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DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 089 310
'
Cs? 201 114
AUTHOR Copperud, Roy
, H..
TITLE Handbook for Journalists. Reviied: ,
IaST/TUTION University of Southern California, Ios Angeles.
School of Journalism.
PUB-DATE Dec 73
NOTE. 48p.. i
AVAILABLE_PROM University of Southern California, School of
Journalism, University Park, Loelinge_4.90e Calif.
/ 90007 ($2.50)^
,,:
. EDRS PRICE
DESCRIPTORS
IDENTIFIERS
MF-$0.75 HC-$1.85 PLUS POSTAGE '
*Editing; Nigher Education; *Journalism; *Layout;
(Publications);. *News Oporting; Pfiptegraphy;
Printing; *scklooliewspapers
Captions; Headlines; Univeristy of Southern.
California
ABSTRACT
This handbook was developed for the'University cf
Southern California uDaily Trojan"." student newspaper staff and the
School of Journalism. It is a compendium of suggedtions based cmthe
problems that inexperienced reporters, copyreaders, and new staff
members encounter. Ceontents include-nIn General,".which discusies
-censorship, responsibility, and standards on the "Daily Trojan " ;.
1,Neporting,H which examines the role of the reporter journalistic
accuracy, and'information gathering;Copyreadingen,.w ich reviews-
editing policy and rules; ftPictures,0 which stresses accuracy in
outlines and the importance of cropping; uproofreading,V.which treats,
the kinds of corrections that may be Made on proofs; and uStylebook,
which sets down priwAples of style to ensure ccnsiqency. (RE)
\
4
oi
VS
tVPARIMEN1OFHEALTH. UCATION4WEEFARE NATfONAVINSTJTUTIFOr EOUCATVON 'HISDOCUMENTHASBEENREPRO DuCEDfiktLYASRECEIVEDFROM IHEPERSONORORGANIZAT,ONokioN AnNoItpoINISOVV,ENORIPINIONS SrATED00NOTNECESSAR1EvREPRE SENTOFFICIAL.NACIONALINSTeru/E EoutairioNFos'TICNORPOLICY
HANDBOOK
FOR
JOURNALISTS
by
RoyH.Copperud
pehoolofJournalism
UniversityofSouthernCalifornia
1: FOREWORD.
:1NGENERAL
.
gibility
Censorship Discipline .Cooperation The.Dally
Trojan'sJob
Staridardsbr
Responsibility Editorials Publiciiing .-Events ',WritingtoSize' GoodHouse- keeping KeepingPosted ReaderComes
First
I.
.TABLEOFCONTENTS
4tEPORTINQ
RoleoftheReporter
Gathering Informatton Libel Tas .Idect4cs
Leads-
SmoothingIt
. Out. Editorializing
Completenes
Characterizatipn
MoftingElements
Quolations Altfibutionin v -..Qttotation , Quotations.
' Ovtrused\
Fragmentary Quotat!ons TechnicalMatter Explain,Expltrin Names
FalseTitles
, Omissionofni.i Inversion Which-Hunting TimeElements Consistency Checkintwith NewsSources
,
1
10 10
11
12
12 12 12 13 13 , 14 14 14
( '
Useofthe
, Telephone
1 Stylebook, cOPYREADING 2 HowtoReadCopy .2 Checking 2$ LegiblVity\
.UieaFeniii
2 Headlines
Revision' i 3 UnnecessaryChangps
- Cutting
3 TestsforHeadlines
Padding
4 .AttributionIn
4 Headlines
4 Splitting
Double-Checking
4 DemandHeads
Repetition
5 ,BaseHeadsonLeads
BeSpecific
8 PastTense,Passiire 6 Voice
LengthofLines
7 ' UniversityIdenti-
7 nation
8 Headlind.
8 NamesinHeadline's
9 .Subheads
IntrucingErrors
HoldoerProofs
. Bylins
ListkofNames
Quotations
Letterstothe
. 4 Editor^ ...
Numbers .. UrgingAttendance ChoppyModifiers
16 Index
16 17 17 18 18 18 18 19 19 19 19 20
20, 20 20 21 21 21 22
22 22
41
23 23 23 24 24
24 24 25
25 26 28 26 27 28
PlOuRES.
Cropping
PROOFkEADING 29 STYLEBOOK (^) A Capitalization 31
libbreviations 33
Anctuation 35
DashesandHyphens 33
Numbers (^36) Spelling 38
.
anyohe Seriously
intereste*Cippublicationsor
infoimationalworkofanykind; workingontheDailytrojandnay
easilybetheindstvaluithle
experienceofhistiniverOty
career.Thereisnopleparation
forjournalismthatcompares
withactualpublicationofa
newspapet.Studentsinthe
SchoolofJournalismarefor-
tunatetolieab)etobenefitfrom
ansarrangementunderwhich
workontheDailyTrojanisavail-
ableinconnectionwithwriting
\and'editingclasses..
