chapter
3
Style and the Stylebook
English is an extremely diverse language, giving the user many ways of saying the same thing. For instance, 8 or eight o’clock, 8 a.m., 8 A.M., eight a.m., and eight in the morning can all correctly refer to the same thing. A reference may be made to the President, the U.S. president, the President of the United States, and so on. All of these forms are technically correct, but which one should a journalist use? And does it really matter?
The answer to the first question is governed by journalistic style. Style is a special case of English correctness that a publication adopts. It does so to promote consistency among its writers and to reduce confusion among its readers. Once a style is adopted, a writer will not have to wonder about the way to refer to such things as time.
Journalistic style can be divided into two types of styles: professional conventions and rules of usage. Professional conventions have evolved during years of journalistic endeavor and are now taught through professional training in universities and on the job. The rules of usage have been collected into style-books published by wire services, news syndicates, universities, and individual print and broadcast news operations. Some of these stylebooks have had widespread acceptance and influence. Others have remained relatively local and result in unique style rules that are accepted by reporters and editors working for individual publications.
For example, a publication might follow the Associated Press Stylebook and say that AM and PM should be lowercase with periods: a.m. and p.m. The writer will know that a reference to the President of the United States is always simply “president,” in lowercase, except when referring to a specific person, such as President Clinton.
Likewise, the reader will not be confused by multiple references to the same item. Unconsciously, the reader will anticipate the style that the publication uses. Consequently, if a person reads a college newspaper regularly and that paper always refers to its own institution as the “University,” in uppercase, the reader will know what that means.
Similarly, a reporter may follow the usual convention in newspaper writing and write the sequence of time, date, and place of a meeting although it might seem more logical to report the date before reporting the time.
Having a logical, consistent style is like fine-tuning a television. Before the tuning, the colors may be there, and the picture may be reasonably visible. Eventually, however, the off-colors and the blurry images will play on the viewer’s mind to the point that he or she will become dissatisfied and disinterested. That could cause the viewer to stop watching altogether. In the same way, consistent style fine-tunes a publication so that reading is easier and offers the reader fewer distractions.
Beyond that, the question might still remain: Does style really matter? The answer is an emphatic “yes!” Many young writers think of consistent style as a repressive force that hampers their creativity. It isn’t. Style is not a rigid set of rules that were established to restrict the creative forces in the writer. Style imposes a discipline in writing that should run through all the activities of a journalist. It implies that the journalist is precise not only with writing but also with facts and with thought. Consistent style is the hallmark of a professional.
Editors are the governors of the style of a publication. It is their job to see that style rules are consistently and reasonably applied. If exceptions are allowed, they should be for specific and logical reasons and should not be made on the whim of the writer. Editors should remember that consistent style is one way of telling readers that every effort has been made to certify the accuracy of everything in the publication.
Wire Service Stylebooks
For many years the Associated Press has published the stylebook that is used as the bible for style for newspapers around the United States. Most public relations departments and many magazines also use the sound advice in this manual as the foundation of their style rules. Because the Associated Press has published its stylebook in a form that is commonly available to students in universities around the country, we shall refer to that stylebook in this section of our discussion.
Here is some representative advice on style covered by the Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual.
Capitalization. Unnecessary capitalization, like unnecessary punctuation, should be avoided because uppercase letters are harder to read and make the sentence look uninviting. Some examples: Main Street, but Main and Market streets. Mayor John Smith, but John Smith, mayor of Jonesville. Felicia Mason, executive director of the Alabama Press Association. (Note the lowercase title after the name, but uppercase for Alabama Press Association, a formal name and therefore a proper noun.)
Abbreviation. The trend is away from alphabet soup in body type and headlines. But some abbreviations help to conserve space and to simplify information. For example: West Main Street, but 20 W. Main St. The only titles for which abbreviations are called for (all before the name) are Dr., Gov., Lt. Gov., Mr., Mrs., Rep., the Rev., Sen., and most military ranks. Standing alone, all of these are spelled out and are put in lowercase. Check the stylebook for others.
Punctuation. Especially helpful are the sections of the stylebook that deal with the comma, hyphen, period, colon, semicolon, dash, ellipsis, apostrophe, quotation marks, and restrictive and nonrestrictive elements.
