I felt like we kind of stopped making progress on this one. Instead of a range of sources, many stories just had voices from one side of an issue, but not the other. Many lacked neutral experts that would have helped readers decide which side was closer to the truth. Still some issues with a lack of attribution, allowing readers to know where we got the information. Too often we told readers something, but failed to show them quotes or data providing evidence for the point being made.
Plus, we had a fatal. In one story, we wrote MSU has almost 40,000 students. I think you may have gotten that stat from a student you quoted. Even though that was the person's quote, we should still double-check out facts to make sure what we were told was right.
And a quick check of MSU's Web site found that the school currently has almost 50,000 students. That's a fatal, then.
Let's think back to the first few days of class, when I shared with you this saying:
If your mother says she loves you, check it out.
What it meant was, if you are told something, then go find evidence to support what was told. In the case of your mom, it would be proof that she really loves you, such as documentation (holiday cards she got you every year, expressing her love of you) and interviews (relatives and friends who say she always talks about how much she loves you) and facts (she has never missed getting you a birthday gift, supporting the idea that she really loves you).
We really needed to do that here. Journalism isn't about writing; it's about getting it right.
Showing posts with label fatals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fatals. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Thursday, April 4, 2013
OOC #2: A Recap
Generally, we made good progress. Unfortunately, in one rewrite we had a fatal. And as we're reviewing every fatal this semester, let's take a look at this one:
In the rewrite, we referred to Carnegie Mellon as a writer. In fact, Carnegie Mellon is the name of a university.
And that's a fatal. Let's please be sure we understand what we are writing before we start writing. Plus, in this particular assignment the Carnegie Mellon reference came from a Web source, after I had asked us to replace the Web sources with human sources we could interview first-hand.
If we had spoken to people directly, it would have been much easier to determine that the name was not that of a person, but of a school. This is another reason to try to talk directly to as many sources as possible; so you can get clarity and ask questions on anything that we're unclear on.
Now, the good news was this: since the fatal was in the rewrite, I do NOT average the grade to come up with a final grade. Instead, your original grade becomes the final grade.
That's because I don't want to discourage you from doing rewrites. If you were at risk of having a fatal in the rewrite bring your grade down from your original grade, then that would be a disincentive from doing a rewrite.
Hopefully, this is the last fatal we have to review this term. Let's please try our best to make it that way.
In the rewrite, we referred to Carnegie Mellon as a writer. In fact, Carnegie Mellon is the name of a university.
And that's a fatal. Let's please be sure we understand what we are writing before we start writing. Plus, in this particular assignment the Carnegie Mellon reference came from a Web source, after I had asked us to replace the Web sources with human sources we could interview first-hand.
If we had spoken to people directly, it would have been much easier to determine that the name was not that of a person, but of a school. This is another reason to try to talk directly to as many sources as possible; so you can get clarity and ask questions on anything that we're unclear on.
Now, the good news was this: since the fatal was in the rewrite, I do NOT average the grade to come up with a final grade. Instead, your original grade becomes the final grade.
That's because I don't want to discourage you from doing rewrites. If you were at risk of having a fatal in the rewrite bring your grade down from your original grade, then that would be a disincentive from doing a rewrite.
Hopefully, this is the last fatal we have to review this term. Let's please try our best to make it that way.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
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.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Lawsuit: A Fatals Recap
In one of the lawsuit stories, we said the case was taking place in East Lansing court. In fact, it was taking place in Ingham County court.
In another lawsuit story, we spelled the last name of the attorney alternately as Piloto (correctly) and Poloto (incorrectly).
In a third lawsuit story, we said the high school's president was being sued. In fact, it was the high school's principal.
In a fourth lawsuit story, we said the suit asked for $500,00. We were missing a zero; the actual amount was $500,000.
The only lesson comes in the form of a reminder: we need to double-check EVERY name and EVERY title and EVERY figure and EVERY fact after we finish writing, to ensure what we wrote is actually correct.
In another lawsuit story, we spelled the last name of the attorney alternately as Piloto (correctly) and Poloto (incorrectly).
In a third lawsuit story, we said the high school's president was being sued. In fact, it was the high school's principal.
In a fourth lawsuit story, we said the suit asked for $500,00. We were missing a zero; the actual amount was $500,000.
The only lesson comes in the form of a reminder: we need to double-check EVERY name and EVERY title and EVERY figure and EVERY fact after we finish writing, to ensure what we wrote is actually correct.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Rescue: Take Time To Check Facts
We need to make sure that we're taking time BEFORE we start writing to make sure we understand all the facts correctly.
In one case, we wrote that the boy died when a pond collapsed. In fact, it was a tunnel in a hill near a pond that collapsed. That misinterpretation of facts is a fatal.
We also need to make sure that we're taking time AFTER we finish writing to make sure all the facts are correct as given.
In the same story, we named the city East Lansing and East Lasing, the latter with the "n" missing. One had to be wrong, as a city can't have two different names.
Also, in another well-written story, we wrote that the child who died was 6 years old. In fact, he was 11.
Please, let's make sure we're spending as much time studying the material BEFORE we start writing and reviewing our facts for accuracy AFTER we finish writing, as we are actually writing.
I've said it a bunch of times before, but I need to say it again: journalism isn't about writing; it's about getting it right.
In one case, we wrote that the boy died when a pond collapsed. In fact, it was a tunnel in a hill near a pond that collapsed. That misinterpretation of facts is a fatal.
We also need to make sure that we're taking time AFTER we finish writing to make sure all the facts are correct as given.
In the same story, we named the city East Lansing and East Lasing, the latter with the "n" missing. One had to be wrong, as a city can't have two different names.
Also, in another well-written story, we wrote that the child who died was 6 years old. In fact, he was 11.
Please, let's make sure we're spending as much time studying the material BEFORE we start writing and reviewing our facts for accuracy AFTER we finish writing, as we are actually writing.
I've said it a bunch of times before, but I need to say it again: journalism isn't about writing; it's about getting it right.
Police: Time To Fact-Check
I'm happy to say that the way we did the police exercise -- where you had designated time slots in which to go over the source material; then write; and then fact-check -- helped many people organize and then vet their information in an accurate manner.
I'm sorry to say it wasn't perfect in that regard.
One of us did fatal, when we said the attempted robbery took place this afternoon and at approximately 1:15 p.m. In fact, it was early this morning and around 1:15 a.m. In the same assignment, we spelled the entering customer's name as Alder, when it was actually Adler.
It is what it is, folks.
I'm sorry to say it wasn't perfect in that regard.
One of us did fatal, when we said the attempted robbery took place this afternoon and at approximately 1:15 p.m. In fact, it was early this morning and around 1:15 a.m. In the same assignment, we spelled the entering customer's name as Alder, when it was actually Adler.
It is what it is, folks.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
911: Learning From Mistakes
The reason we go through every single fatal of the semester is so that we can learn from our mistakes, and avoid them in the future.
One of today's lessons is, talent has nothing to do with fact-checking; that is, how good you are in terms of story-telling and interviewing and all that is no measure of whether you need to diligently fact-check. You always have to, no matter how good you get.
In one story, we did a great job of putting together a lede and structuring the story. But we spelled the first name of suspect Andrew Caspinwall as Andre, with the "w" missing. And that's a fatal.
In a second story, we said the attacker was rapping a woman. In fact, he was raping her,allegedly. And no, it's not a small misspelling.
That's because when a reader takes a look at a story, they have no idea what it is about. They only find out by reading what we write. So if we write that someone is rapping, that's what the reader will believe you intended to write. And they'll be confused.
Because rap is a real word. And it has many, many definitions: to hit sharply and swiftly; to strike; to utter sharply; to criticize of blame; a reprimand or censure; a legal sentence to serve in prison; a negative quality or characteristic associated with a person or object; to accept punishment for a crime, especially when innocent; to enchant or seize with rapture; to discuss freely and at length; musical style in which rhythmic and/or rhyming speech is chanted to musical accompaniment; to perform rap music.
You could have a dozen Pulitzer Prizes hanging from your wall and when you finish writing, you still need to go through every name, every title, every address, every number, and every fact in your story and double-check each against what you have in your interview notes.
It's like being in shape. You can be Mr. or Miss Universe, but if you skimp on working out you;ll end up a flabmeister. There are no corners to cut if we want to avoid fatals.
One of today's lessons is, talent has nothing to do with fact-checking; that is, how good you are in terms of story-telling and interviewing and all that is no measure of whether you need to diligently fact-check. You always have to, no matter how good you get.
In one story, we did a great job of putting together a lede and structuring the story. But we spelled the first name of suspect Andrew Caspinwall as Andre, with the "w" missing. And that's a fatal.
In a second story, we said the attacker was rapping a woman. In fact, he was raping her,allegedly. And no, it's not a small misspelling.