INGENEItAL.., x., 4, 4,. sk4 (^) r '.. ,
. C^ .. .i ..^ ',,
Advetneenvnt
Thereareaboutadozen
salariedpositions,ontheDaily
6Trojan.Theexpierienceandthe
..prpstigetob*g5ltiofroti,these
positionsaremoreImportant
s,^ thanthe"money,..however,
Advanceidentconiestothoie
whoshowinitiativeandinterest.v, Itisnotenoughjusttoreportfor.
:labsessions;thereistoomucfi
. I (^) tolearn,Staffmetnberswho,volit,
tinteertheirservicesondams
besidesthosewhentheyare
requiredtoworkarttheones
likeliesttoadvance.
Intelligenceandwritingobit-
ityaregreathelps,buttheyare
nbtenoughhytheniselveg.Inter-
, est,energy,andwillingnessto
workdteequallyimpo(tant,and
sometimesmoreso.Everyyear
wehaVegoodwriterswhe.get
nowhereontheDailyTrojan
, becausetheyhavenot*tied
. themselvestofindoutWhat. '".,
, .makesthingstick,°Endtoma)te
themselvesasuseatpossible. Nf
- : Staffmemberswho,show , potentialsnredeliberately ..
,,shiftedfromoneassignmentto:**
t anotherwiththeobjectof &loomingthemforbiggerthings andatthesametimegivingthem- (^) ,
anopportunitytoprvethem-
selves., '.
Eligibility
Membershiponthestaffis
opentoanyregularlyenrolled
student.itisnotnecessarytobe
amajorinanyjourngfismke-
quenee,noreventollakeany
journalistrrcotirses.Inpractice ,
however,nearlyallstaffmem.-
bersareenrolledinjournalism
..courses.
sl Studentswithambitionsto
advanceontheDailyTrojanor
tkmakecareers,injourna'lism
cannotstarbworkonthestafftoo
soon.jtisnotnecessarytowait
untilenrollinginareporting
classtoloththestaff;fre,stmen
areinvitedtosignupatonce.
Similarly,reporterswhdaspire
important(Unctions.First,itis , thechiefmediumolommunica- tionfortheuniversitycommu- nity,andassuchitIscdh'sidered importantenoughsothatitcon-
tinuestopublishetrIngthe
summer,thoughonareduced basis,whenthepopulationon campusisrelativelymall asalteady,potntedout,itis,the laboratoryinwhichIldurejour- nalistslearnandpracticetheir,
StandardsofPublication
WecannotexercisetooMitch care'indoingasgoodaJobas' pbssible.Misspellednamesand; wordsandfactualerrorsreflect discreditonthewholestaff,.and
. tendtomakethepaperonobject ofmistrustandevenridicule. Collegedailiestendtobejudged bytheirreadersbymuchthe samestandards'apnifedtopro- . fessionally,producedpapers, `';eventhoughthey-arebeingpro- 'ducedby'tudents,Inaway isnotfair..Butstaffmembers shouldanddousuallyregard tht5asagreatchallenge.The
faclisthatthetypicalcollege
dailyinthis,countryIstechni- callysdperiortotheaverage. professionaldaily,butthisis nothingtobrag(about.We.must
'aimforthpstandards:ofthe
BESTnewspapers. ' TheDailyTrojanstaffhasa, responsibilitPtoreflectcredit 'entheuniversity.Thiscanbe doneinmanyways. first,by beingaecarefulandaccurate andastechnicallycompetentas
possalle:.Next,bypracticing
RESPONSIBLEjournalism.The dutytoreflectcreditontheuni- versitydoesnotmeanabstaining fromcriticism.Criticismcanbe usefulandconstructive,andthe
administrationhasshownno signsofadesiretosquelchor evenhobblecriticism. "
Repponsibility'
ButwithheeciOrnmustcome
responsibilityand'fairness.
Newsstoriesthatcontaincriti- cism'sofsomepefionoractivity shouldalsoiticludbastatement ofthe'otherBideofthequestion.) 1,Talkwitha;spokesmanforthe activityCriticizedancigetHIS
versionofthematterbefore
rushinginty'rint.411.egejour- nalists'sometimesgo'offhalf Rocked.Controversialquestions
Idonotnecessarily'havetwo.