Numerals. Spell out whole numbers below 10, and use figures for numbers 10 and above. This rule applies to numbers that are used in a series or individually. Don’t begin sentences with numbers, as a rule, but if you must do so, spell them out. Use numbers for virtually all measurements and dimensions. For example: 5 feet 9 inches tall; the 5-foot-9-inch woman; 5-foot-9 woman; a 7-footer; the car left a skid mark 8 inches wide and 17 feet long; the rug is 10 by 12. The storm brought 1 1/2 inches of rain (with space between the whole number and the fraction). In tabular material, convert fractions to decimals. For fractions without whole numbers, use 1/2, 2/3, and so on.
For ages always use numerals: a 2-month-old baby; she was 80; the youth, 18, and the girl, 6, were rescued.
Spelling. In journalism a word has but one spelling. Alternative spellings and variants are incorrect (because of the requirement of style consistency). Make it “adviser,” not “advisor”; “employee,” not “employe”; “totaled,” not “totalled”; “traveled,” not “travelled”; “kidnapped,” not “kidnaped”; “judgment,” not “judgement”; “television,” not “TV,” when used as a noun; “percent,” not “per cent”; “afterward,” “toward,” “upward,” and “forward” (no “s”); “vs.,” not “versus” or “v.”; “vice president,” not “vice-president.” Check the stylebook or a dictionary for others.
Usage. “Comprise” means to contain, not to make up: “The region comprises five states,” not “five states comprise the region” and not “the region is comprised of five states.” “Affect” means to influence, not to carry out. “Effect” means a result when it is a noun and means to carry out when it is a verb. “Controller” and “comptroller” are both pronounced controller and mean virtually the same thing, though “comptroller” is generally the more accurate word for denoting a government financial officer and “controller” is better for denoting a private sector financial officer. “Hopefully” does not mean it is hoped, we hope, maybe, or perhaps; it means in a hopeful manner: “Hopefully, editors will study the English language” is not acceptable usage of the word. Good editors may use some fad expressions because readers do, but they do not use them as crutches, and they should know when they are using them.
Dates. Feb. 6 (current calendar year); in February 1978 (no comma); last February.
Journalistic Conventions
A strong sense of professionalism has developed in journalism during the more than 300 years of journalism history in the United States. With this professionalism have come conventions in journalistic writing. As with rules of style, these conventions are known to trained journalists and are used by them to communicate things about their stories to readers. Most readers do not notice these conventions when they read a publication, yet most regular readers know these conventions and what they indicate about the judgments that editors and reporters make.
The conventions include both the basic structures of the stories and the individual ordering of facts. They even include words within sentences that are used regularly in certain types of stories.
Inverted pyramid. Though there is some argument about this structure among professional journalists, the inverted pyramid is the structure that is most commonly used for the modern American news story. For the editor the inverted pyramid structure means two things: Facts should be presented more or less in the order of their importance, with the most important facts coming at the beginning, and a story should be written so that if it needs to be cut, it may be cut from the bottom without loss of essential facts or coherence. The inverted pyramid is certainly not the only acceptable structure for the presentation of news, but its use is so widespread that if it is not used, the nature of a story must dictate the alternative form used by the writer. For example, short features and long take-out stories do not follow this form. Although efforts to replace the form as the dominant one crop up now and then, the inverted pyramid remains the most widely used. Now Web journalism has come along to reinforce its usefulness.
Types of stories. The news values that we discussed in Chapter 1 make it incumbent upon editors to cover and give importance to certain types of stories. These kinds of stories are handled so often that a set of standard practices governing how they are written has been established. For instance, the disaster story must always tell early in the story whether anyone was killed or injured. Another example of this routinization of stories is the obituary. Newspapers develop their own styles for handling obituaries, and some even dictate the form in which the standard obituary is written. For instance, the New York Times has a set two-sentence lead for an obituary: “Joan Smith, a Brooklyn real estate dealer, died at a local hospital yesterday after a short illness. She was 55 years old.”
Other types of routine stories are those concerning government actions, the courts, crime, holidays, and weather. Part of an editor’s job is to make sure that the paper covers these kinds of stories fully and that it reports other stories that have become important to the community that the newspaper serves.
Balance and fairness. One of the tenets of American journalism is fairness. Journalists should attempt to give all people involved in a news story a chance to tell their sides of it. If an accusation is made by a news source concerning another person, that person should be given a chance to answer in the same story. Journalists should not take sides in a controversy and should take care not even to appear to take sides.