That's because when a reader takes a look at a story, they have no idea what it is about. They only find out by reading what we write. So if we write that someone is rapping, that's what the reader will believe you intended to write. And they'll be confused.
Because rap is a real word. And it has many, many definitions: to hit sharply and swiftly; to strike; to utter sharply; to criticize of blame; a reprimand or censure; a legal sentence to serve in prison; a negative quality or characteristic associated with a person or object; to accept punishment for a crime, especially when innocent; to enchant or seize with rapture; to discuss freely and at length; musical style in which rhythmic and/or rhyming speech is chanted to musical accompaniment; to perform rap music.
You could have a dozen Pulitzer Prizes hanging from your wall and when you finish writing, you still need to go through every name, every title, every address, every number, and every fact in your story and double-check each against what you have in your interview notes.
It's like being in shape. You can be Mr. or Miss Universe, but if you skimp on working out you;ll end up a flabmeister. There are no corners to cut if we want to avoid fatals.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Meeting: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
Two steps forward, one step back.
That's the typical progress of a JRN 200 class, and this one is no different. And that's okay, since in journalism we learn by doing, then reviewing, and then applying new lessons going forward.
Still, it's important that we learn from our past work how we can do better in the next work. Let's go over some patterns I saw that I feel can be improved upon:
The first thing is, I need to get the assignment right! As you know, I had two different assignments listed for one practice story. Because that's my fatal, you will receive credit for whichever assignment you actually did, and we'll look at examples from both assignments.
Other points to consider include:
Fact-checking includes checking for AP Style. I don't still have to remind you of that, do I?
That's the typical progress of a JRN 200 class, and this one is no different. And that's okay, since in journalism we learn by doing, then reviewing, and then applying new lessons going forward.
Still, it's important that we learn from our past work how we can do better in the next work. Let's go over some patterns I saw that I feel can be improved upon:
The first thing is, I need to get the assignment right! As you know, I had two different assignments listed for one practice story. Because that's my fatal, you will receive credit for whichever assignment you actually did, and we'll look at examples from both assignments.
Other points to consider include:
Translating technical terms.
Like, what is Planned Unit Development rezoning? Do you know? If not,
how would you expect readers to know? If you do know, is there an easier
way to describe what it means to rezone form agricultural to PUD? One
of you did do that, by simply noting the board "plans to rezone the land to allow for construction" of condos on traditional farmland?
Fact-checking includes checking for AP Style. I don't still have to remind you of that, do I?
So,
while on first reference you have a name and title (King Omar
Sofradzija) on second reference you drop the first name AND the title
(just, Sofradzija).
And punctuation still goes INSIDE the quote (like "this," and "this.") and NOT outside (it's wrong to do "this", or "this".)
Plus, percent is spelled out, and we never use the percentage symbol of %. So it's 10 percent, not 10%.
And we spell out "avenue" or "street" and the street direction if not accompanied by a specific street address. So if we're referring to a specific address, then it's 123 E. Sesame St., with abbreviations for "east" and "street." But if we're talking about the street without the adderss number, then it's just East Sesame Street, with no abbreviations.
Plus, percent is spelled out, and we never use the percentage symbol of %. So it's 10 percent, not 10%.
And we spell out "avenue" or "street" and the street direction if not accompanied by a specific street address. So if we're referring to a specific address, then it's 123 E. Sesame St., with abbreviations for "east" and "street." But if we're talking about the street without the adderss number, then it's just East Sesame Street, with no abbreviations.
Finally, don't freak out.
Oddly enough, looking at blog posts from the past few semesters after
this assignment, and those classes had the EXACT SAME PROBLEMS
with this assignment. Literally. I just had to cut-and-paste most
problem areas and update the exact examples with your work.
Meeting: Still Too Many Fatals
Like I've told you before, usually in the first half of the semester there's a spate of fatals, before it cools down in the semester's second half.
Well, we're at halftime. And we ended the half with too many fatals on this assignment.
I wish I could say we've been learninglessons, but we're still making the same sort of mistakes.
Like with the spellings of names. In the commission story, one of us wrote the sheriff's name as Gus DisCesare. In fact, the last name was DiCesare, without the first "s." When we finished writing, we needed to double-check how we wrote every name, to make sure it matched how the name was written in our information.
In another case, we spelled the sheriff's last name as both DiCesare and DeCesare. One has to be wrong, right? When we finished writing, we had to double-check each name as listed above and look for inconsistencies in how we spelled any single name.
A misspelled name played into another instance where we listed the SunCrest development as SuncCrest, with one too many c's. Again, this goes to checking not just people's names, but project names.
And Pittsburgh is spelled with an "h" at the end, not Pittsburg, as one of us did. So we can throw city names as something to check as well.
In the same story, we attributed a q1uote made by DiCesare to Carlos Rey, the spokesman for the condominium project. We need to go through our finished work to make sure that all attributions are correct, as compared to our information.
In yet another case, we said two life-saving girls performed CPA. CPA stands for certified public accountant. What you meant was CPR, or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, which is a life-saving technique. We need to check the names of technical terms to make sure they are correct and consistent with our information.
And last but not least, in one story we were very sloppy with numbers, saying commission members make $51,00 a year (we dropped a number; the correct total was $51,000) and that the propsed increase was to $56.500 -- the period replacing the comma literally makes it 56 dollars and 50 cents, instead of the correct $56,500. Not only do we need to double-check names and attribution when we are finished writing, we also need to check all figures.
I implore you to spend MORE time doing basic fact-checking. Really, for every minute you spend writing, you should be dedicating a minute to fact-checking.
So, if you have one hour in which to write a story, spend the first 15 minutes going through the information and making sure you understand all the facts. Then, spend 30 minutes writing. Then, spend the last 15 minutes going over what you wrote to make sure everything matches your information.
In the end, you'd spend 30 minutes writing and 30 minutes ensuring accuracy, a one-for-one ratio.
Now, how to spend the fact-checking time? Use any one of the three checklists I've provided this semester -- or,better yet, all three -- to get ideas on how to do that and what to watch for. You can connect to those checklists simply by clicking on the "fatals" label at the end of this blog.Doing so will take you to every fatal-related blog post we've done this semester, including ones containing the checklists.
Either way, it's critical we start turning the corner. The second half is about to begin.
Well, we're at halftime. And we ended the half with too many fatals on this assignment.
I wish I could say we've been learninglessons, but we're still making the same sort of mistakes.
Like with the spellings of names. In the commission story, one of us wrote the sheriff's name as Gus DisCesare. In fact, the last name was DiCesare, without the first "s." When we finished writing, we needed to double-check how we wrote every name, to make sure it matched how the name was written in our information.
In another case, we spelled the sheriff's last name as both DiCesare and DeCesare. One has to be wrong, right? When we finished writing, we had to double-check each name as listed above and look for inconsistencies in how we spelled any single name.
A misspelled name played into another instance where we listed the SunCrest development as SuncCrest, with one too many c's. Again, this goes to checking not just people's names, but project names.
And Pittsburgh is spelled with an "h" at the end, not Pittsburg, as one of us did. So we can throw city names as something to check as well.
In the same story, we attributed a q1uote made by DiCesare to Carlos Rey, the spokesman for the condominium project. We need to go through our finished work to make sure that all attributions are correct, as compared to our information.
In yet another case, we said two life-saving girls performed CPA. CPA stands for certified public accountant. What you meant was CPR, or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, which is a life-saving technique. We need to check the names of technical terms to make sure they are correct and consistent with our information.
And last but not least, in one story we were very sloppy with numbers, saying commission members make $51,00 a year (we dropped a number; the correct total was $51,000) and that the propsed increase was to $56.500 -- the period replacing the comma literally makes it 56 dollars and 50 cents, instead of the correct $56,500. Not only do we need to double-check names and attribution when we are finished writing, we also need to check all figures.
I implore you to spend MORE time doing basic fact-checking. Really, for every minute you spend writing, you should be dedicating a minute to fact-checking.
So, if you have one hour in which to write a story, spend the first 15 minutes going through the information and making sure you understand all the facts. Then, spend 30 minutes writing. Then, spend the last 15 minutes going over what you wrote to make sure everything matches your information.
In the end, you'd spend 30 minutes writing and 30 minutes ensuring accuracy, a one-for-one ratio.
Now, how to spend the fact-checking time? Use any one of the three checklists I've provided this semester -- or,better yet, all three -- to get ideas on how to do that and what to watch for. You can connect to those checklists simply by clicking on the "fatals" label at the end of this blog.Doing so will take you to every fatal-related blog post we've done this semester, including ones containing the checklists.
Either way, it's critical we start turning the corner. The second half is about to begin.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Speech: Great Job, But ...