.sides;oftentheyhaveseveral sides,andtheresponsiblejour- nalistgiveinvttieallafairhear- g.Writersofeditorialsandcol- umnsshoqdalsoexertevery effortthinliornfthemselveson ALLSIDESoftheissuetieing discussed;TheWritermaycome `toeitheranadveiseoracorn; ihendatoryconclusion,buthis
editctrialwillVebetter bal. -
anced,moreconsidered,and.
morepersuasive-forhaving
teken.accountoftheopposing argument's. Theeditorshouldtakegreat painstofalrlyreflectcommunity , 'opinionbypublishinglettersto theeditor.Aspecialeffortmust
bemadeto`giveahearingto i
readerswhoarecriticalofnew
, stories,whpdjsagre4with
editorials,orwhopointoutfac- tualerrors.
:r:'
EditOrials
Noeditorialshouldbebased onaCampusdevelopmentthat, hasnotbepnreportedInthe ,newscolumns.Todootherwise
i
ro.
.. ineffectmakestheeditorialcol- umnthevehicleofrepOrting, andthatisnotitsfunction;its ['Unctionisanalysis,comment, andopinion.Aneditorialmay, ofcourse,appearsimultane- ouslyWithanewsstoryonwhich
it
PublicizingElients
. (^) AlthoughHistheduty'ofthe DailiTrojatytopulpiciieevonts. onthecampus,thisrhustnotbe doneattheexpenseofnews values.Therehavebeentimes. ' example,whenunimportant eventswerepublicizedwithdis- proPortionate-citsplai^ head- lines;which!eftrowhere\tVgo Whenaneventofthefirstimpor- lancecamealong.Headlines and'VeyshouldbeaIsigned.on the'bashofrelativeinterestand importance.Editorsshouldalso
.gtiardaghinitoverplaying,
advanceannouncementsof
''eventsbyrtinnipgsimilar
storiesdtiyafterday-Thisbores thereader,detractsfromthe 2 space.avanabtefornewnews, ,andinfactdefeatsthepurpose 'ofdpublicizingtheevent..lttends to,maketheDailyTrojanadull paper. '.Ifanadvatxeannouncement isloberepeatedat:anylength, itshouldnotsimplxbe°arear-,
rangenientoffactspreviously
preseatedtothereader.The
succeedingstory,should.havea
newangleandpreferablya
wholenewapproach.Repetition Winton-nationininuchsthesame formmakesaenewspapertakeon muchthe'samecharacterasa'
wastebasket,andtendsto
arouseaboutas-muchintelest ' thereader.Thecityeditor,ift .particular,Shouldbealertto
ea 1
_whathasrun,inwhatform,and vatwhatlength,topreventundue, repetition.
WritingtoSize Ii4teadofhs,iigningastoryto bd,writtentoagivenlengthso will,filia,spaceofgiven sizeit,isbettertoiiivethestory whaiteserves,andhaveready enough'short(two-Paragraphto so),Itoilestoplugholes.When' astoryh'astoIle*xpandedtwo oraweinches.tofilloutahole , (^) inthedummy,paddingandloss,
ofInterestresult.Shorts
selectedNrpageoneshould,,of course,beisomethingOfinterest. BriefrewritesofNewsBureau 'handoutsmayservethispur- pose.
Go,odHouseke'eping
Thecityeditorandthenews. editorareresponsibleforslming
thakthecityroomaddthe
copyreadingroomarekeptina reasonablestateoforder.Files
shoplcibereturnedtotheir
plaiesaftertheyareused.
Papersanddebrisofanykind
"shouldnotbeallowedto
accumulateondeskortable
tops.Trakatiddishesshoiadbe returnedtothedr111.Thisrcopy- deskshouldbeclearedoffrherik stafforclassmembersleavethe
pont
KeepingPosted
Itisessentialthatevery
member,ofthestaffREAD
CAREFULLYthroughthe'Daity Trojaneveryday.!This.Isapro-'
A
REPORTING
Reportersareexpectedto
'keeptheireyesandearsopen
at ail,timeskfor story pos-
sibilities.Thecompetentreport-
"erdoesnotpassivelywaitfor
.assignments,butexercises
initiativeandima4ivationto
generateideasforstoriesonhis
_own.Reportersareadvised,
'however,tocheck(listwiththe
citl'editorbeforebeginning
workonastorythathasnotbeen assignid,topreventdupliciition ofeffort.Thereare.limitlesspos-
sibtlitiesforfeaturestories,for
example,intellingthehistoryof
Amecampusfeatureorinttitu-
--"lionortradition,orindescrib-;
iingsomeactivity(suchasthe
CaMpusPolice)andtellinghow it.operates.
