Online Workbook
to Accompany
Contemporary
Editing
Second Edition
Workbook by
Brad Thompson
Linfield College
Published by McGraw-Hill, an imprint of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
Copyright © 2005, 2000 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may be reproduced in print
form solely for classroom use with
CONTEMPORARY EDITING
provided such reproductions bear copyright notice, but may not be reproduced in any other form or for any other purpose without the prior
written consent of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., including, but not limited to, in any network or other electronic storage or transmission,
or broadcast for distance learning.
Table of Contents ___________________
Section 1: Approaching the story
Chapter 1: Focus on fundamentals: The editor within ......................................................3
Chapter 2: Focus on judgment: The editor’s attitude ........................................................6
Chapter 3: Focus on skills and tools: The editor in the newsroom ...................................8
Chapter 4: Focus on grammar: The mechanics of language ...........................................15
Chapter 5: Focus on good writing: Strong and graceful prose ........................................26
Chapter 6: Focus on headlines: Precision, power and poetry .........................................32
Section 2: Inside the story
Chapter 7: News close to home: Editing local and community media ...........................38
Chapter 8: News from afar: Editing wire stories ............................................................44
Chapter 9: Making a long story short: Editing for brevity and clarity ............................47
Chapter 10: Working with writers: Editing features .......................................................51
Chapter 11: No safety in numbers: Stories based on polls and surveys ..........................54
Chapter 12: Doing justice: Ethical and legal issues ........................................................57
Section 3: Beyond the story
Chapter 13: An eye for news: Editing photos .................................................................60
Chapter 14: Showing the story: Editing information graphics ........................................76
Chapter 15: The balancing act: Designing pages ............................................................79
Chapter 16: The future now: Convergence and the Web ................................................85
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Chapter 1 ___________________________
Focus on fundamentals: The editor within
Copy editors take care of many of the details of any newspaper, magazine or Web site.
They also look at the big picture to check that the publication has the right coverage,
balance and tone. A grasp of the full range of publication fundamentals will serve any
journalist well, but for copy editors a complete understanding is essential. They work on
stories, photo captions, headlines, photos and graphics, and layout and design. It is a
high-stress occupation because they are the last line of defense against errors and they
work under extreme deadline pressure. This chapter introduces the broad range of skills
and understanding that copy editors need.
Guided review of chapter
A (1) ___________ lists the stories, photos and graphics for the day’s paper or newscast
and helps editors organize coverage of a major event.
A shorter story that adds details or lists information related to a longer story is called a
(2) ____________.
(3) _____________ editors are responsible for pulling together text, photos and graphics
to create visually appealing pages and Web sites.
At broadcast stations, (4) _____________ combine taped and live reports to create
compelling news reports and may also do substantial writing or rewriting of stories.
The title of the main person who oversees newsroom personnel is (5) ______________
for print and online publications, (6) __________________ at broadcast stations.
The highest executive, who shapes the organization’s long-term mission, as well as
overseeing advertising, production, personnel and financial matters, is the (7)
_______________ in print, or (8) _____________ in broadcast.
The journal-style (9) _______________ on the World Wide Web is an example of
grassroots journalism in the online community.
Among the copy editor’s responsibilities is ensuring adherence to standards. These
include (10) _______________, which is a body of rules governing how we build
sentences to establish meaning; and (11) ________________, a broader set of guidelines
to establish consistency in use of capital letters, abbreviations and variant spellings.
Traditional distinctions among newspapers, magazines, television and radio have been
blurred by the Web and 24/7 cable operations. This trend of overlapping media is known
as (12) _____________________.
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Terms
Budget
Convergence
Layout
Off the Record
Sidebar
Weblog
Exercises and discussion points
A. Examine the front page of your local (or hometown) newspaper. Write a detailed
budget that summarizes each story briefly and lists the stories in priority as they
appear on the page. Bring the front page and your budget into class for
comparison and discussion with others.
B. In a later chapter in the text, you will consider ethical decision-making for
journalists in more detail. For now, based on what you already know and believe,
what do you think of the photo editor Mark Johnson? Should he have hitched a
ride with a TV reporter down a gravel road after police turned him away from the
first entry point near the accident scene? Was it appropriate for Johnson later to
get a ride out of there with a state trooper? How should the photo editor treat the
information the trooper told him off the record after Johnson helped push the
patrol car out of the sand? What does “off the record” mean to you, as a journalist,
source or audience member?
C. Choose a story from your campus or hometown newspaper. Make a list of the
questions it answers. Does the story raise any questions in your mind that remain
unanswered?
D. Describe differences in the TV station’s approach to covering the construction
accident.
E. Why do you think headline writing is considered one of the most valuable skills in
editing for print?