One of you guys had a story that I though was rolling in awesome fashion. Great lede that hit the main point, a great nut graf that detailed the lede, a great telling quote, great subsections that offered a fact and then followed with a supporting quote, ect. Here's how it started:
Sometimes, the difference between consideration for a 4.0 and getting a 1.0 is just one word. Getting a fatal is like playing a game of all-time in a playoff loss; the only thing that matters is the final score, and not how you played. Not because you didn't play great, but because the point of playing was to win the game.
And in journalism, the point isn't simply to write a great story; it's to get it right.
Halloween is a very fun time of
year for many children across the country filled with costumes, candy, and
-- according to the surgeon general -- too much alcohol.
At yesterday evening’s PTA
convention in East Lansing, Surgeon General Tom Izzo spoke out against the
alcohol abuse problem in America, and the effect it has on children,
especially around Halloween.
“Alcohol is the number one substance abuse problem among America’s youth. In fact, it is the only drug whose use has not been declining, according to our most recent National High School Senior Survey,” said Izzo.
“Alcohol is the number one substance abuse problem among America’s youth. In fact, it is the only drug whose use has not been declining, according to our most recent National High School Senior Survey,” said Izzo.
Izzo said he believes alcohol industries
are now trying to use Halloween, a traditional holiday for children, as a new
marketing opportunity.
“They are saying: ‘It’s Halloween,
it’s time to celebrate, it’s time for a drink!’ Beer companies offer free
Halloween t-shirts, bat sunglasses, and glowing cups,” said Izzo.
Izzo said the problem goes far
beyond around commercials around Halloween and has a major impact on many young
lives.
“What I say is scary is the
possibility of increased carnage on our highways, the real specter of more
binge drinking by our young people, and the absolute reality of those smaller,
less dramatic cases of health and emotional problems caused by alcohol
consumption,” said Izzo.
But then we got to this subsection:
Izzo also said that binge drinking,
which is promoted by advertisers, encourages not only college students but
youths all the way down to the eighth grade.
“Some of these Halloween ads encourage the purchase of 12- or 24-packs of beer, and who will drink all that beer? Forty-three percent of college students, 35 percent of our high school seniors and 26 percent of eighth-grade students have had five or more drinks in a row during the past two weeks. And beer and wind coolers are their favorite alcoholic beverages,” said Izzo.
“Some of these Halloween ads encourage the purchase of 12- or 24-packs of beer, and who will drink all that beer? Forty-three percent of college students, 35 percent of our high school seniors and 26 percent of eighth-grade students have had five or more drinks in a row during the past two weeks. And beer and wind coolers are their favorite alcoholic beverages,” said Izzo.
Yes, wind coolers, when we meant to say wine coolers.
And in journalism, the point isn't simply to write a great story; it's to get it right.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Sleep: Overall,Great! (But Some Fatals, Too)
I'm very, very happy to say the "sleep" assignment may have been the best overall assignment of the year for this class. Lotsa grades in the 3.0 range -- half the class scored a 3.5 or above! -- lotsa strong ledes, lotsa on-point nut grafs, good use of quotes, all that.
Still some issues, though. First, two people did not turn in the assignment. The worst thing we can do in journalism -- even worse than getting a fatal -- is to blow off an assignment. A newspaper can't go to print with blank spots in the pages, and a 30-minute newscast can't to to air without content that fills up all 30 minutes. That means in the media business, you can never miss a deadline.
And yes, assignments that are not done will have a much more severe impact on your final grade than fatals will, and if I have to use a tie-breaker in determining your final grade, the first categories I will be unexcused absences and tardies and whether you blew off any assignments, since those things tell me how seriously you are taking this class.
The more you tell me you are unreliable as a journalist by skipping assignments and not showing up without a valid excuse, the more I will recognize that in your final grade. I can work with you if you give me an assignment that's not up to snuff -- and so can an editor in a real-world setting -- but I can't work with nothing, and I can't work with you if you're not here. Neither can your future bosses.
Second, let's make sure we're using proper attribution. In most stories, after the lede and nut graf each paragraph should have some sort of attribution. And in a single-source story like this one, it wouldn't hurt for every graf, period, to have attribution.
Third, let's make sure in attribution, we're just using said. You don't have to say so-and-so explained or so-and-so remarked or so-and-so says or whatever. Just say so-and-so said, every time.
Fourth, remember that if you are adding attribution after a quote, the quote ends with a comma, then he closed quote mark, then said in lower case, like this: "You guys are awesome," said Omar Sofradzija.
Fifth, there is no need to start or end a sentence with ellipses, since what is actually being quoted by you is uninterrupted.
What I mean is, if you're using this quote ...
"And so I think I am going to kill Mickey Mouse and I want him to die."
... and I just want to use the part that says, "I think I am going to kill Mickey Mouse," then my quote does NOT need any ellipses, and will look like this ...
"I think I am going to kill Mickey Mouse."
... and NOT this ...
"... I think I am going to kill Mickey Mouse ..."
... or this ...
"I think I am going to kill Mickey Mouse ..."
... or even this ...
"... I think I am going to kill Mickey Mouse."
Why no ellipses? Because the quote fragment you use is uninterrupted and in context. We use ellipses when we take something out of the middle of a quote we're using. Not the beginning or end.
Sixth, let's remember that in a first reference we use both a first and last name,but in subsequent references we use just the last name.That means the first time you refer to Diana Gant as just that, but from then on it's just Gant.
Seventh, let's remember to avoid using first-person references outside of quotes, like we or us or me. Using first-person references go against the idea that journalists are neutral observers. If we are just observing and outside of the news story, then there can't be a we or us or I.
Instead, use more specific descriptors. For example, if Gant is talking about how people can sleep better, say just that: people, not we.
Moving on; unfortunately, we also had some fatals.
In two cases, we spelled the last name of the professor, Diana Gant, as Grant, with an "r" in there.
This is an instance where it's possible spell check actually inserted an error into our work. How?
Well, gant is not a word in the dictionary. So if we ran spell check, it probably would have told you to change it to grant, which is a word. If we weren't really paying attention in running spell check and we simply agreed with all recommended changes, then this sort of thing could have resulted.
I know I've said it a million times, but here I go again: spell check is a supplement to -- but never a substitute for -- checking a story fact by fact, name by name and line by line.
There's no short-cuts to this, folks.
Still some issues, though. First, two people did not turn in the assignment. The worst thing we can do in journalism -- even worse than getting a fatal -- is to blow off an assignment. A newspaper can't go to print with blank spots in the pages, and a 30-minute newscast can't to to air without content that fills up all 30 minutes. That means in the media business, you can never miss a deadline.
And yes, assignments that are not done will have a much more severe impact on your final grade than fatals will, and if I have to use a tie-breaker in determining your final grade, the first categories I will be unexcused absences and tardies and whether you blew off any assignments, since those things tell me how seriously you are taking this class.
The more you tell me you are unreliable as a journalist by skipping assignments and not showing up without a valid excuse, the more I will recognize that in your final grade. I can work with you if you give me an assignment that's not up to snuff -- and so can an editor in a real-world setting -- but I can't work with nothing, and I can't work with you if you're not here. Neither can your future bosses.
Second, let's make sure we're using proper attribution. In most stories, after the lede and nut graf each paragraph should have some sort of attribution. And in a single-source story like this one, it wouldn't hurt for every graf, period, to have attribution.
Third, let's make sure in attribution, we're just using said. You don't have to say so-and-so explained or so-and-so remarked or so-and-so says or whatever. Just say so-and-so said, every time.
Fourth, remember that if you are adding attribution after a quote, the quote ends with a comma, then he closed quote mark, then said in lower case, like this: "You guys are awesome," said Omar Sofradzija.
Fifth, there is no need to start or end a sentence with ellipses, since what is actually being quoted by you is uninterrupted.
What I mean is, if you're using this quote ...
"And so I think I am going to kill Mickey Mouse and I want him to die."
... and I just want to use the part that says, "I think I am going to kill Mickey Mouse," then my quote does NOT need any ellipses, and will look like this ...
"I think I am going to kill Mickey Mouse."
... and NOT this ...
"... I think I am going to kill Mickey Mouse ..."
... or this ...
"I think I am going to kill Mickey Mouse ..."
... or even this ...
"... I think I am going to kill Mickey Mouse."
Why no ellipses? Because the quote fragment you use is uninterrupted and in context. We use ellipses when we take something out of the middle of a quote we're using. Not the beginning or end.
Sixth, let's remember that in a first reference we use both a first and last name,but in subsequent references we use just the last name.That means the first time you refer to Diana Gant as just that, but from then on it's just Gant.
Seventh, let's remember to avoid using first-person references outside of quotes, like we or us or me. Using first-person references go against the idea that journalists are neutral observers. If we are just observing and outside of the news story, then there can't be a we or us or I.
Instead, use more specific descriptors. For example, if Gant is talking about how people can sleep better, say just that: people, not we.
Moving on; unfortunately, we also had some fatals.
In two cases, we spelled the last name of the professor, Diana Gant, as Grant, with an "r" in there.