Producing a balanced story means more than just making sure a controversial situation or issue is covered fairly. In a larger sense, balance means that journalists should understand the relative importance of the events they cover and should not write stories that overplay or underplay that importance. Journalists are often criticized for “blowing things out of proportion,” and sometimes the charge is a valid one. Journalists should make sure that they are not being used by news sources and being put in a position of creating news rather than letting it occur and then covering it and presenting it.
The impersonal reporter. Closely associated with the concepts of balance and fairness is the concept of the impersonal reporter. Reporters should be invisible in their writing. Not only should journalists not report their own views and opinions, but they should also avoid direct contact with the reader through the use of first-person (I, we, me, our, my, us) or second-person (you, your) pronouns outside of direct quotes.
Reporters and editors inherently state their opinions about the news in deciding what events they write about, how they write about them, and where they place those stories in the paper. No journalist can claim to be a completely unbiased and objective observer and deliverer of information. Yet stating opinions directly and plainly is an unacceptable practice. For a reporter even to include himself with the readers is a poor idea. For example, the following lead is not acceptable because of its use of a first-person pronoun: “The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court said yesterday that our legal system is in serious trouble.” A foreign citizen—someone who makes no claim to the legal system of the United States—might read that story; the reporter should write for that person as well. In magazines, for which the audience is more tightly defined, personal writing is more common, and “I” and “our” are frequently used. But in newspapers these approaches are limited to certain sections of the paper and to signed columns.
Sources. Much of the information that is printed in a newspaper comes from what we might call “official” sources. These sources are those that are thought to have expertise on the subject being written about, not those who may merely have opinions about the subject. An example of this reliance might be found in a story about inflation. A journalist writing a story about inflation would probably use information from government reports and the studies and opinions of respected economists and influential politicians. These would be the official sources, and they would have a large amount of credibility with the reader. An unofficial source might be a homemaker, who would certainly have an opinion about the effects, causes, and cures of inflation but who would not have information that would be credible in the mass media.
Young journalists often make the mistake of relying too heavily on one or the other of these kinds of sources, especially the convenient source. They interview people who have opinions about news events, such as their roommates, rather than people who can provide information to support an opinion about a news event. When a source is quoted in a story, it should be readily apparent why that source is used. Jill Johnson, a college student, is not going to have much credibility in a story about the use of child labor in Brazilian sewing factories, though she might have views worth reporting; however, Jill Johnson, the leader of the local chapter of the International Human Rights Coalition, will have higher credibility for such a story. Editors refer to a concept known as the “source ladder,” with top officials, such as a university president, at the top rung, managers and technicians on the middle rungs, and consumers and interested citizens at the bottom. For balanced journalism all are important.
Another aspect of sources with which editors need to be concerned is the way in which sources are treated by reporters. Editors must establish clear guidelines for reporters about how sources are approached and interviewed and about the relationship that reporters establish with their sources. Most news organizations require that reporters identify themselves before beginning a conversation with a source and that the reporters make sure the source understands that he or she might be quoted in an article. When a reporter offers a source confidentiality, an editor should be involved in that decision. Many editors require their reporters to tell them the names of their sources, thus accepting along with the reporter the burden of keeping the source confidential.
Some editors maintain their own set of sources even though they might not be using them for original reporting. They do so to keep in touch with important areas that their news organizations cover and to have an independent source of information in case important or controversial stories come their way. Editors who stay in touch with the news at this level are more likely to be knowledgeable and effective in their editing and helpful to their reporters.
Attribution and quotations. Journalists should make it clear to the readers where information has been obtained. All but the most obvious and commonly known facts in a story should be attributed. Editors should make sure that the attributions are helpful to the reader’s understanding of the story and that they do not get in the way of the flow of the story.
Journalistic conventions have grown up around the use of indirect and direct quotes. First, except in the rarest instances all quotes must be attributed. The exception is the case in which there is no doubt about the source of the quote. Even then, editors should be careful. Second, journalists disagree about whether a direct quote should be the exact words, and only the exact words, that a person speaks or convey the exact meaning the quoted person intended, even if the words vary slightly. Most of the time, people’s exact words will accurately express their meaning. If they don’t, paraphrasing them and removing the quotation marks is the best approach.
Sometimes, however, a journalist must choose between accuracy of words and accuracy of meaning. People misspeak. When we know that they misspoke and we know what they meant, should we pillory them on their own words? Generally, no.
Finally, direct quotes in news stories rarely include bad grammar even if the person quoted used bad grammar. Quoting someone who uses English incorrectly can make that person appear unnecessarily foolish and can distract from the real meaning of the story. In a news story a journalist usually cleans up bad grammar in a direct quote. (Feature story writers may choose not to follow this practice.)
