Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Ledes: Watch Your Tenses!

Traditionally in writing for print, we tend to use the past tense: the man sued the city, the mayor introduced an ordinance, ect. That's because in print, events have already happened by the time the paper reaches its audience.

For broadcast and online breaking news, however, the present tense is acceptable: the man is suing the city, the mayor is introducing an ordinance, ect.

For the purposes of this class, I'd like all exercises to be done in the past tense, unless otherwise noted or circumstances warrant (such as a case where events are ongoing or have yet to have happened).

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