F. Go to the library and compare the front pages of today’s edition of a nationally
distributed newspaper, such as The New York Times or The Washington Post and
your local or hometown paper with editions of those newspapers from:
• The day you were born;
• The birth date of one of your parents;
• The birth date of one of your grandparents.
For each of the front pages:
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1. Compare and categorize the number and types of stories.
2. Describe the design, or appearance, of each front page and note, for
example, the number of columns and the sizes and numbers of photos.
3. Compare the relative sizes and wording of today’s headlines with the older
papers’ headlines.
4. List the sources used in the stories. Compare the papers’ representation of
government officials, experts and other individuals and/or institutions.
Note how information is attributed to sources, including the use of words
such as “said” or “says,” “claimed” and “according to.” Are anonymous
sources used in any of the stories and, if so, how are the sources referred
to?
5. Compare the length (number of words and sentences) and style of
language used in the lead paragraphs of the older and newer stories.
G. Describe the qualities of an effective editor, regardless of the medium. Why is an
entry-level editing job a good starting point for a career in media management?
H. How has the editor’s role changed as the media have evolved over the years? How
have television, and more recently, the Internet, influenced print journalism?
I. Compare the version of a story that appears in a newspaper and an online story
about the same event. Were there any differences? Explain in detail.
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Chapter 2 ___________________________
Focus on news judgment: The editor’s attitude
Copy editors need to be knowledgeable about their community so that they can help their
publication meet its readers’ needs. Some would call this “knowing your audience.” This
knowledge is reflected in the news judgments editors at all levels make. Copy editors are
responsible for making sure stories, headlines, photos and other elements grab readers’
attention and put the news in proper perspective and proportion for them.
Guided review of chapter
The audience for news is changing as demographics shift. As other ethnic groups grow in
population, it is anticipated that whites will soon make up less than (1) ___________ of
the U.S. population.
The ability to process massive amounts of information and make decisions about its
relative importance is known as (2) ________________.
List the seven traditionally recognized news values: (3) __________________________.
Many editors now consider some other news values important. List five of the more
contemporary values that play a growing role in making news decisions today: (4)
______________________
Print/broadcast models may not always fit a Web site, which needs a distinct (5) _______
and __________. Web sites also must be easy to (6) _______________ so users can find
information efficiently.
News reports that just barely stay inside the boundaries of accuracy but fall short of fair
play can be called (7) _________________.
Opinion polls indicate the public has a negative impression of the media. To win and
keep the confidence of their audiences, editors must set the standard for, and adhere to,
three basic ideals: (8) _______________.
Although polls indicate that many Americans believe the media have too much freedom,
an even larger number say the media continue to be (9) ________________ to their lives.
Most news organizations today avoid identifying people by (10) _______________,
unless it is relevant to the story.
Editors and producers must be able to identify and address (11) ______________ in
stories that can result in imbalance or offensive language.
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Although some of the rules in a stylebook may seem arbitrary and trivial, editors depend
on them for several reasons: (12) ______________________________.
Terms
Bias
Demographics
“Loophole journalism”
News judgment
News values
Exercises and discussion points
A. How have technological changes made editors’ jobs easier? What new challenges
have these advances imposed on the newsroom?
B. How has the news audience in the United States changed in recent years?
C. Explain the major news values and give an example of each from today’s news.
D. What are some of the pitfalls involved in making decisions based on these values?
E. Describe some considerations in reaching an audience on the Web.
F. According to public opinion polls, many Americans lack confidence in the media
and view journalists as insensitive to people’s feelings. What are your own
impressions and experiences with the media? Has your name, or that of someone
you know, ever been misspelled in a story? If so, how did that make you feel?
Have you, or someone you know, ever been misquoted or “burned” by inaccurate
information in a story?
G. Do you think it is possible to achieve total objectivity in reporting? Why, or why
not? Think of personal biases you might have that would make it difficult to cover
some topics or edit stories on them objectively. What can you do to overcome
these biases?
H. Pick two communities or cities in your state and describe in broad terms the
differences between them. How would publications in each city differ in look and
content to reflect the different audiences?
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Chapter 3 ___________________________
Focus on skills and tools: The editor in the newsroom
A copy editor’s primary responsibility is to ensure the precision and accuracy of the news
report. This includes details such as grammar and style on which the credibility of the
newspaper rests. Editors perform their tasks systematically to make sure they focus on
each area: organization, factual matters, libel, spelling, grammar, punctuation and so on.
The ultimate goal is clear expression and accuracy.
Guided review of chapter
The steps involved in copy editing vary according to the editor’s experience, the nature
and length of the story and the amount of time available. But this chapter explains six
distinct steps in the process: (1) ________________________.
Working from (2) ______________ blocks to (3) ______________ blocks of the story is
an efficient approach to copy editing.
A popular way of organizing news stories, with the most important information at the top
of the story, followed by the supporting details, is called (4) _____________________.