These conventions and others that you will learn about as you continue your study of journalism are important ones for journalists to observe if they are to gain the respect of their readers and colleagues. The conventions should not be looked upon as arbitrary rules that must be followed at the expense of accuracy and clarity. Rather, they are a set of sound practices that are extremely useful to journalists in the process of deciding what to write and how to write it.
Language Sensitivity
Editors must understand that language has the ability to offend and demean. Readers and viewers of the mass media are a broad and diverse group, and those who would communicate with them should be aware of language sensitivities of some of the people within that group. Although some people have gone to extremes in identifying supposedly offensive language, there are terms and attitudes in writing that should legitimately be questioned and changed. The current state of public discourse demands it.
Editors have not always paid attention to such sensitivities. Phrases such as “all men are created equal” and “these are the times that try men’s souls” drew no criticism for their inherent sexism when they were first published, partly because women were not allowed to be a major part of public life. We may accept those phrases now because we understand the context in which they were written, but we would not approve of them if they were written in our age.
Editors should examine their copy closely to make sure that they have treated people fairly and equally, that they have not lapsed into stereotypes, that they have not used phrases or descriptions that demean, and that they have included everyone in their articles who is germane to the subject. The following are a few areas in which editors need to take special care.
Sexist pronouns. It is no longer acceptable to use the pronoun “he” when the referent might be a man or woman. “A student should always do his homework” should be “A student should always do his or her homework.” In some instances rewriting the sentence using plurals is easier: “Students should always do their homework.” Sometimes a sentence can be rewritten so that it does not require any pronoun: “A student should always do the assigned homework.”
Titles. Many nouns that had sexist connotations are being phased out, often becoming not only gender neutral but also more descriptive. “Firefighter” and “mail carrier” for “fireman” and “mailman” are examples. Editors need to watch for gender-biased terms and pose alternatives.
Descriptions. Women have often been described in terms of their appearance, physical characteristics, and attire, whereas men are rarely described this way. Editors should be sensitive to what is relevant for understanding a story. Sometimes references to appearance and attire are important to an article, but often they are not. They are included gratuitously and as such are offensive.
Some argue that these descriptions occur because the audience—including women—is more interested in the appearance and attire of women than of men. The dresses of many of the women attending an event such as the Academy Awards are a central part of that annual story, sometimes as much as the awards themselves. Actresses try to outdo each other in wearing unusual or daring gowns. Ignoring that aspect of the event would not be responsible journalism. There are other instances, such as when female lawyers appear in a courtroom setting, in which references to women’s attire are clearly inappropriate.
Racial descriptions and references might not be necessary. John Kincaid is the mayor of Birmingham, Alabama. To describe him as “John Kincaid, the black mayor of Birmingham” is not necessary unless it is important to the understanding of a story to know his race. The test here is to ask the questions “What if Mayor Kincaid were white? Would it be important to know that?”
References to the racial, ethnic, or religious characteristics of people who have been accused of a crime or who have been involved in criminal activity is another tricky situation for editors. Many racial groups and nationalities have been associated with undesirable characteristics or unpatriotic activity. In the nineteenth century immigrants from Ireland were thought to be lazy, stupid, and alcoholic. During World War I suspicion fell on people of German descent as being less “American” than others. The same thing happened to Japanese Americans during World War II when the government went so far as to put many in internment camps even though they had done nothing wrong. The attacks of September 11, 2001, led many people to suspect all Arabs and Muslims of being part of an international terrorism conspiracy. Editors need to guard against labels and descriptions that tie individuals or groups to nefarious beliefs or behavior when such references are not clearly warranted.
Stereotypes. Our society abounds in stereotypes, and not all are based on race. We describe women who stay at home as women who “don’t work” when, in fact, they do work very hard at very important jobs. We refer to a “Jewish mother” as someone with certain hectoring characteristics, even though many Jewish mothers do not hector their children and many Gentile mothers do. We write about “Southern bigots,” ignoring the fact that bigotry is not confined to a single region of the country. An older woman who has never married is called a “spinster,” a reference that many see as derogatory. We should constantly question these blanket references and phrases to see whether they serve our journalistic purposes.
