Murder -- Too Many Fatals

Yes, we had some more. Four folks fataled this exercise. For the semester so far, seven of the 11 people in this class have fataled. I'm not happy about that for many reasons.

But my feelings don't matter here; learning from these mistakes is Let's go over what went wrong:

>>> You offered the wrong time element.

One story reported the robbery took place last night. Another reported it was this morning. In fact, it was yesterday morning.

>>> You misspelled the name of a central fact: the location.

You spelled North Pointe Inn, when in fact it was North Point Inn.

I've been giving some latitude to misspellings, as long as those misspelling do not involve changing a quote or one of the five W's in a story. This one regarded where, a central fact.

>>> You incorrectly quoted your sources.

One person quoted Cortez as saying "but I locked it." In fact, she said "but I'd locked it."

Another person quoted Cortez as saying Blohm has "another in his had," when in fact she said "another on one hand."

And Cortez was also quoted as saying she heard someone say, "Get the money out of here," when in fact the person said "Get that money out of here."

Additionally, some of you almost fataled by firmly asserting there WERE two suspects. You don't know that for sure; you have reason to believe there MAY have been a second suspect, but your witness could only absolutely confirm one.

We say NOT to assume, right? Well, don't. You can say there was at least one suspect or that there may have been a second suspect, but to go beyond that -- that is, what you know for sure -- is to assume.

Maybe if I were in a worse mood I would have put those down as fatals. Please, folks, don't have your grade rest on whether I'm feeling generous or not. Instead, guarantee an acceptable grade by committing to the fundamentals of vetting your work.

Check EVERY spelling, EVERY line, EVERY date, EVERY statistic, EVERY quote and EVERY fact for accuracy once you finish writing your story, and before you turn in your report.

Please, folks. You're better than this.