A (5) __________________ lead summarizes the most urgent news and reflects the key
news values of a story.
If the story has a feature lead, the (6) ___________________, or main point, should be
given within a few paragraphs.
Broadcasters write most stories on the (7) _________________ model, rather than the
inverted pyramid. Also, broadcast leaders are (8) ______________ in length, and they are
cast in the (9) _______________ tense, emphasizing immediacy and timeliness.
In broadcasting, a (10) ______________ lead frames a story by telling viewers and
listeners what to expect.
Editors may be responsible for (11) _________________, or adapting stories from print
or broadcast to the Web. The key to this adaptation of content for the Web is (12)
____________, organizing a story and related information in small linked pieces.
The Associated Press, The New York Times, Reuters and other (13) ________________
provide stories, video, audio, photos and graphics to subscriber newsrooms. Broadcasters
call these (14) _________________ from audio and video news services.
Commercial (15) __________________, such as LexisNexis, are vast electronic libraries
that provide reliable information to journalists through keyword searches.
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(16) _______________________ are a form of communal e-mail in which people
interested in a common topic send messages to a specific online address and receive all
other messages sent to that address. These use so-called (17) _______________
technology, which brings news to you. (18) ______________ is a linked collection of
online bulletin boards organized into specific topics of interest or “news groups.” These
groups (19) _____________ you to the discussion at a shared site.
Terms
Databases
Feeds
Inverted pyramid
Layering
Leads
Feature lead
Set-up lead
Summary, or hard-news, lead
Listservs
Nut graf
Push and pull technology
Repurposing
Usenet
Wire
Exercises and discussion points
A. Find a story in a newspaper or magazine and describe how you would go through
the process of editing it. How is it organized? Are there any facts missing? Is it
easy to understand for the intended audience? What facts, word usage or spellings
would you have looked up? What resources would you have used to look up
information?
B. The inverted pyramid has proven a useful way to organize news stories, but it has
limitations, particularly for print stories in today’s media environment. What are
its strengths and weaknesses?
C. Find an example of a story with a hard-news lead and a story with a softer, feature
lead, and compare the two.
1. In the feature story, can you find the nut graf? How far down is it?
2. Is each lead appropriate for its respective story?
3. Try rewriting a “hard news” lead in a feature style and vice-versa.
D. Find a story in the newspaper or a news story you have written for a print
reporting class, and rewrite it in broadcast style.
E. Use the appropriate copy-editing symbols (shown in the textbook and under
“Proofreaders’ Marks” in the AP Stylebook) and appropriate reference materials
to correct the errors of fact, spelling, word usage and punctuation in the following
passages:
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1. The professor said he was a died-in-the wool Republican until he met Sen.
John Edwards, D-S.C.
2. President Clinton’s dog, a black Labrador retriever named Buddy went
crazy without it’s toy.
3. It took only an hour for the jury to reach their verdict of not guilty.
4. Most airline passengers never use the air-sickness bags, at least not like
their supposed to.
5. Beyond death and suffering, the HIV-virus infects 27 percent of Kenya’s
population.
6. A longtime fan of public radio, Joan Kroc’s bequest was a welcome
addition to the budget.
7. The publisher said she could not imagine whom would be the audience for
such a book.
8. If she had not received the abortion, the woman said, she never would
have went to college and met her husband.
9. The actress said the drug made her feel as if she was dead; even getting
out of a chair seemed to require more effort than she could muster. She
said it felt like there was glue in her brain.
10. The Mayor said that the city has restricted who the family can sell the 19acre farm to.
11. Often the media is criticized for giving the public a negative view of the
world and focusing too much on the antics of celebrities such as Brittany
Spears.
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12. Further up the trail, just passed the stream, the hikers saw a black bear.
13. Her sapphire earrings and cobalt blue scarf complimented her blue eyes.
14. The coach treated the player’s behavior like it was a minor incident, but
hopefully, such tantrums won’t be tolerated in the future, fans said.
15. Nambe, a company that makes distinctive vases and bowls has entered the
jewelry business, and their bold sterling silver designs are stunning.
16. After two months in Dachau, the rabbi was released and allowed to
emigrate to England.
17. The enormity of the numbers – Washington State 55, Oregon 16 in one
loss – lead to rumors the coach would be fired.
18. The principle reason many students drop out is that they do not receive
enough support at home, according to many studies.
19. Inmates from the Santiam Correctional Institution helped carry a 38-foot
fir tree into the Oregon capital rotunda.
20. The father denied he had abused the girl, insisting he had found her laying
in her crib and struggling to breathe.
21. Curators at the Smithsonian Institute expressed an interest in antique doll
collection.
22. According to that hypothesis, the amount and kinds of nutrition in the
womb altars the biology of a growing fetus in ways that can effect it for
life.
23. “How can free trade be good for America, when these laid-off textile
workers are in such a desperate situation,” he asks?