Illness and disability. U.S. society is taking some steps, by private initiative as well as by law, to open itself to people who have various handicaps, disabilities, or limitations. One of the things that Americans should learn as this happens is that identifying people by these limitations is in itself unfair and inaccurate. To say that a person “has a handicap” is different from saying that a person “is handicapped.” The way in which these limitations are referred to can also be disabling. For instance, to describe someone as a “reformed alcoholic” is neither complimentary nor benign; “reformed” implies that the person did something wrong and now the problem is solved. A person who is an alcoholic but who no longer drinks is “recovering.” To say that someone has a “defect,” such as a “birth defect,” is to demean by implication (i.e., the person is defective). It would be better to say that a person “was born with a hearing loss.” As with many situations, being specific makes using the general, and often offending, term unnecessary.
These are just a few of the areas in which editors need to maintain great sensitivity and to continue close examination of their work. Constantly questioning what is in the copy you read and making reasonable changes are not just the marks of a good editor; they are signs of a sensitive editor.
Attention to Detail
The editor’s job is more than one of simply enforcing the rules, although enforcing the rules and establishing high standards are important parts of the editor’s work. The editor must pay attention to the details, the small items as well as the large ones. The small items are the foundations of a publication’s credibility. Errors in grammar or style might not be criminal offenses, but they chip away at the reader’s faith in the organization. Ultimately, that faith—along with the long-term health of the publication—is in the hands of the editor.
chapter
3
Exercises
The exercises in this chapter are designed to help you learn to use the AP Style-book and develop as a good journalistic editor. Editors have to pay attention to the details of what is written, but they also have to keep in mind the overall intent and direction of the writing, as well as the needs and demands of the publication for which they work. These exercises will ask you to work at these three levels in various ways.
Make the following sentences, expressions, and words conform to AP style and correct grammar, usage, and spelling.
1. The campus chapter of The Society of News Design will meet in room 320 of the Communications building.
2. transcontinental, reelect, transsiberian, reexamine
3. Some Scotch people live in Mountain City, North Carolina.
4. five, ten, twelve, two and a half percent
5. The People’s Republic of China is the largest country in the world, with over 1,200,000 people.
6. Margaret Jones Smith use to be the chairperson of the committee.
7. breakdown, fullfledged, infighting, Indo-China
8. Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., was the president’s older brother.
9. The instructor has a PhD in journalism.
10. Rank the following titles from one to five with the highest as one:
_____Sergeant
_____Major
_____Major General
_____Captain
11. The train is arriving at ten P. M. tonight.
12. The late Pontiff, John Paul the second, spoke several languages, including english, french and german.
13. William faulkner won a Nobel prize in literature.
14. like-wise, pre-historic, post-operative, holdover
15. The Labour Party lost the last election in England.
Exercise 3.2: AP Stylebook
Make the following sentences, expressions, and words conform to AP style and correct grammar, usage, and spelling.
1. Jane Smith, age three, won the tricycle race. her aunt Mrs. Joyce Jones was her sponsor. Miss Smith lives at 201 north 8th Street, Prairie, S.D. Ms. Jones lives at 28th Pl., NE, Praire, S.D.
2. The Southeast History Division (S.R.H.D.) of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) will host a Colloquium Friday and Saturday, January 27–28, 1993 on Journalism History at the Downtown Ramada Inn in Tuscaloosa, AL. The Event is expected to be attended by eighty to one hundred participants from the southeast.
3. The couple have 10 dogs, 6 cats, and 97 hamsters. None of the pets have been inoculated against rabies. The vet locked them up in 2 4 bedroom houses and said he would send them even further away next time.
4. The faculty advisor said: “Your 1st class begins at 8:00 A.M..” “Please make,” he added, “an effort to get to class on time”. “Shall we call it a ‘gentlemens agreement’”? the prefessor continued.
5. The churches program was to collect girl’s clothing boys toys and childrens’ furniture.
6. The rock and role group also played music from the Gay’ 90’s, the Class of ‘65 and the “Roaring Twenties.”
7. Attending the meeting were Bill Ray, Athens; Jack Smith of Columbus, and Joe Jones, of Dayton.
8. She hoped to fulfill her ambition of becoming a navy nurse after basic training in San Diego cal. She would then be equiped more formerly to do her job for the U.S.
9. Miss Hepburn, the screen’s unchallenged “First Lady”, was the first performer of either sex to win three Oscars for best actress.
10. I waved at the girl, who was standing on the corner. (One girl was.)
11. I waved at the girl, who was standing on the corner. (She was not sitting on the curb.)
12. After a quiet vaction in the midwest the young Marine Biologist was ready for his trip to the Antartic Region.
Make the following sentences, expressions, and words conform to AP style and correct grammar, usage, and spelling.