RoleoftheRePorter:
Thereporterstandsasan
interpreterandexplainer
between,thenewssourceand
thereadertThereisnoexcuse
forbispattingdownirkastory
somestatementhedoesnot
undel-standhimself.Iftherepor- terdoesnotunderstandhisown
writing,howcanthe'readcrbe
expectedtomakesenseOfit? Ifthereporterenefuntersany- thinglnanintervieworInanews
releasethatisnotcompletely
cleartohim,itishisresponsibil-
Bytoaskthequestionsandget
i'4liiforinationnecessaryto
makeitclear. - "That'swhatmynewssource toldme"or"That'swhatitsaid
Intherelease"-Isnoexcusefor
anincomprehensiblestatement
inastory.Itindicatesonlythat
thereporterhasfallendownon hisjob. Beforeturninginastorytothe citydesk,thewritershouictread
throughitcarefullytocorrect
errorsandimproveitasmch
aspoissible. eportersshoid
alsonotecarfullychangesthat
haVebeenmdeintheirstories
astheyapperinprint,witha
view-tolinerstandingthe
reasonsfortechanges.
Theassign ent&reportersto
beatsoffersopportunitiesfor
themtodemonstrateeiiergyand initiative.ReportersShouldbe"'
certaintheitecomeacquainted
withandatleastoccasionally
seetheheadsoftheactivitiesto
whichtheyare,assigned,even
thoughsomeoneelsemaybe
designatedasthesourceof
informationtobegivenout.The
newssourcemustbevisited
weekly.'Inmanyinitances,
reportersmightbeginwithafea- turestoryaboutwhattheactivity does,howitisorganized,itssize,
itshistory,.andwhateverelse
mightbeof'interestasameans ofintroducingittoreaders.
. GatheringInformation
Tirecompetentreporterasks
hisnewssourcequestionsabout
everyaspectofthesubjectat
hand,andreturnswithafore
informationthanhewillputin
thestory.Thisgiveshimthe,
backgroundnecessaryto
rounded
GopdreportingtakesInitiative
andimaginationon'thepartof
the'reporter;irisnotjustamat;
terofpassively.servingasa
receptacleorconduitforwhat-
everfactsthenewssourcehap-
penttothink'of.Thereporter
.shouldpitsehimself,inhis
imagination,intheplaceofa
readerwhomaytointerestedin
thesubjectbutknowsnpthing
aboutit.Thegoodreporter
developsanintelligentinterest
inwhatevers'ulijqctheis assignedtowriteabout: Young,reporters.;are,some-. timesreluctanttoaskforexpls-
nationsofwhattheydonot
understandlesttheyshould
appearignorant.Themore
experiencedthereporter,how-
ever,themorequestionslieasks.
Itisseldomthatnewssources
arenotgladtoexplain,.Itisobvi- ouslymuchbetterforthereport: ;,.ettoaskquestionsthantohave
anIncompleteorpuzilingstory
appearinthepaper.
Libel
Thisisalargesubject,which'
isexploredinmoreappropriate
. detailin:journalismcourses.
Thesebriefcommentsare injendedonlyasageneralwarn- ing.Donotassumethatstudent
newspabersandeditorscannot
beSued;theycanandhavebeen. Remember,coo,thattheuniver-
alsobeheld.respolisi-
ble.Thegteatesttlangers
inthestoriesthatappearinthe,
DailyTrojanhayeto/dowith'
reflectionsonaperebnsability
toperform'hisjob,oronhismen-
talCompetence(usuallydone
jokinglybutaseriousmatter
nonethelessl.Afewyearsego
thepaperandthe,university
werethreatenedwithsuitby
doctorswhomthepaperhad
chargedwithtardy'attentionto
astudentwhodied-ofaheartail- ment.Thiswouldhavebeendif-
ficulttoproveiftrue,butthe
worstpartaboutiterasthatthe
paperhadgoneoffhalf-cocked, andthechargewesnottrue,as
thedoctorswereabletosilo*.
Fortunatelytheysettledfora
ret?action..
Greatcareshouldbeexer-
cisedin'statementsthatimply
that,aprOfestororanyoneelse isincompetentathisjob.Itratty
betrue',butitisdamacagand
oftenimpossibletop:ove.The
paperisliableforwhatappears'
in'alettertotheeditor,even
tholighthedammingstatement maybeone\vithwhichthepaper disagrees: (^) ,
Itisalso'verydpverousto
implythatsomeonedoesnot
,havefullpossessionofhis
'faculties,evehifthisIsdOneas
ajoke,orthathedrinksorwas
-drunkonsortieoccasion,or
undertheinqueneeofmari-
jhanaordrugs.Thefactthatwe
,quptesomeoneasmakinga
libelousstatementdoesnotl
placethereZOonsibilityonthe ,personwhomadethestatement, fweprintit,weareresponsible,
and.maybeisued;Bewaryof
. ANYstatementthattendsto
expdsesomeonetoscornor
ridicule.Eveniftrue,suchstate- mentsmaynotbeprovable,and
C:Fr" ... .,
posicptilie'causethelinet'asset
in000nivififnotbreakinthe
449placesasinthetypedye-
4 slotForexample,dividingthe
worldbreakthrough,attheeaof
alinemaycausethecompositor towondeVeifitoccursinthemid- dleofalinesasitmaywherithe
setsRe.whetheritis'intendedto
beOvenbreak-through.Resolve'
. anydoubtsabouthyphenatiod,
andtwoAierds,aniithelike
4 btsingthe'dictionary.