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24. Coach Joe Paterno said he would like to cloister the team in a more
secluded hotel like before Penn State played Georgia in the 1993 Sugar
Bowl.
25. Tennis star Anna Kornikova refused to answer any questions about who
she is dating.
F. Visit a news organization’s Web site, and see how many layers you can identify
in a story. Note those that are missing or could be improved.
G. Visit your favorite Web site, or choose one that addresses a topic of interest to
you. Evaluate its credibility based on the criteria given in this chapter.
H. A copy marking exercise on the next two pages is to be completed using the
appropriate copy marking symbols. You may be allowed to refer to the section on
Proofreaders’ Marks in the AP Stylebook to complete the exercise.
Thompson / Online Workbook / 12
Use the proper copy marking symbols to correct the errors in the following sentences.
1. Each idea should be limited to one paragraph. When changing sentences around, be
sure to mark alterations clearly.
2. Sometimes ideas that are similar need to be merged into a single paragraph.
Merge these sentences together.
3. Transpose words these.
4. A circle around ninety or other spelled out numbers means to use numerals.
5. A circle around a numeral, such as 2, means spell it out.
6. Circling a word or full name, such as Federal Bureau of Investigation, means to
abbreviate it.
7. Circling an abbreviation, such as Ore., means spell out as a full name.
8. Three lines under letters or words, such as united states or fbi, means use uppercase.
9. A slash through a Letter means use lower case.
10. A wavy line under text, only for words that REQUIRE emphasis, means use boldface.
11. A single, straight line under text, for example titles such as The Hunt for Red
October, means to use italics.
12. A bridge me ans close up the letters.
13. A zigzag linemeans insert space.Sometimes a straight, vertical line is used.
14. The word “stet” means ignore the mark and keep the text as originally written.
15. A carat is used to missin words or letters.
16. A pig’s tail is sometimes used to deletee unnecessary unnecessary words or letters.
17. Brackets are used to center text or indent from both sides.
18. Insert the often used hyphen in the compound modifier in this sentence.
Thompson / Online Workbook / 13
19. A dash – which is a strong form of punctuation is indicated with the goal post
symbol.
20. Periods are used at the end of sentences They can be marked two ways
21. I said, Please insert quote marks.
22. Its easy to insert an apostrophe and commas are equally easy to insert.
23. When a sentence is hash a complte it may be easier to tow rewrite fix ti the thing
whole than transpose try to and otherwise fix it.
24. Stories that take more than one page require the word
at the bottom of all
pages except the last. Sometimes circling a word means not to print it.
25. Either the symbol
or the number
indicates the end of the story.
Thompson / Online Workbook / 14
Chapter 4 ___________________________
Focus on grammar: The mechanics of language
Learning grammar, if one is not already skilled at it, often is seen as a burden. For some it
may seem an impossible goal. Yet it is a requirement in copy editing. And once you
begin to study it, and especially if you read good writing regularly, it will eventually
make sense, and you can become proficient. Grammatical correctness lends credibility
and clarity to writing.
Guided review of chapter
The eight parts of speech and their functions are: (1) _____________, which represent
people, places, things and ideas; (2) ______________, which stand in for (1)
_____________ to avoid cumbersome repetition; (3) _______________, or action words;
(4) ____________ and (5) _______________, which describe or modify other words; (6)
_____________, which show relationships; (7) _______________, which connect parts
of a sentence; and (8) __________________, which express strong emotion.
Possessives take (9) __________________; almost all non-possessive plurals do not need
this punctuation.
The key to correctly forming plural possessives is to first (10) ________________, then
(11) _________________.
A collection of people or things behaving as a single unit is signified by a (12)
________________ noun. These usually take (13) singular / plural (circle one) verbs.
Most pronoun problems can be traced to faulty connections between the pronoun and its
(14) ____________________.
Relative pronouns, such as who, are used to introduce (15) ______________. “Who” /
“Whoever” is used when the relative pronoun is the (16) ______________ of a verb or
phrase. “Whom” / “Whomever” is used when it is the (17) _______________ of a verb or
phrase.
An essential clause, which is integral to the meaning of the sentence, is introduced by the
word (18) ___________. A nonessential clause, set off by commas, adds details and
begins with the word (19) _____________.
In the (20) _____________ voice, which is more direct, simple and clear, the source of
the action is the subject of the sentence. In contrast, the (21) _____________ voice
emphasizes the action and may even omit the doer or agent.
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Verbs that require an object and establish the relationship between the subject and that
object are called (22) ______________ verbs. In contrast, (23) _______________ verbs
need no object; they are self-contained.
Verb forms that behave like nouns, adjectives or adverbs are called (24) ____________.