1. After his trip through the south, the young Journalist was ready for his trip to Europe.
2. Frank Stanton is the former President of the Columbia Broadcasting System.
3. The press failed to reexamine what in reality was a transcontinental effort to reelect the Prime Minister of Britain.
4. Many Scotch people migrated to Mountain City, North Carolina.
5. Five is fifty percent of 10, ten is one percent of 1000 , and 12 is 25% of 48.
6. With over 1,200,000,000 people, China is the largest country in the world.
7. Margaret Smith was elected chairperson of the committee.
8. The break-down of parliamentary order has led to infighting and back-stabbing among members of the factfinding committee, especially in the diehard faction.
9. John F. Franklin, Jr., who was the older brother of South Trust Bank of Tuscaloosa President Barney Franklin, died October 4, 1997 in Athens, Ga. after a long illness.
10. The Professor has a PhD in History.
11. The train is arriving at ten P.M. tonight.
12. The Pontiff, Pope John Paul the first, spoke several languages.
13. William Faulkner won a Nobel prize in literature in 1948.
14. “Like-wise,” the professor said, “I also believe that avoidance of research into the pre-historic and post-operative is a hold-over from the era of superstition.”
15. The Labour Party won the last election in Britain.
16. “Co-operate during the preelection period,” the party official said, “or be prepared to pre-heat your leftovers as a pre-flight exercise for your post-nuptials every postdawn from now until the post-mortem.”
17. Rev. Johnny Milton led the sunrise service at 4:30 a.m. on Easter Sunday morning.
18. Flowers adorned either side of the altar.
19. Bronson’s Company Incorporated is opening a new factory next month.
20. It was eight p.m. in the evening not 8 a.m. in the morning, when the gates swung open to the House of Horrors. The Hallowe’en Party wondered if they would live to see the clock strike 12:00 midnight, or, for that matter, 25 past eleven?
Exercise 3.4: AP Stylebook
Make the following sentences, expressions, and words conform to AP style and correct grammar, usage, and spelling.
1. Over 50,000 people attended the major league All-Star Game.
2. Jill Brody, normally the team’s best runner, placed twenty-second in the 5,000 meter run; Janice Wilson, a freshmen walkon, was first.
3. 5,000-meter run. Janice Wilson, a freshman walk-on, was first.
4. By a 12 to 1 majority, the decision was to mix the ingredients in a ratio of 2 to 1.
5. A freelance should always pack an extra T shirt before going deep sea fishing with a group of attorney-generals.
6. The Gross National Product rose a tenth of a percent in the first quarter.
7. The researcher took her material from the “Encyclopedia Britannica” and the “Autobiography of Lincoln Steffens”.
8. The precious stone was 20 carrots.
9. The group fundamentally performed a fund raising function.
10. John Phelps served as his father’s lawyer.
11. The mode is the middle score in a group.
12. The mean is the most frequent score.
13. The median is determined by adding the scores and dividing by the number of scores
14. dance troop, Boy Scout troupe
15. Texarkana, AR.
16. Harlingen, Tex.
17. Salt Lake City, Utah
18. Sioux, City, IA
19. Albany, NY
20. Honolulu, Hawaii
Exercise 3.5: AP Stylebook
Make the following sentences, expressions, and words conform to AP style and correct grammar, usage, and spelling.
1. co-operate, preelection, pre-heat, preflight, pre-dawn, postmortem
2. The Reverend Johnny Milton led the Easter services at 4:30 A.M. this morning.
3. Flowers adorned either side of the altar at the Brown-Morris wedding.
4. Bronson’s Co., Incorporated, is opening a new factory near Wilsonville next month.
5. 8:00, 8 o’clock in the morning, 12 noon, 12 p.m., 1:36 A.M.
6. Over 50,000 people attended the midsummer All-Star baseball game.
7. Bill Brody, the school’s best runner, placed 22nd in the Regional Track Meet this year; Howard Wilson, a freshman, was 1st.
8. The French Army and the U.S. Army joined forces today in an effort to keep the peace in war-torn Lebanon.
9. Mix the ingredients in a ratio of 12–1.
10. A 12-to-one majority in the voice vote expressed the widespread approval of the bill.
11. Karl Teague, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, will address the graduating class at 11:15 in the morning.