Do,totuseanywordwh
1 meaningy6uatenot'absolute
2, eirtainabout.HitisaWordyou
4. 4notuseeveryday,evenifyou
/I !'are'certainofitsmeaning,look ' ituptocheekthespeliing.When 1.-thewriterhasgoneoutofhisway
to4seantintlsUalpraforeign
wordandthenmisspellsithe
makesaparticularhetorhim-
self.-
4,,,''lleverstrikeoverletters;ane
':Overano,forexample,or,any-
,; 0thingelse.Ifyoumakeanerror,..
AT.RIKEOUTTHEWHOLE
W(YRDwithX'sorM'sandstart
'oversothateverYthitig
standsiscleanandperfectlyleg- ible.
. (^) Ifaatery_runstoasucceeding page,typemoreatthe,bottomof theprecedingpage.Artvaysuse
anend-marktoindicatetheend
ofthestory;thecross-hatch(#),
centered,issatisfactoryforthis
purpose.
Leads"'
,Trytostartaleadwithsome-
thinginteresting.Avoidbegin-
ningwiththenameof,say,a
speakerunknowntoreaders,fol- lowedbyalongwindedidentifi-
cationofhim,andthen,finally,
thetopic.ofhisspeech(Sexual-,
MoralityintheAndes).Inacase ;4'
likethis,thetopicisgenerally
the,mostInterestingthing,and
shouldbeplacedleftmost.To
avoidmakingtheleadtoolong
orcomplicated,thespeaker's
titleandotherinforMation
abouthimmaybesatedfortheV
secondparagraph,'
/Insteadofwriting: ..
t'AccordingtoSecretaryShir-
leyGibson,thegloatspeakerat
theluncheontobeheldatthe
ComMons!RpstaurantOtt,Swill
beDr:GeraldSmith,district
superintendentofsehpolsat
Pasadena"
Makeit:
"Dr.GeraldSmith,district_
superintendentof.sthoolsat
Pa'sadena,.willaddress-a .luncheonOct.8attheCommons
Restaurant.".
This.bringstheinterestingfact
tothefront,aprinciplethat
shouldalwaysbefollowed,h
thiscase,theidentityofthe
sourceisofnoimportanceand
simplycluttersthelead,soithas
beenOmitted.Ifitisdesirable
toincludesuchinformatlen.Put
itinthesecondparagraphor
evenlater.
. Storiesaboutspeeehesare\
oftenledofTinsomesuchdeadly'-,, fashionasthis: "ArthurC.Clarke,sciencefic-
tionauthor,discussedthespace
programandthefutureofan
advancedcommunicationssys-,
temyesterdayin-Retard
Auditorium::
InsteadofhandlingitthisWay, '..t
whichprobablyonlyrepeats
inlormatirtnalreadygivenin' A.
announcementsofthe,speech,AP
basetheleadonthemostinter-;
esting,,ersignificantthingthe
speakefsaid: . c'''..,,..
"Televisionsetswillbe'used
ct forpersonalcommunication,av
wellastoreceiveprograms,
withinnfewyears. b
"Thiswas'thepreilletionof
ArthurC.Clarke..."
Donotattempttogetallthe'
so-calledWs(whofwhat,when,
*here,why)intothelead.This
makesfortoocomplkatedan
introduction;mote,
thanthereadercangraspwith-
outgoingthroughittwice,and
hemaybeinnomoodtodothis. Concentrate'onf.hewhat;thatis, surnmarizethestoryinthemost conciseandinterestingwayYou
can.omenewspapers'place
limitsOf20or30wordsonleads.
Arbitrarylimitsofthiskindare
undesirable,bettausetheyhob-
blethOvriterontiedoccasion
whenhemayneedtoexceed
theman caneffectivelyand
clearlydosp.put,IngefiOral,a
deadshouldnorexceedthreeto
fivelines.. /
SSmoothing
ItrO/
uf
,
andthelike.Tellwhoseopiniochit itis;don'tmakeittookhsIfita
theDailyTroOn's.Oulnions,of
thewriterandeviffuatIons
belonginrevibws,columnsof
comment,andtheeditorialcol-
umns,notinnewsstories.Donot stateaccusationsagainstpeople
insuchawayastogivethe
impressiontheyarefact;always
becertain,they:areAMU.