There are three types: (25a) ______________ (as in “To err is human; to edit is divine”);
b) __________________ (as in “Bruised hearts need tender, loving care”); and c)
________________ (as in “Eating cold garlic mashed potatoes for breakfast was only one
of his many disgusting habits”).
The (26) _______________ mood is used to suggest possibility, as in “The governor said
she would support a ban on same-sex marriages.” A related mood, the (27)
______________________, expresses a wish or a hypothetical situation: “If I were rich, I
would have fresh cut flowers every day and clean sheets every night.”
Like prepositions, (28) __________________ are linking words. There are three types:
(29a) __________________, which link sentence elements of equal grammatical status or
rank; b) ___________________, which link unequal sentence elements; and c)
__________________, which also link equal elements but always come in pairs.
A key to making sure subjects and verbs agree is to find the real subject. First, you must
disregard any (30) _________________ or parenthetical phrases. You also need to
consider compound subjects. (31) _________________ pronouns, such as “anyone” or
“either,” are usually singular.
A (32) ______________________ is a type of misplaced modifier that has lost its
connection to the noun or pronoun it is intended to modify.
Often, it is better to use a (33) ___________________ equivalent rather than a trade
name, unless the story demands such specificity.
Commas are used to separate independent clauses and to separate the elements in a list or
description. In most media guides, such as the AP Stylebook, no comma is called for
before the conjunction in a (34)__________________.
The (35) ___________________ occupies the middle ground between the full stop
signified by a period and the brief pause signaled by a comma.
A (36) ____________________ precedes an organized list or introduces an example.
Hyphens and dashes are often confused, but the (37) _________________ links letters or
words together, whereas a (38) ________________ (which should be used sparingly) is
used to set apart a word or phrase, usually for emphasis.
Thompson / Online Workbook / 16
Common punctuation – commas and periods – should always go (39) _______________
end-quotation marks. If a quotation goes longer than one paragraph, do not put quotation
marks (40) _____________________.
Terms
Active voice, passive voice
Antecedents
Appositives
Collective nouns
Conjunctions:
Coordinating
Correlative
Subordinating
Essential, nonessential clauses
Gerunds
Infinitives
Misplaced modifiers / dangling participles
Mood: conditional, subjunctive
Participles
Relative pronouns
Trade name / generic equivalent
Transitive, intransitive verbs
Verbals
Exercises
A. Use appropriate copy-editing symbols to make corrections as needed. Mark “OK” if
no correction is needed.
1. The mediocre student was relieved to receive all Cs for the semester.
2. More companys are now offering benefits to same-sex couples.
3. The event is open to all alumna of the University of California.
4. Tornados, unlike hurricanes, can strike suddenly and allow little time to prepare.
5. Attorney generals in several administrations disagreed on the spirit, as well as the
letter, of the law.
6. The woman said she intensely disliked both of her daughters-in-law.
Thompson / Online Workbook / 17
7. The media has sometimes been accused of concentrating too much on politicians’
private lives.
8. A drunken driver ran into a car parked outside the Jones’ house.
9. The Smith’s, who live across the street, heard the crash and ran out to inspect the
damage.
10. The hostess’s sleeve caught on fire as she was lighting the candles.
11. Economics are a major concern for politicians as the next election approaches.
12. Politics is a dangerous topic to bring up at a party or a family gathering.
13. The Board of Trustees have approved a 5 percent across-the-board raise for the
faculty.
14. The Rogers are putting their house up for sale this summer.
15. Elaine left her newspaper job to write childrens’ books.
16. A number of students were upset about the final exam schedule.
17. The number of company executives facing criminal charges have risen in recent
years.
18. The search committee has narrowed it’s choices for a new dean to eight
candidates.
19. While the Planning Commission presented their findings, the mayor scowled.
20. One criteria for the scholarship is financial need.
B. Circle the correct choice in each sentence.
1. The automaker is recalling one of [their / they’re / its / it’s] new SUV models.
2. Almost every reporter, at some point in [his or her / their / they’re] career, must
decide whether to use anonymous sources.
Thompson / Online Workbook / 18
3. Smith said the Council’s vote to close the street was an example of [its / it’s / them
/ they’re / their] ignoring residents’ concerns.
4. L.L. Bean sent out [it’s / its / their / they’re] Christmas catalogs earlier last year.
5. Nike defended [it’s / its / their / they’re] decision to increase the size of swooshes
on shoes and other products.
6. Police said they were seeking the woman [who / whom] fled from the scene after
the accident.
7. The man [who / whom] police arrested Tuesday was accused of forgery.
8. The manager said she wanted to see [whomever / whoever] was interested in
working a double shift.
9. The courier said he had been told to give the package to [whomever / whoever]
answered the apartment door.
10. No matter [who / whom] the prize goes to, the essay contest was a great learning
experience for all the students.
11. The forum featured nine candidates [who / whom] are all running for state and
local offices.