12. freelancer, duffle bag, sister in laws (plural), t-shirt
13. The Gross National Product rose significantly in January, 1994.
14. The case in question is now in Federal District Court.
15. I found my material in the “Encyclopedia Britannica,” in “The Autobiography of Lincoln Steffens,” and in several magazine articles.
Exercise 3.6: Copy Editing, AP Stylebook
Copy edit the following story to conform to AP style and correct grammar, usage, and spelling. Deal with other problems, such as wordiness and lack of clarity, that you find.
Suzie Headacher, who taught inner-city children from a housing project about caring for small animals in limited space, today was named one of six national winners in the 4-H agriculture education program.
Headacher, 18, received a scholarship during the 60th National 4-H Congress in Chicago. The Congress opened Sunday and continues through Thursday.
Selected by the Cooperative Extension Service, Headacher and the other five winners were presented their awards by Johnson-Fertilizer Company, sponsor of the 4-H agriculture education program. Awards were arranged by National 4-H Council.
“Miss Headachers’ unique project illustrates to all of us the value of thinking beyond our limitations. She had the courage to conceive of a New York City where kids can see animals somewhere besides zoos, and she did something toward fulfilling that vision,” the National 4-H Council President said.
Headacher was one of four state 4-H’ers who won national honors and scholarships.
Exercise 3.7: Editing Problems, AP Style
Copy edit the following story to conform to AP style and correct grammar, usage, and spelling. Deal with other problems, such as wordiness and lack of clarity, that you find. Remember that in a journalistic setting, words should be used literally for what they mean. This story presents other problems that editors may face and that you might want to discuss before editing.
When the city coucil met Monday night in the city hall council room, several councilment reacted violently to Mayor Johnson Greene’s proposed $26,000 increase in city spending appropriations for next year.
“There ain’t know way we can handle that kind of spending without raising taxes,” Council Member Fred Watson said.
Watson and others say they cant see why the mayor failed to suggest an increase without coming up with any additional income for the ciey.
The higher bdget results from increases in appropriations in the protection a persons and property category and in pollution contrl.
The budget includes $121,000 for protection of persons and property, $16,000 over last years budget.
This incerase was because of the installation of traffic signals at main Street and Florida ave and Main STReet and Wilson Boulevard, and the adding of personnel in the Police Department
Budgeted for the pollution insector’s office was $105,000, an increase of $8725 ovet last year.
The council also acted Monday to stop issuance of solicitation permits until it ca review and possible revise the existing ordnance.
The action stemned from an incident last week when tw comeptitive groups of magazine soliciters stated fighting in th street and were ordered to leave the city.
The council said residents have complained about “high pressure salesmen being allowed in the city.
In other business, te cuncil awarded a contract for a new police car to ogden Auto Sales Co. for $1,969 with a tradein of a present police car.
Exercise 3.8: Editing Problems, AP Style
Copy edit the following story to conform to AP style and correct grammar, usage, and spelling. Deal with other problems you find. Rewrite the story as you think necessary.
A local elementary school teacher has apologized for calling a fellow instructor a “Klansman” and has agreed to pay about $2000 in court costs.
The letter of apology Tuesday from Lacey McGruder to Charles Peace avoided a Circuit Court trial of the $150,000 defamation of character suit Peace had filed.
The suit said McGruder had labeled Peace a “Klansman” and had told people he marched with the Ku Klux Klan during a demonstration in Centerville on September 8, 2003.
In addition to writing the apology, McGruder agreed to pay court costs and other expenses incurred by Peace in filing the suit against her.
in the letter of apology McGruder said she did not see Peace in the Klan march and “my statements were based on rumors that were circulating at the time and upon statements that were made by others to me. I apologize to you for those statements made by me.
“I now realize that repeating these unfounded statements and rumors hurt you personally and I deeply regret this.”
Exercise 3.9: Copy Editing, AP Style
You might need additional information to edit this story properly. If your instructor chooses, he or she can play the role of the editor and answer your questions about the story. Copy edit the story to conform to AP style and correct grammar, usage, and spelling. Deal with other problems you find.
WILSONVILLE—City fathers have gone to court to fight state officials in a zoning battle involving convicts.
Defendants in the suit are the Department of Corrections; John Willet, Carol Largess, Bob Mathews, and Clarnece Copper.
The city filed suit in Weston County Circuit Court seeking an order requiring the state Department of Corrections to remove several temporary facilities for housing inmates in south Wilsonville. The suit said the tent-like units located near the National Guard Amory on U.S. Highway 322 violated city zoning ordinances.