This is an instance where it's possible spell check actually inserted an error into our work. How?
Well, gant is not a word in the dictionary. So if we ran spell check, it probably would have told you to change it to grant, which is a word. If we weren't really paying attention in running spell check and we simply agreed with all recommended changes, then this sort of thing could have resulted.
I know I've said it a million times, but here I go again: spell check is a supplement to -- but never a substitute for -- checking a story fact by fact, name by name and line by line.
There's no short-cuts to this, folks.
Out-of-Class #1: More Accuracy Advice
Get Your Eagle Eye On: 10 Tips for Proofreading Your Own Work
A guest post by Leah McClellan of Peaceful Planet
The best blog post I read this morning—of many—is good. Very good,
actually. It flows. It’s fresh. It has a rhythm that drew me in and made
me want to read every word. The ideas are thought-provoking.But how much more enjoyable would it have been if I didn’t have to reread certain sections to make sure I was getting the gist of things? How much better would the post be if I didn’t hesitate at it’s instead of its and there instead of they’re? How much intended meaning and power was lost over a lack of subject-verb agreement or commas that might have been better placed?
Tripping, stumbling, and hesitating over misspelled words or ill-placed punctuation is like watching a TV show with a shaky cable signal or trying to talk while a cell phone connection is breaking up—the reader is jostled right out of the story the writer is telling.
If the errors are too big or too many, I’m outta there.
This writer intentionally broke a lot of rules in his 1100-word article, and he broke them well. Sentence fragments clustered together as ideas to ponder, a long list of items without commas that symbolizes repetitive drivel, the same word repeated over and over in a few short sentences to pound in a point. Good stuff and well done, for the most part.Some grammar and punctuation rules can—and should—be broken, when you know what the rules are and how to break them effectively. But the lack of solid proofreading in this piece is like cake without icing, pottery without glaze, or a fine piece of wood in need of a polish. The writer didn’t step back and get his Eagle Eye on.
“Come on,” you chortle. “It’s hard to proofread your own work. And who notices anyway?”
Believe it or not, lots of people notice unless they’re just scanning. And it’s quite possible that many of those scanners might linger on every word you write if typos and bloopers and unintentionally-broken punctuation or grammar rules weren’t making them stumble and wonder and lose their focus.
Typos and errors break up the “voice” that readers are trying to hear as they read your written words.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re a freelancer, a blogger, a student, or anyone who writes for any reason. Most of us don’t have proofreaders or a skilled family member or friend to help us out on a regular basis. And if you’re submitting work to an agent or publisher or a big blog for consideration, why let typos and mistakes clutter and cloud the brilliant work you want them to read?Any time you write something, you want readers to enjoy and appreciate your masterpiece. It’s your baby, an extension of yourself. Take good care of it.
So says Rushang Shah, President of Gramlee.com, an online editing service with editors behind the scenes constantly proofreading and copyediting. Rushang says that “all proofreading and copyediting involves the human element, and that’s why computers cannot replace a proofreader.”Writing and editing is art. Proofreading is science.
Proofreading your own work can be challenging, it’s true. You already know the story, you already have a picture in your mind of what to expect and, as a result, you tend to skim over words and groups of words. Plus, you know your own voice and, even if there are errors in your writing, you don’t “hear” them or see them because you’re in a hurry, and your mind fills in the blanks as you skim over things. You might be daydreaming—even if you’re reading out loud.
If you have a system, though, proofreading can be like doing a quality check on an assembly line. It’s just busy work, really, and not very creative at all. But it’s so important.
Here are some tips to help you get your Eagle Eye on and proofread your own work like a pro.
1. Don’t proofread until you’re completely finished with the actual writing and editing. If you make major changes while proofreading, even if it’s just within sentences, you’re still in an artistic, creative mode, not a science mode.2. Make sure you have no distractions or potential interruptions. Shut down email and social media, hide the cell phone, shut off the TV, radio, or music, and close the door. Print your document if you need to get away from the computer altogether.
3. Forget the content or story. Analyze sentence by sentence; don’t read in your usual way. Focus on spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Work backwards, if that helps, or say the words and sentences out loud. Concentrate.
4. Make several passes for different types of errors. Try checking spelling and end punctuation on one pass, grammar and internal punctuation on another, and links or format on yet another pass. Develop a system.
5. Take notes. If you notice a format issue while checking spelling or if you need to look something up, make a quick note and come back to it so you don’t lose your focus.
6. If you do make a last-minute change to a few words, be sure to check the entire sentence or even paragraph over again. Many errors are the result of changes made without adjusting other, related words.
7. Check facts, dates, quotes, tables, references, text boxes, and anything repetitive or outside of the main text separately. Focus on one element or several related aspects of your writing at a time.
8. Monitor yourself. If you find yourself drifting off and thinking about something else, go back over that section again. Try slapping your hand or tapping a foot in a rhythm as you examine each word and sentence out loud.
9. Get familiar with your frequent mistakes. Even the most expreienced writer mixes up their, they’re, and there or too, two, and to. When I’m tried or writing fast, I right what I here in my mind and just get careless. Not a big deal. That’s what proofreading is for. You caught those errors, didn’t you?
10. Check format last. Every document has format, even an email, whether it’s paragraph spacing, text wrap, indentations, spaces above and below a bullet list or between subheadings and text, and so on. Leave this for the end because contents may shift during handling.
You already know better than to rely on spell-check, so I won’t belabor the point except to say that “wear form he untied stats” doesn’t bother spell-check but it might get an American in trouble at a customs checkpoint.
What if you don’t quite know what you’re looking for while proofreading?
Do you know basic comma rules, how to use a semi-colon, or when to use who or whom? You might have an excellent sense of what things should look like or sound like, especially if you’re an avid reader, but if you don’t know basic grammar and punctuation rules, proofreading might be guesswork, at best, with doubtful results, at worst. Why not make your life easier and your writing better? Take some time to learn basic rules from some online resources I consult when I need help:Grammar Girl: Quick and Dirty Tips
Purdue Online Writing Lab: General Writing Resources
Oxford Dictionaries: Better Writing
GrammarBook.com
You can also download a free copy of The Handy-Dandy Everybody’s Guide to Proofreading over at my blog, Peaceful Planet.
Don’t let mistakes tarnish your work of art, whether it’s a research paper, a blog post, a query letter, or business communication. And remember, proofreading is not the same as writing and editing. It’s not about creativity; it’s a science that needs a system. Follow these tips and create your own system, and you’ll have your Eagle Eye on in no time.
Leah McClellan is a freelance writer, copyeditor, proofreader, gardener, vegetarian, and animal lover who dreams of world peace and writes about communication at Peaceful Planet.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Missing: Fatalspalooza 2013
Every semester, we have a practice story of two where it seems like the whole class goes off the fatal rail and plunges straight into It Sucks To Be Us Canyon. I'm sorry to say that the "missing" exercise was one of those for this class. Out of 16 people, we had 11 fatals.
Gulp. That's a lot for just one exercise, even for JRN 200.
Sadly but typically, many of the fataled exercised were well-written and organized, and many would have scored very well if not for the fatals.
But in journalism, it's not about writing; it's about getting it right. I'm afraid it's a lesson many of us are being reminded of the hard way today.
In one case, we offered this quote:
"I met this guy who was moving to New York. He didn't want to take me, but I got him to change his mind," said Sabrina.
Problem is, this is what the quote actually was (italics mine):
"I met this guy who was moving to New York. He didn't want to take me, said I was too young, but I, uh, got him to change his mind," said Sabrina.
Yep, that's a fatal. We can use quote fragments but we can't change a quote or leave things out without letting readers know that.
There are several things we could have done. One is to use ellipses ... to let readers know a part of the quote is being skipped, and used words within parentheses ( ) to indicate words being added to replace similar words that are grammatically incompatible, like this:
"I met this guy who was moving to New York. He didn't want to take me ... (but she) got him to change his mind," said Sabrina.
Or, we simply could have used quote fragments, like this:
"I met this guy who was moving to New York. He didn't want to take me," but she "got him to change his mind," said Sabrina.
In a second case, we did something similar. We wrote this:
"I hated my stepfather. He got drunk and hit my mom and expected us to wait on him like we were his slaves," she said.
In fact, this was the quote (italics mine):
"I hated my stepfather. He's a jerk. He got drunk and hit my mom and expected us to wait on him like we were his slaves," she said.
Again, if we didn't want to use the deleted section, all we needed to do was replace it with ellipses, like this:
"I hated my stepfather ... He got drunk and hit my mom and expected us to wait on him like we were his slaves," she said.
In third and fourth and fifth cases, we mixed up the stories of Sabrina Diaz and Jason Abare as being related, assuming Jason was Sabrina's step-dad. In fact, the two cases were totally separate, even though they were mushed in together in the info you were given.