12. [Your / You’re] going to regret it if you drink that espresso right before going to
bed.
13. Depending on [who / whom] you believe, the death could have been accidental.
14. That new reporter turned in a fire story [which / that] was far too long.
15. Bridge is a game [which / that] can be easy to learn but difficult to master.
16. The 25-year-old Pittsburgh man faces charges [which / that] stem from the hitand-run death of a police officer.
Thompson / Online Workbook / 19
17. Thieves attempting to siphon oil from a pipeline in Nigeria sparked a fire [which /
that] killed at least 250 people near Lagos.
18. Most readers and viewers prefer news stories [which / that] are clearly presented
and relevant to their lives.
19. The doctor said several factors are associated with diabetic retinopathy, [which /
that] can lead to vision loss.
20. “Regardless of whom [your / you’re] going out with, [your / you’re] school work
must come first,” Judy’s mother told her.
C. In each sentence, determine whether the verbs are passive or active. Revise the
sentences, as needed, to make passive verbs active.
1. One longtime Democratic fund-raiser said some voters might be discouraged by
the scandal, but she predicted that the campaign budget would not be affected.
2. Prospects for peace in the Middle East have been dimmed by the recent series of
suicide bombings.
3. Metal detectors were installed by the high school to improve security after the
shootings.
4. Wreaths and cards were laid on the marble steps of the Capitol by sobbing tourists
mourning the senator’s sudden death.
5. The bill was sponsored by Sens. Bill Owings and Dottie Lincoln.
6. The New York Times is one of the most respected newspapers in the world.
7. A 78-year-old woman was mugged in the park by a masked robber while walking
her dog.
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8. The students were awakened night after night by false fire alarms, so they began
ignoring them.
9. Roxanne majored in music at Oberlin before joining the Minnesota Orchestra.
10. Parts of the law were declared unconstitutional by the courts.
11. The homeless man had eaten nothing but garbage for a week.
12. The mayor said she was unfazed by the council members’ criticism of her
leadership style.
13. Professor Pat Nichols said he was flattered to be mistaken for an undergraduate
by some of the visiting college alumni.
14. Unidentified gangsters blew Herbert “The Cat” Noble to bits Friday.
15. The beach house was destroyed by a fire that was started by a candle left
unattended by the owners’ daughter.
D. Circle the correct choice in each sentence.
1. The exhausted miner [lay / laid / layed] down for a nap after his shift.
2. Police found the robbery suspect’s identification card [laying / lying] in the street.
3. The apologetic patient said she had [laid / lain / lay] down to rest but fell asleep
and missed her appointment.
4. My roommates spend the entire weekend [laying / lying] around the apartment.
5. The weary baby-sitter announced that she was planning to [lay / lie] down and take
a nap when she got home.
6. After the author spoke, she [lay / laid] a pile of her books on the table and began
signing them for fans in the audience.
Thompson / Online Workbook / 21
7. The speaker [sat / set] his notes on the lectern and grinned at the applauding
audience.
8. The officer remembered his gun [sitting / setting] on his bureau at home.
9. Just [sit / set] that vase on the table, please.
10. The robbery victim said she thought she had [sat / set] her keys on the kitchen
counter.
E. Correct any errors involving verbals, adjectives, adverbs or mood. If there is no error
in the sentence, mark it OK:
1. Jerry Martin said that if he was president of the college, he would like to restore
Saturday morning classes.
2. The sensitively written feature article was published on the front page.
3. Editors tried to arrange a new part time schedule for the holidays.
4. Jennifer Bradley said that if she ever became features editor, she will fire the film
critic.
5. The man eating shark in the restaurant began to choke and cough loudly.
6. Coast Guard boats patrolled the shallow waters, searching for the man eating shark
that had attacked two tourists.
7. The suspect admitted he had shot his fiancée because she objected to him smoking
in the house.
8. Many college basketball coaches take their teams’ losses gracefully, but others
behave bad.
9. James told the police he felt bad about wrecking his sister’s new Porsche.
Thompson / Online Workbook / 22
10. In exchange for Libya agreeing to end its nuclear program the United States
ended the restrictions on travel.
11. If I was you, I would not take a heavy load of classes while working 20 hours a
week.
12. Taking care of three small children can be a full time job.
13. Verizon was offering a special rate for weekend long distance calls.
14. Executives said they could explain the allegations if the case goes to trial.
15. The teacher wished it was possible to take back his angry criticism of the class.
F. Edit the following passages, as needed, for subject-verb agreement, misplaced
modifiers and punctuation. Mark OK if you find no error.
1. Either of the proposed parking options are likely to bring an outcry from neighbors.
2. Neither the mayor or the City Council members sees the need for more zoning
restrictions in that part of town.
3. When a rash of school violence incidents occurs the public wonders what is wrong
with today’s youth.
