the last word: "The people who write and edit Boing Boing have the right to have (or refuse to have) anything they want on their own Web site. If one of the things they don't want is a comment that you have posted, they aren't depriving you of your freedom of speech. You're free to put that comment up on your own Web page."

Under the Dome takes us behind the blog

2008-03-28T16:34:00.009-04:00

Ryan Teague Beckwith, the primary reporter for The News & Observer's Under the Dome blog, is doing some interesting work on BlueNC, a liberal blog that focuses on North Carolina issues.

Beckwith takes his questions straight to the source in "interviews" for all to see. On this post and comment thread, you can follow the give and take between Beckwith and numerous bloggers who contribute to BlueNC. Topics include "progressive" vs. "liberal," the definition of "blogger" and BlueNC's style of news judgment for its "front page."

You can read the early returns of Beckwith's reporting at the Dome blog, with a traditional "dead tree" profile to come later in The News & Observer.

UPDATE: That full profile is now in print and online. It's a good example of how the information gathering and smaller pieces come together for a greater whole.

Campaign for a tobacco-Free sports section

2008-03-27T15:47:00.007-04:00

As the NCAA basketball tournament rolls on, I am seeing and hearing references to a place called Tobacco Road. Here are some recent examples:

Tobacco Road paves way for North Carolina's championship bid (ESPN.com headline)

He didn't want to be the next blue chip recruit to end up on Tobacco Road. (The Daily Trojan)

RALEIGH, N.C. — Georgetown received the full Tobacco Road treatment here Sunday in its most shocking boot from March Madness in more than 20 years. (Washington Post)

Coach Bob McKillop's white house across the street still was festooned with toilet paper, which has become a tradition whenever schools down on Tobacco Road win a big game. (Daily News, New York)

On television, announcers such as Jim Nantz of CBS speak of "Tobacco Road" in dramatic tones, assigning some sort of mythic stature to the proceedings on the basketball court. Perhaps that is a reflection of the name's literary roots.

Tobacco is certainly a significant part of North Carolina's history, but its influence in the state has been waning for years. Nowadays, it isn't easy to find a place to smoke on the campus of the state's flagship university.

Changing times aside, my main problem with "Tobacco Road" is that I have never heard it used in real life. In casual conversation, no one has ever asked me: "Did you see the game last night? That's how it goes on Tobacco Road." And believe me, the topic of "the game last night" comes up a lot.

When I asked students in my editing classes this week whether they used "Tobacco Road" in conversation, they gave me puzzled looks and said no. Yet the Wikipedia entry for "Tobacco Road" claims that the term "is often used" in discussions of sports at four North Carolina universities: UNC-Chapel Hill, N.C. State, Duke and Wake Forest. But "often used" by whom?

My hunch is that "Tobacco Road" is to North Carolina what "Big Easy" is to New Orleans: a term used by unwitting visitors and lazy reporters. I therefore nominate it for the list of words (seen here and here) to avoid this tournament season.

UPDATE: John Robinson of the News & Record kindly mentions this post and shares his "Tobacco Road" experience.

Funky headline

2008-03-26T11:19:00.003-04:00

The comic strip "Funky Winkerbean" tries to find humor in the headlines this week. A "criminal" misspelling of a proper name in display type serves as the punchline. It's unclear whether the story had the same error.