This one surprised the hell out of me. I've done this exact exercise in every JRN 200 class I've taught over the past five years, and I've never seen this type of mistake made before in this exercise, using the exact same information.
The proximity of information is not necessarily indicative of whether they are related to each other, Please make sure that before we write that we've gone over the information enough to fully understand it accurately.
In this case, there was one clear giveaway that the two cases were unrelated; Diaz now lives at 1987 Holcrofte Ave. with her mom. But Abare's wife, Anne, currently lives at 855 Tichnor Way.
Pre-understanding facts would have helped in a sixth case, too. In it, we said that 57.152 people went missing last year from East Lansing, Michigan. The information we were given was that 57,152 people went missing in your state, which in this case was Michigan. That is a misinterpretation of facts and is a fatal.
We had a second opportunity to catch this, too: a thorough fact-by-fact review of what we wrote, checked against what we had in the textbook, could have revealed the error and given us a chance to fix this. Please, let's make sure we're giving ourselves plenty of time to check our facts after we're done writing.
The same factors would have prevented a seventh case, when we wrote that 57,152 people were reported missing across the United States. In fact, that total was for Michigan alone. The national total, which we were provided, was 450,700. In the same story, we listed Sgt. Manuel Cortez as being with the Lansing Police Department. In fact, it was East Lansing.
And we did the same in an eighth case, erroneously associating Cortez with Lansing police when in fact he worked for East Lansing police.
In a ninth case, we listed Cortez as being with the Roseville Police Department. Where did that come from? We were told that the mentioned department was that of East Lansing. There was absolutely nothing given to us indicating Roseville anything. Let's please make sure we stick to the facts we have gathered, and not add assumed information.
In a tenth case, we identified Alan Christopher as a prof at Lansing Community College. For this exercise, the prof was from Michigan State University. We used incorrect information, either because we took down the wrong info or we failed to double-check our work against our notes when finished.
In an eleventh case, we quoted Sabrina as saying "I hate my stepfather." In fact, she said she "hated" (with a "d") the man.
And that's a fatal, too.
The first thing to note here is basic word-by-word double-checking of quotes for accuracy. Second, this is a reminder that spell check is a supplement to -- but not a substitute for -- that sort of detailed eye-balling of a story, since spell check wouldn't have caught the misspelling.
Why? Because "hate" was spelled right. The problem was, the intended word was "hated."
Is all this nit-picky? Some more than others. But that's journalism. Giving people accurate information that has been carefully vetted is what we do. Early in the semester, I called journalism a "discipline of verification." This is what I meant.
Learning to write isn't journalism. Learning to organize information isn't all of journalism. Putting in a system of checking facts before, during and after writing and organizing information is what makes this kind of writing and organizing known as journalism.
The good news is, up to now this class was doing much better than previous classes in avoiding fatals.
The bad news is, I think we've caught up to those previous classes now.
Still, while this is discouraging, let's not get discouraged. The whole point of these exercises -- and getting fatals, too -- is to learn by doing, reviewing what was done, learning what could be done better, and then applying those lessons the next time.
And that's what we're going to do here, by redoubling our efforts to carefully fact-check everything we write.
Gulp. That's a lot for just one exercise, even for JRN 200.
Sadly but typically, many of the fataled exercised were well-written and organized, and many would have scored very well if not for the fatals.
But in journalism, it's not about writing; it's about getting it right. I'm afraid it's a lesson many of us are being reminded of the hard way today.
In one case, we offered this quote:
"I met this guy who was moving to New York. He didn't want to take me, but I got him to change his mind," said Sabrina.
Problem is, this is what the quote actually was (italics mine):
"I met this guy who was moving to New York. He didn't want to take me, said I was too young, but I, uh, got him to change his mind," said Sabrina.
Yep, that's a fatal. We can use quote fragments but we can't change a quote or leave things out without letting readers know that.
There are several things we could have done. One is to use ellipses ... to let readers know a part of the quote is being skipped, and used words within parentheses ( ) to indicate words being added to replace similar words that are grammatically incompatible, like this:
"I met this guy who was moving to New York. He didn't want to take me ... (but she) got him to change his mind," said Sabrina.
Or, we simply could have used quote fragments, like this:
"I met this guy who was moving to New York. He didn't want to take me," but she "got him to change his mind," said Sabrina.
In a second case, we did something similar. We wrote this:
"I hated my stepfather. He got drunk and hit my mom and expected us to wait on him like we were his slaves," she said.
In fact, this was the quote (italics mine):
"I hated my stepfather. He's a jerk. He got drunk and hit my mom and expected us to wait on him like we were his slaves," she said.
Again, if we didn't want to use the deleted section, all we needed to do was replace it with ellipses, like this:
"I hated my stepfather ... He got drunk and hit my mom and expected us to wait on him like we were his slaves," she said.
In third and fourth and fifth cases, we mixed up the stories of Sabrina Diaz and Jason Abare as being related, assuming Jason was Sabrina's step-dad. In fact, the two cases were totally separate, even though they were mushed in together in the info you were given.
This one surprised the hell out of me. I've done this exact exercise in every JRN 200 class I've taught over the past five years, and I've never seen this type of mistake made before in this exercise, using the exact same information.
The proximity of information is not necessarily indicative of whether they are related to each other, Please make sure that before we write that we've gone over the information enough to fully understand it accurately.
In this case, there was one clear giveaway that the two cases were unrelated; Diaz now lives at 1987 Holcrofte Ave. with her mom. But Abare's wife, Anne, currently lives at 855 Tichnor Way.
Pre-understanding facts would have helped in a sixth case, too. In it, we said that 57.152 people went missing last year from East Lansing, Michigan. The information we were given was that 57,152 people went missing in your state, which in this case was Michigan. That is a misinterpretation of facts and is a fatal.
We had a second opportunity to catch this, too: a thorough fact-by-fact review of what we wrote, checked against what we had in the textbook, could have revealed the error and given us a chance to fix this. Please, let's make sure we're giving ourselves plenty of time to check our facts after we're done writing.
The same factors would have prevented a seventh case, when we wrote that 57,152 people were reported missing across the United States. In fact, that total was for Michigan alone. The national total, which we were provided, was 450,700. In the same story, we listed Sgt. Manuel Cortez as being with the Lansing Police Department. In fact, it was East Lansing.
And we did the same in an eighth case, erroneously associating Cortez with Lansing police when in fact he worked for East Lansing police.
In a ninth case, we listed Cortez as being with the Roseville Police Department. Where did that come from? We were told that the mentioned department was that of East Lansing. There was absolutely nothing given to us indicating Roseville anything. Let's please make sure we stick to the facts we have gathered, and not add assumed information.
In a tenth case, we identified Alan Christopher as a prof at Lansing Community College. For this exercise, the prof was from Michigan State University. We used incorrect information, either because we took down the wrong info or we failed to double-check our work against our notes when finished.
In an eleventh case, we quoted Sabrina as saying "I hate my stepfather." In fact, she said she "hated" (with a "d") the man.
And that's a fatal, too.
The first thing to note here is basic word-by-word double-checking of quotes for accuracy. Second, this is a reminder that spell check is a supplement to -- but not a substitute for -- that sort of detailed eye-balling of a story, since spell check wouldn't have caught the misspelling.
Why? Because "hate" was spelled right. The problem was, the intended word was "hated."
Is all this nit-picky? Some more than others. But that's journalism. Giving people accurate information that has been carefully vetted is what we do. Early in the semester, I called journalism a "discipline of verification." This is what I meant.
Learning to write isn't journalism. Learning to organize information isn't all of journalism. Putting in a system of checking facts before, during and after writing and organizing information is what makes this kind of writing and organizing known as journalism.
The good news is, up to now this class was doing much better than previous classes in avoiding fatals.
The bad news is, I think we've caught up to those previous classes now.
Still, while this is discouraging, let's not get discouraged. The whole point of these exercises -- and getting fatals, too -- is to learn by doing, reviewing what was done, learning what could be done better, and then applying those lessons the next time.
And that's what we're going to do here, by redoubling our efforts to carefully fact-check everything we write.
Missing: Accuracy Checklist
For those of you suffering a fatals streak, please sloooow down. Start devoting a larger share of writing time to fact-checking. I'd rather have you right short than wrong. And start using the accuracy checklist I passed out during the first few weeks of class. If you can't find it, here's the content:
One note: I know in this class we can't print things out. But we can use a sheet of paper to write out every fact, name, title and so on as we go through a digital copy of the story.
And for out-of-class stories, I would expect these checklists to be followed to the smallest detail.
ACCURACY CHECKLIST
FOR JOURNALISTS
Created by the
Reynolds School for Business Journalism
Distributed by the
Poynter Institute for Journalism
Instructions
After completing your story, use the down arrow on your keyboard to highlight and then complete each of these checks.