KITED.Astatement,like"His
neglectofdutyresultedinthe
charge"isglaringlyunobjective;'
sayingitthiswayimpliesthe
subjectdidindeedneglecthis
,duty.Puttingitanotherway,
greatcareetouldbeexercised
lestitappearthatthepi,,ieris1"'
' (^) takingsides (^) acontrov6rsiat
matter.,
Completeness
.-'-Agoodtestfor-reportersland
copyreaders,forthatmatter)to
applytowriting,toachieve
. smooth,anddirectexpression,
Sis:Would,'sayitthiswayifI
weretalkinginsteadofwritg?
Puttingthingstheway e
wouldnaturallybespokensthe wdytoavoidinvolvedconstruc-
tionandothercommonfaults.
Readingasentencealoudisa
goodtest.Ifyoustumbleindoing
so,youmaybesurethereader
willstumbletoo. . , Editorializing.,
Statementsofopinionshould
notylikgivenwithoutattribution innewsstoriesanymorethanin
headlines.Thisappliestojudg-
mentsofmerit,commendations,
Giveafttheexplanation
necessarysothatastorywill
standcompletelyonitsownfeet.
Don'tassumethalthereaderhas
memorizedsomematerialfact
thatappearedinpyintlastWeek,
or.evenyesterday.A.longs,ry
onthe:announcementby can-
didateThathewoulds kthe'
studentbodypresiden rie-
glected,foreitample,toPointeta
thathewastheRM.candidate
.toannounce,andalsoomittedto
givethedateoftheelection.Of
, -cOurse,itisimpracticalto
repeatthewhplebackground,of
arunningStoryeveryday,12utit
iseasyand-highlyadvisableto
'summarizeitinapaairaphor
two.
Characterization
Avoidexcessivecharacteriza- tion.Aftersayinginthelea('that twoprofessersofphysical
consideredessentialtousehe said(orwhateVery
Don'tbreakintoa'uotatiun
ttosoonfortheattribution:This
isameaninglesstrickandit
annoysthereader.Forexample: "Wemust,",pestated,"runthe
risk..."
Insteadofthis;makeit,"We mustruntheriskofmakingmis- takesinordertoprogressand acquireIthebenefitsofanew method,'hesaid.
Don'tuseaccordingtoin
attribution;itcastsashadowon
thecredibilityofthespeaker
'(anditisalsobackhanded).
Insteadofmakingit"Something willtomeofthis,according,to JohnJones,"write"JohnJones
'said'somethingwillcomeof
this.' Youngreportersfendtoover-
useexpiisinedinattributing
statementsthhtarenotreally explanations.Don'tbe'afraidof said,norofrepeatingit.Ifyou aredesperateforvariation,itis bettertouseneutralattribnlIves likeobserved,remarked,added, continuedthaninappropriate ' oneslikeinsisted(whenthereis
noinsistence)orcontended
(whenthereisnarguinent). Saidispreferabletostated; statedhasaformaltonethatis usuallyinappropriatetoquota- %innsinnewspapers.
Quotations'Overused
Donotusedirect,quotations for,commonplace announce- ments;indirectquotationispre- ferablehere. ,"Along-timeinfluentialand colorfulfigureinSanFrancis-
co'supwardspiralingartistic
whirl,KennethRexrQthwill
speakat11tm.Thursdayin
HancockAuditorium,"Dean
12
HombrJonesannounced. Apartfromthefactthatthe statementisalittleflossy,direct quotationofthiskindisnotsuit- ableforthelead,Whichshould havestatedsimplythatRexroth , willspeak.liemighthavebeen characterizedasaninfluential literal),figure,hoWever,Toslm- phi)?alead'ofthiskind,placp thenameofthepersonannounc- ingthespeechinthesecond paragraph.
,OragmentaryQuotations
Avoidfragmentaryquotations, butwhentheyareused,donot beginthematanawkwardpoint, separatinganarticlefromits noun,oraprepositionfromits object,oranauxiliaryfromthe mainverb.Avoidquiltingsingle words.9uoteonlysubstantial partsofastatement.
TechnicalMatter
Manyspeechesandspecial
lecturesonthecamptisare
specializedortechnical.Itisthe reporter'sjobtopresentthem
intelligiblytothereader.Ifa
speechcannotbereportedwith
outtheuseofunintelligible
technicalterms,IforgetH;itIs notasuitablesubjectforanews- -`
paper.Ontheotherhand,
reportersshouldnothesitateto asknewssourceswhatthey
meanbysomeunfamiliar
expressionorconcept.Such termsshouldbeexplainedIntle story.
BecarefultotellWHEREany event,includingaspeechorlec- ture,washeld,andunderwhose sponsorship.Thisismaterial
informationandthe,readeris
entitledtoit.Thesireandreac-
tionoftheaudiencealsoare
oftenmattersofinterestthat
repOrtersneglecttomention.