4. One of the people who works in the lab complained of headaches after the leak.
5. A number of seniors including those with low grades have decided not to take the
final exam.
6. The five acres in question are part of a larger area the family plans to sell to
developers.
7. A series of news stories are examining the effects of the “No Child Left Behind”
mandate.
Thompson / Online Workbook / 23
8. Although downgraded to a tropical depression, the damage from the storm was still
great.
9. A winner of four Emmy awards and two Tony awards, James Earl Jones’ roles
include Darth Vader in Star Wars.
10. She also was a graduate of Princeton University in 1999, where she majored in
microbiology.
11. The student denied it was a clear cut case of plagiarism.
12. The motorcyclist, 19 was on his way home from work when the accident
occurred.
13. Rescue officials said the blaze which started Saturday apparently killed mostly
livestock.
14. A high percentage of award winning commercials involve humor.
15. You must remember this: a kiss is still a kiss, a sigh is still a sigh.
16. The speaker told the students she was a second generation Korean American.
17. Survivors included two daughters Amy Smith of Ann Arbor, Mich. and Jane
Rogers of Lakewood Colo. and a son Charles Adams of Bristol Tenn.
18. “Regardless of what happens”, the president said “I refuse to resign.”
19. The accident occurred Nov. 22, 2002 near a rapidly-growing suburb of Boston.
20. The author was born in Detroit but the family moved to Monmouth, Ore. when
she was 3.
21. The dean said, the professors should try harder to turn in their final grades on
time.
22. Contest officials said the winner was a 13 year-old resident of Salt Lake City.
Thompson / Online Workbook / 24
23. Its not unusual to receive a 10 to 20-year prison sentence for that type of offense.
24. Because it had not been visited in years, dry rot and other deterioration had begun
at the cabin.
25. Distracted and in a hurry, the mayor’s purse was accidentally left on the city bus.
Thompson / Online Workbook / 25
Chapter 5 ___________________________
Focus on good writing: Strong and graceful prose
The felicitous use of language is a joy to behold. In the rush of the daily deadline, it often
is overlooked. Yet readers appreciate a well-written story as much as they expect a
factually accurate one. Editors can help writers by eliminating clichés, using active verbs,
and emphasizing simplicity, brevity and concreteness of expression. Writing that flows
from one sentence to the next and one paragraph to the next makes reading and
understanding easier.
Guided review of chapter
Good editing allows the writer’s (1) __________ to be heard. Great editing helps it (2)
____________. Much of the very best writing relies on (3) _______________ words and
sentences, but that does not mean simplistic. Sometimes an editor must revise a message
so its impact is not buried under a layer of abstract clutter. Writing coach Carl Sessions
Stepp says audiences respond to (4) _______________ words that convey a precise
relationship to their concepts – words such as “office,” rather than the more abstract
“facility.”
(5) _______________ is especially important to news editors because broadcast time and
print space are precious, competition is fierce, and audiences tend to have short attention
spans. The phrases “totally demolished” and “3 p.m. in the afternoon” are examples of
(6) _______________. These diminish the conciseness and clarity of writing. Sometimes,
however, repetition of a key word or phrase can be an effective dramatic device. It helps
in three major ways: (7a) ________________, b) ____________________; and c)
______________________.
Strong verbs are essential to good news writing. The (8) _______________ voice is
usually preferable because it usually requires fewer words and makes it clear who is
doing what to whom. Occasionally, the (9) __________________ voice may be more
appropriate to emphasize the details of the action rather than who is responsible.
Editors who encounter technical terms or jargon should ask themselves five questions to
determine whether these should be replaced by simpler, more familiar language:
(10a) ______________________________________________?
b) ___________________ ____________________________?
c) ____________________________________________?
d) ___________________________________?
e) ____________________________________?
Reporters are prone to use certain types of jargon because they are accustomed to their
sources’ using it, but it may shut out segments of the audience. Slang, too, can be colorful
but may be understood by only certain demographic groups. “Sweet as sugar” is an
Thompson / Online Workbook / 26
example of a (11) ______________. Editors should purge copy of such trite, overused
expressions.
A (12) ______________________ is a figure of speech that places a word or phrase in a
fresh context to clarify or make a point in a creative way. Editors should be on guard for
those that don’t work or are not suited to the story.
Quoting people accurately is one of the cornerstones of journalism. If a direct quotation is
shortened or altered, possibly for grammar, it should be (13) _____________________
and not have quotation marks around it. Inaccurate quotes are difficult for an editor to
catch, since he or she was not there to hear the words spoken. However, the editor can
raise questions and take steps to ensure accuracy, among them:
(14a) _________________________; b) ___________ _____________________;
c) ________________________.