I. Facts
Check these first three items while your story is on the screen:
1. Run spell-check, review suggestions and correct any actual errors.
2. Click hyperlinks.
3. Call phone numbers.
Use a printout of the story for the remaining checks:
4. Put a ruler under each line as you read the text. Underline every fact, and then double-check each one, including:
a) Names and titles of people, places and companies - Also, does each second reference (Jones) have a first reference (Mary Jones)?
b) Numbers and calculations - Do the numbers add up? Is it millions or billions? Are the percentages correct?
c) Dates and ages - Watch references to “next month/last month” when the month is changing.
d) Quotes - Are quotes accurate and properly attributed? Have you fully captured what each person meant?
e) Superlatives - What’s your source that something is the biggest, oldest, etc.?
II. Grammar
5. Check each sentence for correct use of:
a) Subject-verb agreement - Also, are you consistent in your use of either the present or the past tense to tell the story?
b) Pronoun-noun agreement.
c) Plurals and possessives.
d) Punctuation.
III. Spelling
6. Read the story backwards, checking the spelling of each word. Use a dictionary.
IV. Fairness and context
7. Terms - Define or eliminate unfamiliar terms, such as acronyms and jargon.
8. Fairness - Have all stakeholders been contacted and given a chance to talk?
9. Missing - Does the story leave any important question unanswered?
10. Context - Does the reader have the context to understand the story?
V. Your own common errors (for example, if you have a habit of getting dates wrong, misspelling names, ect.)
11. ____________________________________________
12.____________________________________________
VI. Final checks
13. Read the story aloud.
14. Have someone else read it.
15. Accompanying elements - Run the previous checks on the story's headlines, captions, sidebars, photos, graphics, videos, interactive media and podcasts. Check for inconsistencies.
Missing: Ways To Solve Inaccuracy
This is a modified version of an editor's checklist on how to help
reporters solve inaccuracy problems. I think there are some tips worth
following. Let's take a look:
Problem: Not detail-oriented. Plan to ask at least five extra questions not covered in your assignment that go into greater detail; keep asking clarifying questions.
Problem: Making assumptions. Reports should back up statements in story with evidence; reporters should take their time and not rush during interviews; reporters should self-edit religiously and ask themselves if they can back up what they are writing; reporters should ask sources follow-up questions; reporters should ask the obvious questions to make sure they're not assuming; reporters should ask, "How do you know that? and "how do I know that?" of themselves and sources.
Problem: Interviewing confusion. Reporters shouldn't be shy about asking sources to slow down or repeat something; reporters ask "can you elaborate?" or say, "I don't understand"; reporters can repeat the information back to the source in their own words and give the source the opportunity to correct them; reporters can go back over direct quotes with the source; reporters can make a recording of events or interviews that can be checked.
Problem: Relying on out-of-date information. Never type something before you've checked it; always ask sources for an updated title; do research ahead of time; check Web sites for the last time they were updated and if it's been more than one year, then the information might be old; check the date on press releases.
Problem: Time constraints. Plan ahead for a long day -- start doing research the night before or get up early to get all your reporting done on time; overestimate the time everything will take; start writing what you know while waiting for that last callback, it might also help you find out earlier what you don't know; don't multitask during the editing process; keep fact-checking.
Problem: Exaggerating/using more powerful words than your reporting shows. Use precise language; use self-discipline and resist the urge to overwrite or overstate the facts; always attribute it. If you can't attribute some part of your story, then perhaps your words are wrong; reporters should use balanced reporting and make sure that it's reflected in the writing of the story; reporters should put the facts in the proper context.
Problem: Relying on unreliable sources. Reporters can ask sources for another source or documents to back up what they tell you; reporters should vet sources' credibility during interviews. Does what they're saying make sense? Always ask, "How do you know that?"
Problem: Not detail-oriented. Plan to ask at least five extra questions not covered in your assignment that go into greater detail; keep asking clarifying questions.
Problem: Making assumptions. Reports should back up statements in story with evidence; reporters should take their time and not rush during interviews; reporters should self-edit religiously and ask themselves if they can back up what they are writing; reporters should ask sources follow-up questions; reporters should ask the obvious questions to make sure they're not assuming; reporters should ask, "How do you know that? and "how do I know that?" of themselves and sources.
Problem: Interviewing confusion. Reporters shouldn't be shy about asking sources to slow down or repeat something; reporters ask "can you elaborate?" or say, "I don't understand"; reporters can repeat the information back to the source in their own words and give the source the opportunity to correct them; reporters can go back over direct quotes with the source; reporters can make a recording of events or interviews that can be checked.
Problem: Relying on out-of-date information. Never type something before you've checked it; always ask sources for an updated title; do research ahead of time; check Web sites for the last time they were updated and if it's been more than one year, then the information might be old; check the date on press releases.
Problem: Time constraints. Plan ahead for a long day -- start doing research the night before or get up early to get all your reporting done on time; overestimate the time everything will take; start writing what you know while waiting for that last callback, it might also help you find out earlier what you don't know; don't multitask during the editing process; keep fact-checking.
Problem: Exaggerating/using more powerful words than your reporting shows. Use precise language; use self-discipline and resist the urge to overwrite or overstate the facts; always attribute it. If you can't attribute some part of your story, then perhaps your words are wrong; reporters should use balanced reporting and make sure that it's reflected in the writing of the story; reporters should put the facts in the proper context.
Problem: Relying on unreliable sources. Reporters can ask sources for another source or documents to back up what they tell you; reporters should vet sources' credibility during interviews. Does what they're saying make sense? Always ask, "How do you know that?"
Squirrels: Fatals Are Squirrely
Most people did very well on the squirrels assignment, with many scored well into the three-point range. But we did have one fatal.
In one case, we spelled the last name of the professor as both Brookes and Brooke, missing the s at the end. A thorough line-by-line review of your work would have revealed that you spelled one last name two different ways, and that one had to be wrong.
It's particularly of concern to me that this mistake was made in this assignment, since the Brookes name as the point of a consistency exercise within this assignment.
In one case, we spelled the last name of the professor as both Brookes and Brooke, missing the s at the end. A thorough line-by-line review of your work would have revealed that you spelled one last name two different ways, and that one had to be wrong.
It's particularly of concern to me that this mistake was made in this assignment, since the Brookes name as the point of a consistency exercise within this assignment.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Robbery: Probs, Strugs, Fatals
Usually, every semester there are one or two practice stories where
it seems like half the class goes off the rail, and goofs are as
common as puke on the sidewalk the morning after St. Patrick's Day.
Lotsa struggles on this assignment. Unlike the last few assignments were most people scored 3.0 or above, on the robbery one many people scored 3.0 or below.
What were the problems?
Ledes that were unfocused or failed to go enough toward ultimate outcome and end result.
Nut grafs that were entirely missing, leaving out a critical bridge between the lede and the body of the story, and leaving premises suggested in ledes that are unexplained until well into the story.
A lack of attribution in paragraphs, leaving unclear where we got the information.
And yes, we had a few fatals. Let's look first at the fatals and why they happened, and try to learn from 'em so we don't repeat such mistakes in the future:
We missed our deadline. Three people never turned in the assignment by the deadline. And that's a 0.0.
A time fatal is the worst kind of fatal we can get in this class, because everything we do in here translates to a 1,000-point scale to which your grade is converted to a smaller subset of points that add up toward that. So when we get a 4.0 you get 100 percent of points, a 3.9 gets us 99 points, a 3.8 gets 98, and so forth.
And under that scale, a fact fatal that gets us a 1.0 still gets us 70 points. If we screw up an assignment so bad that we get a 0.1, that's still 61 points.
But a 0.0 is zero points. At a 0.1, we're closer to a 4.0 than a 0.0.
Again, that's to emphasize that missing your deadline is simply not an option in the media biz. We always need to hit our deadlines. Every single time.
Beyond that, none of us can afford to miss a single assignment because we need the practice! You're already working on your first out-of-class story, and the best way to make sure you're writing it in a proper journalistic manner is to have opportunities with these practice stories to try our best, review our work, keep applying good habits and learn how to fix our bad ones.
We can't do that if we don't do that.
We spelled a name two different ways. In one robbery story, the last name of the clerk was alternately spelled Wiess and Weiss.
Obviously, one had to be wrong. A thorough check of your story copy would have uncovered the inconsistency. Let's make sure that after we're done writing, we give ourselves a good chunk of time to go over the story and check each fact for accuracy.
We trusted spell check too much. In one quote, we said, "He ran right through the class." What we meant to say was, "He ran right through the glass."
And that's a fatal typo that spell check wouldn't have caught, because the incorrect spelling of glass created the correct spelling of an unintended and inaccurate word, in this case, class.
Please, remember that spell check is a supplement to -- but not a substitute for -- reading your story line-by-line and making sure you're saying what you intend to say.
Journalism isn't about writing; it's about getting it right, right?
For those keeping score, 11 of the 16 students in this class now have at least one fact fatal. If you include missed deadlines, there's only one person who has avoided totally tanking any one assignment.