Ifastatementbyaprofessor
orsomeoneelseisthesubject
ofastory,tell'thereaderwhat ,
thecircumstanceswere.Ifitwas. aninterview,SAYSO. Whenspeakingofevents,such
asentertainments,notonthe
campus,weshouldstate WHEREtheyaretobeheld,give
leastthecommuntty,'anda
Streetaddressifpossible.
a Whena.,building(suehasa
theater)isnamedwithoutaloca-
tiontheassumptionisthatitis
locatedenthecampus.TheStop GapTheatre,forexample,need notbeidentifiedasonthecam-. ,
pus.Butbuildings'elsewhere
shouldbeidentifiedbyaddress. Don'tuse,orityouareediting,
allowtopassincopyaword
whosemeaningorspellingyoti areunsureof.LOOKITUP.
Nimes
Thefirst,timeapersonismen- tionedina,story,thefullname
mustbegiven;DeanMartha
Boaz(NOTDeanBoaz).OneIni-
tialisinsuificient:PeanMartha
Boaz(NOTDeanM.Boaz).The
.fullfirstname,fistnameand
middleinitial,ortwqinitiilsare
reqUired.Usethkstylethe
ownerhimselfusesforhisna'tne, exceptthatifheusesone.in'tial,
givehisfirstname(SolHrok;
NOTS.Hurok). ,
Itisgenerallycops''ered
ipapPropriatetoAfe toa
womanbyherlastnamealone
wa (Jones),withoutsometitlesuch asMiss,Mrs.,Prof.,etc.,Ovenin
aheadline.This,however;like
theuseofMs.,hasbecomea
stylisticmatterthat,asfarasthe DailyTrojanIsconcerned,isleft
tothediscretionofthe,editor.
Donotrefertoapersonbya
nicharno(e.g.,'"Ilappy".)with-
,outhavingfirstidentifiedhimby
hisfullandtruename;anddo
notdosothanunlesshoiswidely
knownbythenickname.More
latitudeinthisrespectis-per-
mittedonthesportspages. Reportersarerequiredtopen-
ellcq,andcircleit,overevery
nameinastorytoindicatethat
the,spellinghasbeenchecked.
Squaring(i.e.,enclosing,the
nameinarectanglewithacopy pencil)mayalso'beuseciforthis
PUrP4e,Copyreadersshould
doublecheck.UsetheCainP
Directory,thestudenttelephone
directory,thelistofstudent
namesinthestudentaffairs
office,,thebiographicallistin
thebackofWebster'sNewCol- legiateDictionary,andWho'sWho asappropriate.Ifnecessary,call
thelibraryoftheTimes,orthe
referencedepartmentoftheLos AngelesPublicLibrarytocheck ,factsornames.TheNews, Bureauisagoodsourceoffacts abouttheuniversity. ThereferencedeskinDoheny Library,thoughitdoesnotoffer phoneservice,isanothersou_rce ofinformation.
False;Titles.
Avoidtheuseofso-calledfalse
titles;thisisjournalese,and
alsocausesconfusionover
capitalizatien.Insteadof
"musicianJosephDoakeS,"
"waitressSusieR6e"makeit
'Joseph15oakes;amusician";
"SusieRoe,awaitress." Don'tpileuptitlesoroccupa-
tionaldescriptivesbeforea
name.Itmakesforunreadabil-
13
writeit,either;illookstwiceas badasitsounds. DoliotsayofaneventthatIt willhappenthisSundayorthat ithappenediast.Wednesday. ThisandlastareSuperfluous. Givethedayalone,if (^) iswithin aweekofthetimeofpublica- lion.liltismore,givethedate alone(Feb.17),omittingtheday unlessthereisgoodreasonfcir including
.rememberthat,sincethe
pallyTrojanaamorningnewS- paper,,'whatIsreferredtoaS .,todayinastoryistheWciter'S,
toMorrotp;,.the'Writermust k,
alwaysbelookingaheadto"the factthathisstorywillappearin thepaperthenextdayafterwrit- ing(or,inthecaseofkstory/Ao, appearonMonday,threedays later),To'preventcontagion, don'tuseyesterdayandtomorrow Instories:namethedayofthe weekinstead.Todayinanews storymeans,obviously,theday ofpublication.o ThereisrarelyanyOointin givingthedayoftheweekon whichapast,eVentoccurred.The. onlyreasonfordoingsoinrefer- enfetoajutureeventishelpiv thereaderdecidewhethorNO, willbeabletoparticipate.Usu-
allythedayoftfieweekis
omittedinbothinstances
unless,asstated,the'eventfalls withinaweekofthedayoft:11051i- cation,inwhicheventthedate,. isomitted. Youngjournalistssometimes havetheideathattime-elementi shc4idbe'setDOwithcoinmap.' andwritethingslike"Twelvefa-
cultymemberswerenamed,
Wednesday,-asrecipientsof. aWards"or"TheFarmWorkers' Theatrewillperformtoday,at p.m.,inthe,Auditorium."The commasarewronginsuchcon-
structions. 110notsayinaleadthatsome- thinghappenedrecently;this advertisesthefactthatthestory
isanoldone)Say-instead,
-JamesJones,professorof
anthropology, (^) Was been ap-
pointed..."(insjeadof"was
recentlyaopointed..."),and
givetheOle,oftheevent,f
necessary,lowerinthestory.
