Any reputable grammar and style guide tells you to use exclamation points sparingly. Never! Ever! Abuse! Them! But there’s a caveat. Grammar and style guides are writers’ bibles. They tell us whether health care is one word or two and … Continue reading
Posted in: Blogging, E-mail, Journalism, Print, Puncutation, Style Guru, Twitter, Websites, Writing Tips
The next time you’re tempted to write that a court case was “dismissed with prejudice” or that your company is “conducting a needs assessment to evaluate just-in-time work flows,” back away from the word processing station. Translation: Computer. These special … Continue reading
Posted in: Best Practices, Journalism, Writing Tips
Tags: comunication, Jargon, Writing Tips
Who doesn’t relish a challenge, especially when it comes to dependent clauses, parallelism and collective nouns? OK, so that’s a stretch, but go with it. Find the errors in the sentences below and I’ll send you a fabulous prize. Not … Continue reading
Posted in: Best Practices, Journalism, Style Guru, Writing Tips
Tags: grammar, sentence construction, Style Guru
Since newspapers seemingly can’t afford to hire more copyeditors, the ones who are still at the helm are probably overtaxed. I don’t have to hunt for errors anymore – they pop right off the page. I finally finished reading a … Continue reading
Posted in: Best Practices, Journalism, Style Guru, Writing Tips
Tags: grammar, style, Style Guru
The newsroom: Another view When I’m wrong, I’ll admit it. I’ve never been one to shy away from ‘fessing up to my mistakes. My post on Wednesday about my former newsroom ruffled some feathers. One of the editors pointed out … Continue reading
Newspapers across the country are suffering from hard times. Many of their editorial staffs are forced to take unpaid furlough days every quarter and contend with a multitude of other cutbacks. It’s no secret that shareholders’ relentless pursuit of increasing … Continue reading
Who likes sitting in the nosebleed section at a concert? The sound bites and you can’t see the band. The only benefit is that you’re closer to the beer stands and the bathrooms. The White House briefing room is obviously … Continue reading
Hell hath no fury like a woman with a new version of The Associated Press Stylebook The Style Guru is breaking tradition by posting on Wednesday, but I’m a woman unleashed now that I have unfettered access to the online … Continue reading
Posted in: Journalism, Style Guru, Writing Tips
One of my former newspaper colleagues just got the axe for the third time in as many years. He was among more than 40 editorial employees who were let go in a single day. A friend at another daily is … Continue reading
Posted in: Journalism
As more journalists are forced into the unemployment lines, a virtual army of bloggers and nontraditional news outlets are cropping up, sometimes overnight. Some believe these enterprising ventures could eventually replace industry stalwarts such as The Associated Press or Reuters. … Continue reading
Posted in: Journalism