Now, is that awful? No. Typically in this class we get a ton of fatals in the first half of the semester, before good habits start to kick in and fatals become much more rare in the second half. And this class sofar has fewer fatals overall than I would expect at this point from previous classes.
Still, we need to keep working to get better at this.It'll be awful if we failed to learn from fatals.
Lotsa struggles on this assignment. Unlike the last few assignments were most people scored 3.0 or above, on the robbery one many people scored 3.0 or below.
What were the problems?
Ledes that were unfocused or failed to go enough toward ultimate outcome and end result.
Nut grafs that were entirely missing, leaving out a critical bridge between the lede and the body of the story, and leaving premises suggested in ledes that are unexplained until well into the story.
A lack of attribution in paragraphs, leaving unclear where we got the information.
And yes, we had a few fatals. Let's look first at the fatals and why they happened, and try to learn from 'em so we don't repeat such mistakes in the future:
We missed our deadline. Three people never turned in the assignment by the deadline. And that's a 0.0.
A time fatal is the worst kind of fatal we can get in this class, because everything we do in here translates to a 1,000-point scale to which your grade is converted to a smaller subset of points that add up toward that. So when we get a 4.0 you get 100 percent of points, a 3.9 gets us 99 points, a 3.8 gets 98, and so forth.
And under that scale, a fact fatal that gets us a 1.0 still gets us 70 points. If we screw up an assignment so bad that we get a 0.1, that's still 61 points.
But a 0.0 is zero points. At a 0.1, we're closer to a 4.0 than a 0.0.
Again, that's to emphasize that missing your deadline is simply not an option in the media biz. We always need to hit our deadlines. Every single time.
Beyond that, none of us can afford to miss a single assignment because we need the practice! You're already working on your first out-of-class story, and the best way to make sure you're writing it in a proper journalistic manner is to have opportunities with these practice stories to try our best, review our work, keep applying good habits and learn how to fix our bad ones.
We can't do that if we don't do that.
We spelled a name two different ways. In one robbery story, the last name of the clerk was alternately spelled Wiess and Weiss.
Obviously, one had to be wrong. A thorough check of your story copy would have uncovered the inconsistency. Let's make sure that after we're done writing, we give ourselves a good chunk of time to go over the story and check each fact for accuracy.
We trusted spell check too much. In one quote, we said, "He ran right through the class." What we meant to say was, "He ran right through the glass."
And that's a fatal typo that spell check wouldn't have caught, because the incorrect spelling of glass created the correct spelling of an unintended and inaccurate word, in this case, class.
Please, remember that spell check is a supplement to -- but not a substitute for -- reading your story line-by-line and making sure you're saying what you intend to say.
Journalism isn't about writing; it's about getting it right, right?
For those keeping score, 11 of the 16 students in this class now have at least one fact fatal. If you include missed deadlines, there's only one person who has avoided totally tanking any one assignment.
Now, is that awful? No. Typically in this class we get a ton of fatals in the first half of the semester, before good habits start to kick in and fatals become much more rare in the second half. And this class sofar has fewer fatals overall than I would expect at this point from previous classes.
Still, we need to keep working to get better at this.It'll be awful if we failed to learn from fatals.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Controversial: We Had Some Fatals
Most folks did pretty well in this assignment. Some grafs were too
long (some people need to hit the "return" key more often and make
shorter grafs) and too many people need to remember to double-space your
work so I can fit comments in the margins.
Unfortunately in this exercise, we did have some fact fatals. In fact, many fatals.
Now, before we all start hyperventilating, let's put this into context. The hardest thing for young journalists to master is fact-checking and integrating fact-checking habits into their daily routines. That's because we come into our first journalism classes thinking it's more about writing then getting it right, when really it's the other way around.
So early every semester, there's a spate of fatals. And the reason we grade fatals so harshly is to get your attention that yes, fact-checking really is that critical. It's not just lip service; we need to get things right, period.
(For the record, 10 members of this 16-student class are already card-carrying members of Omar's JRN 200 Fatals Club, with at least one fact fatal on a graded assignment to date. We'll get t-shirts made soon.)
(And you're not close to being alone: in five years of teaching JRN 200, I can count the number of fatal-free students on one hand, and I have no idea how they did it. Almost everyone fatals at least once -- and, more typically, two or three times -- in here. Including dozens of people who ended up 3.5ing and 4.0ing this class. So again, don't freak out. The semester isn't close to being over, and your grade is far from being locked into anything.)
Through fatals, we want to be able to identify where we're weak during these practice stories, any one of which is only worth around one percent of your final grade. It likely won't have much -- if any -- long-term impact, as you'll get a chance to show improved skills in higher-weight assignments as the semester rolls on.
Still, we can learn from these mistakes. And the lesson today is, it's not the big mistake that kills us. It's the little things we overlook and take for granted, like names.
In one case, we spelled one last name as both Adler and Sadler (the former is correct).
First, a fact-by-fact fact check after writing would have revealed the misspelling.
Second, simply reading the story and noticing an inconsistency would have also highlighted the goof. After all, your last name is spelled only one way. Discovering two spellings for one last name would automatically tell us that one has to be wrong, and a potential fatal that needs to be fixed.
In a second case, someone did basically the same thing, alternating between the last name of Baker and Bakers (the former is correct).
In a third case, we spelled the Adler name incorrectly, as Alder. Despite an awesome alternate lede and great story structure throughout, this was more than enough to sink the story.
In a fourth case, someone wrote a story that was structured almost perfectly. I mean, the grade could have been in the high 3's. But the story missed a letter inside of a quote. We wrote game instead of games, with an s.
Now, if that error was outside of a quote and it didn't change the meaning of the story, then it's just a spelling error. But inside of quotes, we have to be exact to what the person said. So, even a simple dropped letter costs us in this case.
In a fifth case, inside of a quote we replaced the word who with that. Again, which it doesn't change the meaning, it's not what the person said, exactly.
Now, do fatals suck? Yes, they do. You automatically get a 1.0 on the assignment, no matter how well you did otherwise.
That's so we can emphasize how the root of journalism isn't writing, it's getting it right. There is no such thing as getting a "little" thing wrong, as any error mars our credibility.
Now, a bigger problem is not turning something in at all. The two things we have to do every time out in journalism is get it right and meet our deadline. And the latter I penalize more harshly, with a 0.0 grade.
Unfortunately, two of us got the 0.0 for failing to meet the deadline at all. If you didn't get a graded assignment back, that's why.
And that's much, much worse than getting a 1.0. How, you may ask?
Well, everything we do in this class is part of a 1,000-point scale. And in that scale, each assignment is weighed as part. If you get a 4.0 on an assignment, you get 100 percent of points eligible for that assignment. If you get a 3.9 it's 99 percent, a 3.8 is 98 percent, and so on.
So if you get a 1.0, you still get 70 percent of possible points. If you get a 0.1 -- which I don't think I've ever handed out -- you get 61 points. But a 0.0 is zero points. You fall much further behind the point scale than if you turn in the worst story ever written.
Is there a journalistic value reason for that? You bet. An editor can work with a piece o' crap story, no matter how bad it is. They can fix it and clean it up sufficiently as long as they have it. But they can't work with nothing. Nor can you fill up a newspaper page or a TV script with nothing.
It's your responsibility to make sure you don't forget an assignment, as it is in the real world. It's your responsibility that you're not even one second late on your deadline, as it is in the real world. And as in the real world, it's your responsibility to make sure your assignment is routed to the right place, which in this case is omars@msu.edu.
Them's the breaks, folks. It sucks, but let's at least learn from these errors so we don't repeat 'em.
Unfortunately in this exercise, we did have some fact fatals. In fact, many fatals.
Now, before we all start hyperventilating, let's put this into context. The hardest thing for young journalists to master is fact-checking and integrating fact-checking habits into their daily routines. That's because we come into our first journalism classes thinking it's more about writing then getting it right, when really it's the other way around.
So early every semester, there's a spate of fatals. And the reason we grade fatals so harshly is to get your attention that yes, fact-checking really is that critical. It's not just lip service; we need to get things right, period.
(For the record, 10 members of this 16-student class are already card-carrying members of Omar's JRN 200 Fatals Club, with at least one fact fatal on a graded assignment to date. We'll get t-shirts made soon.)
(And you're not close to being alone: in five years of teaching JRN 200, I can count the number of fatal-free students on one hand, and I have no idea how they did it. Almost everyone fatals at least once -- and, more typically, two or three times -- in here. Including dozens of people who ended up 3.5ing and 4.0ing this class. So again, don't freak out. The semester isn't close to being over, and your grade is far from being locked into anything.)
Through fatals, we want to be able to identify where we're weak during these practice stories, any one of which is only worth around one percent of your final grade. It likely won't have much -- if any -- long-term impact, as you'll get a chance to show improved skills in higher-weight assignments as the semester rolls on.