The land is owned by the Corrections Department and is zoned for industry. The suit alleges the three units, which house some 20 female work-release inmates, were placed on the south Wilsonville property without the consent or authorization from the city council or Wilsonville Planning Commission.
Among other things, city zoning ordiances specify that no temporary structure in any district shall be used in a manner that is dangerous or otherwise objectionable to the surrounding areas.
Residents in the area complained about the “huts,”, and the city council last week warned the prison system that they should be moved immediately or legal action would be taken. The warning was the second since April.
Prison officials say they were in the right because, they say, a previous court case exempted state operations from local zoning ordinances.
The city’s suit says the state’s structures are on lots which aren’t big enough to meet minimum standards outlined in the zoning ordinances.
The suit also contends the defendants “illegally connected” the housing facilities to water and sewer lines at an existing building without the required permit from city utilities. A hearing date has not been set.
Exercise 3.10: Copy Editing, AP Style
Copy edit the following story to conform to AP style and correct grammar, usage, and spelling. Deal with other problems you find.
Three classes of second-graders at Midville Elementary School have made use pf 40 pounds of things most people would rather throw away; toilet paper cylinders, egg cartons and empty spools, and the products of the students’s efforts are on display in the school’s are gallery.
Caterpillars, bunnies, Easter baskets, and puppets are included in the display along with more ambitious efforts such as Jo Anna Moore’s model of a steamship made entirely of styrofoam.
The art project was one component of an enviromental awareness program formulated by the state Enviromental Association in a booklet called “Recycling: Using the Unusable.”
The entire Woodvale school system has adopted the program, whih includes collection of aluminum, showing film strips, and a campus clean-sup day.
“The purpose is to make children more aware of the potentail value of things we normally throw away, Woodvale Principal Donna Estill said.
Exercise 3.11: AP Style Test 1
This exam consists of twenty-five sentences and three choices for each. Select the answer that conforms to AP style.
1. The kickoff is set for 11:45 _____.
a. AM
b. A.M.
c. a.m.
2. The public address announcer asked, “Is there a _____in the house?”
a. doctor
b. Dr.
c. Doctor
a. Street
b. St.
c. Str.
4. The philosopher was born in 360 _____.
a. Before Christ
b. B.C.
c. BC
5. The operation was performed by _____Louise Smith and Fred Jones.
a. Doctors
b. doctors
c. Drs.
6. Early this _____he opened his eyes for the first time in a week.
a. a.m.
b. A.M.
c. morning
7. Tennessee became a state on _____1, 1796.
a. June
b. Jun.
c. date should read “6-1-1796”
8. He became a _____citizen only last year.
a. United States
b. U.S.
c. US
9. _____called for a summit meeting with European leaders.
a. The President
b. Pres. Bush
c. President Bush
10. I looked for him somewhere along _____Avenue.
a. 5th
b. Fifth
c. fifth
11. The soldier had already gone through two _____.
a. courts martial
b. court martials
c. court-martials
12. The Jefferson County _____failed to indict anyone for the crime.
a. Grand Jury
b. grand jury
c. grand Jury
13. Ken Griffey _____is now on the same team with his father.
a. junior
b. Junior
c. Jr.
14. He had to take the exam _____times before he passed it.
a. 2
b. two
c. twice
15. His October _____deadline was drawing close.
a. thirty-first
b. 31
c. 31st
16. The colors of the flag are red, white _____and blue.
a. comma
b. semicolon
c. no punctuation
17. Exxon _____announced it was raising its prices for oil.
a. Corp.
b. Corporation
c. corporation
18. His inauguration took place on the steps of the _____.
a. capital
b. capitol
c. Capitol
19. The neighborhood group decided to withdraw _____lawsuit.
a. its
b. their
c. they’re
20. _____Joseph Barlow appointed all of the members of the committee.
a. Lieutenant governor
b. Lt. Gov.
c. Lieutenant Governor
21. The _____was a term used to describe conflicts between the United States and the former Soviet Union.
a. Cold War
b. cold war
c. Cold war
22. His first thought was to get in touch with the _____.
a. Federal Bureau of Investigation
b. FBI
c. U.S. FBI
23. The _____comes on Wednesday this year.
a. fourth of July
b. Fourth of July
c. 4th of July
24. The president summoned _____Smith to the Oval Office.
a. Sec. of State
b. Secretary of State
c. secretary of state
25. With _____of the game left, the star player was injured.
a. two-thirds
b. two thirds
c. 2/3