'.Whenwritinganewsstory
fromapreyreleaseorpther
hnnouncementaboutsome,
futureevent,checkthedate
,givenforitagainstthe,catendar, especiallytoseethatdayand
. (^) datecorrespond.iftheydonot,
consultthenewssourCe.,
Double-checkyournewsstory againstyoursourcematerialto makecertainyouhavecodedoff the.dateof'theeventcorrectly. Copyreadersmustbescrupu- lousaboutseeingWitthatany timeelementusedIdaheadline , correspondswithwhatthestall), .says.
Consistency
Becarefulnottointerject
unexplainableorsurprisingor incongruouselementsorfacts,. "intostorieswithoutexplaining +. them,Forexample,thissen- tenceappearedinthemiddleof astoryaboutaseminaronaero- spacefechn'Ology. "Theothertwospeakerswill talkonwastedisposaland,the handling of juvenile (^) delin- quents,respectively." Thereaderwascertaintobe
baffledby,theconnection
betweenspacetechnology'and juveniledelinquency.Actually
.therewasone,andthestory
shouldha%ebrieflyexplainecrit.
Acopyreaderencountering
somethingjarringlikethisina
storyshouldseeth,atanexplana-
. lionisadded'
Checkingwith NewsSources
Itisamisduktedideathata
reporterdelheanshimself,
somehow,bycheckinghiswork withthesourceofinformation. Thisnotion,together'withthe
factthatapartofourstaffis
alwysinexperienced,can
cat^somecolossal'godfs.
Checkingastorywiththesource' '. forfactualaccuracyisnot.the.. samethingassuhhiittingitfor censorship.:Thlssourceshould notbeperrhittedtoInfluence anythingbutthefacts., Reportersshouldcheckdirect
quotationsasgivenin,news
storieswiththesourcetobecell-- taintheytireaccurate.Spakno .effortto.ensurethatyourstory iscorrect,factuallyandntechan lcalty.
UseoftheTelephone,
Courteousandeffectiveuseof tht.telephoneis.highlyimpor- tant;becausetheDailyTrojaii
, (likenewspapersingeneral)
mustdependonitsoheavily.
Tcbeginwith,'answerthe
...phone';Doi/y'Trojan,"not
"Hello."Donotinsult,dispar- age,orarguewithanyonewho ishelpfulenoughtotelephone usastory.Regardlessofwhat youropinionofitmaybe,take downtheinform6tionandmake suchuseof.itasisdirectedby
\
thecityeditor.THANKPEOPLE fortelephoning. Thereasonsforordinarycour- tesyshouldnothavetobegiven
moilnospace bewastedon themhere.Butnewspapersmust relyonhelpfromoutsidetheir ownstaffs.A-perso.jiwhohas beenrudelyorbrusqiielYdealt withOnthetelephoneisunlikely tocallagain.Ontheotherhand,
ifho,ha'sbeencourteously
treated,hewillhaveafriendly feelingforthepaperandmaybe thesourceofvaluableandhelp- fulinformationinthbfuture. Rudenessonthetelephone,as
anywhere,ischilillshand
Unprofessional.TheDoilyTrojan, hasoftenbeenthesubjectof complaintsinthlsrespect. 'Cityroom'telephonesarenot' ° tobeusedforpe,rsonalcills. Checkwiththecity'editor'for '`theproceduregoverninglong. distancebusinesscalls.
MaperyoftheDollyTrojan Stylebookisamustforevery memberofthestaff.Theeditors (^) 0. shouldknoweverydetailofsty withouthavingtolookanything
+up. Newreportersmust
familiarizethemselveswiththe Stylebookimmediately.Thiscan bedoneonlyby,readingthrough itcarefullyatfrequentintervals,, 'andbylookingup.everydoubttut, pointwhenwritingorediting. ThecityeditorshouldturnbaCk toreportersstoriesthatdoobt properlyconformtostyle; nd .seethatthenecessarycorrec- tic... aremadebythewriter. Thisisohewaythatnewreport- erslearnstyle.This,ofcourse, doesnotrelievecopyreadersof
theresponsibilitytoeditfor
style.
