Obits: Just A Few Things

Let's remember this lesson from the first few days of class: journalists do not use euphemisms -- words or terms used in place of more direct terms or words -- instead, we use direct language.

In the case of this assignment, that means we don't say someone passed away,which is a euphemism for dying. So we simply say they died.

Plus, we should have capitalized the names of the medals he earned: the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Why? Because those are the specific names of specific medals. And we capitalize specific names. Which is why a certain person is Terrence Austin and not terrence austin, and why a certain type of car is a Ford Mustang and not a ford mustang.

Also, one last AP style check: when we have multiple people with the same last name in a story, then we throw out the usual AP Style rule where in first identification we use first and last names, and from then on just the last name.

Instead, in these instances we use the first and last names throughout, for every person who shares the same last name. Including the deceased, in this case.

Now, you don't need to start using the full name after the first reference until you actually hit a second Austin in your story. But once you do, its firsts and lasts the rest of the way.

Also, you would know you should capitalize Marines if you looked in your AP Style Book under the heading of, Marines.

Finally, I wish I could say we had a fatal-free assignment, but we did not. In one case, in a quote we misspelled him" as "hi." Any inaccuracy in a quote is a fatal, and since the misspelling of "him" created a correctly-spelled but unintended "hi," this fatal wouldn't have been caught by spell check.

Similarly, in a second case inside of a quote we misspelled "caused" as "cause." Again, any change of a direct quote is simply not acceptable, no matter how small or seemingly innocuous.

If it's inside of quotation marks, then it's exactly what they said, and how they said it. No leeway, and no exceptions, and no close-enoughs.