Still, we can learn from these mistakes. And the lesson today is, it's not the big mistake that kills us. It's the little things we overlook and take for granted, like names.
In one case, we spelled one last name as both Adler and Sadler (the former is correct).
First, a fact-by-fact fact check after writing would have revealed the misspelling.
Second, simply reading the story and noticing an inconsistency would have also highlighted the goof. After all, your last name is spelled only one way. Discovering two spellings for one last name would automatically tell us that one has to be wrong, and a potential fatal that needs to be fixed.
In a second case, someone did basically the same thing, alternating between the last name of Baker and Bakers (the former is correct).
In a third case, we spelled the Adler name incorrectly, as Alder. Despite an awesome alternate lede and great story structure throughout, this was more than enough to sink the story.
In a fourth case, someone wrote a story that was structured almost perfectly. I mean, the grade could have been in the high 3's. But the story missed a letter inside of a quote. We wrote game instead of games, with an s.
Now, if that error was outside of a quote and it didn't change the meaning of the story, then it's just a spelling error. But inside of quotes, we have to be exact to what the person said. So, even a simple dropped letter costs us in this case.
In a fifth case, inside of a quote we replaced the word who with that. Again, which it doesn't change the meaning, it's not what the person said, exactly.
Now, do fatals suck? Yes, they do. You automatically get a 1.0 on the assignment, no matter how well you did otherwise.
That's so we can emphasize how the root of journalism isn't writing, it's getting it right. There is no such thing as getting a "little" thing wrong, as any error mars our credibility.
Now, a bigger problem is not turning something in at all. The two things we have to do every time out in journalism is get it right and meet our deadline. And the latter I penalize more harshly, with a 0.0 grade.
Unfortunately, two of us got the 0.0 for failing to meet the deadline at all. If you didn't get a graded assignment back, that's why.
And that's much, much worse than getting a 1.0. How, you may ask?
Well, everything we do in this class is part of a 1,000-point scale. And in that scale, each assignment is weighed as part. If you get a 4.0 on an assignment, you get 100 percent of points eligible for that assignment. If you get a 3.9 it's 99 percent, a 3.8 is 98 percent, and so on.
So if you get a 1.0, you still get 70 percent of possible points. If you get a 0.1 -- which I don't think I've ever handed out -- you get 61 points. But a 0.0 is zero points. You fall much further behind the point scale than if you turn in the worst story ever written.
Is there a journalistic value reason for that? You bet. An editor can work with a piece o' crap story, no matter how bad it is. They can fix it and clean it up sufficiently as long as they have it. But they can't work with nothing. Nor can you fill up a newspaper page or a TV script with nothing.
It's your responsibility to make sure you don't forget an assignment, as it is in the real world. It's your responsibility that you're not even one second late on your deadline, as it is in the real world. And as in the real world, it's your responsibility to make sure your assignment is routed to the right place, which in this case is omars@msu.edu.
Them's the breaks, folks. It sucks, but let's at least learn from these errors so we don't repeat 'em.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Ledes: Watch For Fatals!
In this exercise, most of you scored pretty well. Many grades were in the 3-point range, which is very good for the first graded assignment.
Unfortunately, that success wasn't universal. We had a few fatals on this exercise.
In one case, we spelled Stephanie Courhesne's last name as Courhesene, with one too many e's. Unfortunately, that is a fact fatal. Names must be spelled correctly. Every letter. No exceptions, ever.
In a second case, we listed the state representative as P. Wei. In fact, her name was Constance P. Wei. Simply Constance Wei was acceptable, as in journalism a first and last name are only necessary, and usually not a middle initial. But a missing first name on first reference is never okay.
The good news is, EVERYBODY had at least decent lede structure and intent. If not for the fatals, EVERYONE would have scored in the 3's. Every single one of you.
And fatals are very, very common in the first few weeks of the semester, when you're just learning good fact-checking habits and integrating it into your daily routines. In previous semesters, pretty much everybody had at least a couple of fatals (if not more) in the first half of the semester, before things drastically trailed off in the second half, with maybe one more fatal for every other person.
So if you fataled, don't fret. Learn the lesson, and apply the lesson moving forward. That's how we learn in journalism: by doing, then making mistakes, then identifying solutions to those mistakes, and then applying those lessons.
In non-fatal news, I have a few reminders.
First, don't forget AP number rules. In general, if it's under 10, spell out the number like this: two, not 2. If it's 10 or over, use digits like this: 10, not ten.
If it's an age, always almost use digits: a 9-year-old. That is, unless it's at the start of a sentence. Try to avoid using a number to start a sentence with, but if you do, spell it out: Nine, not 9.
Second, don't forget to use grammatical articles in sentences, like a, and, and the. Make sure your sentences are complete sentences. If you're not sure, read your sentences out loud. If you sound like a robot -- police kill man in house -- then you probably need to add some articles like this -- police killed a man in a house.
Unfortunately, that success wasn't universal. We had a few fatals on this exercise.
In one case, we spelled Stephanie Courhesne's last name as Courhesene, with one too many e's. Unfortunately, that is a fact fatal. Names must be spelled correctly. Every letter. No exceptions, ever.
In a second case, we listed the state representative as P. Wei. In fact, her name was Constance P. Wei. Simply Constance Wei was acceptable, as in journalism a first and last name are only necessary, and usually not a middle initial. But a missing first name on first reference is never okay.
The good news is, EVERYBODY had at least decent lede structure and intent. If not for the fatals, EVERYONE would have scored in the 3's. Every single one of you.
And fatals are very, very common in the first few weeks of the semester, when you're just learning good fact-checking habits and integrating it into your daily routines. In previous semesters, pretty much everybody had at least a couple of fatals (if not more) in the first half of the semester, before things drastically trailed off in the second half, with maybe one more fatal for every other person.
So if you fataled, don't fret. Learn the lesson, and apply the lesson moving forward. That's how we learn in journalism: by doing, then making mistakes, then identifying solutions to those mistakes, and then applying those lessons.
In non-fatal news, I have a few reminders.
First, don't forget AP number rules. In general, if it's under 10, spell out the number like this: two, not 2. If it's 10 or over, use digits like this: 10, not ten.
If it's an age, always almost use digits: a 9-year-old. That is, unless it's at the start of a sentence. Try to avoid using a number to start a sentence with, but if you do, spell it out: Nine, not 9.
Second, don't forget to use grammatical articles in sentences, like a, and, and the. Make sure your sentences are complete sentences. If you're not sure, read your sentences out loud. If you sound like a robot -- police kill man in house -- then you probably need to add some articles like this -- police killed a man in a house.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Alt Ledes: Do Your Work!
In the homework assignment, I received completed work from only 10 people. Problem is, we have 16 people in this class.
Whoops.
First, it's important that you remember your deadlines, and complete the assignments as ordered. I'm not giving you guys busywork; each assignment is part of a long chain of assignments intended to build up your skill sets in various parts of journalistic writing and organization, so that you can not only execute each part by the end of the semester, but also understand how and why it fits into the overall scheme.
Second, make sure you're sending things to the right place. I don't know if anyone sent homework to omar@msu.edu -- the wrong address, by the way -- but it's your responsibility to make sure you're seding things to the right place, which in this case is omars@msu.edu.
Third, if you miss a day of class it is your responsibility to check on what you missed. I would strongly advise you not to wait until the next class day to do that. Instead, you should check with me by email or phone later on the day you missed to find out what you missed and need to have prepared for the next class; or in lieu of that, ask a classmate.
Fourth, watch your facts! One of us had a fact fatal, in that we identified the 6-month-old girl as a 2-year-old girl.
Please, make sure that you adequately understand the correct information before you start writing, and then after you're done typing check over each fact, statistic and piece of information to ensure you wrote what you intended to write.
Whoops.
First, it's important that you remember your deadlines, and complete the assignments as ordered. I'm not giving you guys busywork; each assignment is part of a long chain of assignments intended to build up your skill sets in various parts of journalistic writing and organization, so that you can not only execute each part by the end of the semester, but also understand how and why it fits into the overall scheme.
Second, make sure you're sending things to the right place. I don't know if anyone sent homework to omar@msu.edu -- the wrong address, by the way -- but it's your responsibility to make sure you're seding things to the right place, which in this case is omars@msu.edu.
Third, if you miss a day of class it is your responsibility to check on what you missed. I would strongly advise you not to wait until the next class day to do that. Instead, you should check with me by email or phone later on the day you missed to find out what you missed and need to have prepared for the next class; or in lieu of that, ask a classmate.
Fourth, watch your facts! One of us had a fact fatal, in that we identified the 6-month-old girl as a 2-year-old girl.
Please, make sure that you adequately understand the correct information before you start writing, and then after you're done typing check over each fact, statistic and piece of information to ensure you wrote what you intended to write.
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