Quotations should be used (15) ______________________, reserved for times when
something interesting is said in an unusual way – not for the routine, the mundane, the
obvious. A sharp editor can sometimes discern a lively quote hiding behind a paraphrase
or, conversely, a dull quote that is better to paraphrase. Whole sentences are more
readable than (16) __________ ___________________ quotes, which are single words or
short phrases. Quotes should be “set up” so that the paraphrasing and the quote do not
(17) _______________ each other. An (18) _________________________ is
punctuation used to indicate words have been deleted from a quote. To add crucial
information to a quote, use (19) _______________________. Newsrooms have different
policies on “cleaning up” quotes, including elimination of ethnic or racial slurs and
profanity.
Attribution tells the audience the source of a quote or information. In a multi-sentence
quote, it’s usually better to use only one attribution and to place it after the (20)
______________ sentence. Ninety percent of the time, the word (21) ______________ is
the best attribution word. The most natural word order for attribution is (22a)
___________________, then b) _________________. The exception is when the
attribution includes (23) ___________________________________. An (24)
_______________________ is quoted matter on tape for radio or television news. A (25)
________________ includes these; a (26) _________________ does not. Attribution
usually comes (27) ______________ in print, (28) ____________________ in broadcast.
Introductory phrases can clutter news writing and introduce dangling participles. They
should be used only if they are kept (29) _______________ and if they provide (30)
_________________.
The (31) _________________ should appear early in a story to let the audience know
when an event occurred. But positioning is important for clarity and smoothness. Socalled (32) ______________ stories emphasize the latest angle and play down the exact
time of the event.
Thompson / Online Workbook / 27
Elements of a sentence or a list that are similar in content and function should be
expressed in the same way: starting with a verb or a noun, or ending in –ing, for example.
This is called (33) __________________ construction.
(34) ___________________ is the changing flow and rhythm of a story. Well crafted
prose shifts, pauses, slows and speeds, rather than sounding monotonous. This involves
alternating long and short sentences and using introductory clauses appropriately.
Terms
Actuality
Cliché
First-degree words
Jargon
Metaphor
Orphan quote
Pacing
Parallelism
Paraphrase
Redundancy
Second-day story
Time element
Voice
Wrap
Exercises
A. Edit the following sentences to eliminate redundancies and wordiness.
1. Two more names can be added to the growing list of students killed in school
violence.
2. The City Council has approved funding to build a new municipal center for the
city. It will be located downtown at the corner of Allen and Foster streets.
3. A hurricane totally demolished three summer vacation homes located on the bay.
4. Mayor Stephanie Thompson said she hoped to resolve the land-use dispute in the
near future.
5. Past experience has shown that students need alternatives to drunken, alcoholsoaked social events.
Thompson / Online Workbook / 28
6. City Council members are concerned about whether or not the new budget
adequately allows for future plans.
7. The police chief nodded his head, acknowledging that there were finally some
new developments in the decade-old murder case.
8. The reason why the woman donated 10 acres of land to the city was because she
did not think there was enough green space devoted to parks.
9. That house has nearly 3,000 square feet of space and a new hot water heater, the
Realtor said.
10. New medications are improving the lives of people with the HIV virus. Some
patients take a daily “cocktail” of several different drugs.
B. Edit these sentences to remove clichés, gracefully place time elements, reduce
wordiness or otherwise make them more readable.
1. As luck would have it, the farther he looked into the situation, the more he knew
that the course of his day was going to be no bed of roses.
2. He was killed when he came into contact with a live electrical wire.
3. Yesterday there car was partially destroyed by fire.
4. The new recruit was not on time due to the fact that he missed the notification that
he was prohibited from arriving at the base without his draft papers.
5. Jones gave the ring to his girlfriend that he had won in a poker game.
6. Last night, the meeting was brought to a close at 10:30 p.m.
7. He concluded that the chemical was dangerous yesterday.
8. Garcia knew he should keep the casino at arm’s length, but he had lost a fortune
last week and was not going to take it laying down.
9. He made a long distance telephone call to Los Angeles from Baltimore.
10. Freshman intramural rules required a C average, getting permission of the coach
and to have a parent’s permission.
C. Fix the punctuation and other errors in the following quotes:
1. I don’t know who threw that rock, she said, and I don’t care. She went on to say,
“I will have the whole lot of you punished for this”.
2. When asked whether he was going to run for a second term as governor, Benton
replied, I think one term in office is enough.”
3. The newest board member said he was in receipt of the communication from the
board’s chairman. “He must have been drunk to send out such a preposterous
suggestion” in the letter, he said.
Thompson / Online Workbook / 29
4.
5.
6.
7.
Wu said he was sure that he “could handle this.”
When I heard her cry Help me, I knew I couldn’t walk away, said Sawyer.
Brady said he accepted the position because it would be, he said, “a challenge.”
The Senator said that, “during this time, which covered 6 years, this
subcommittee held only a total of six days of hearings.”
8. Manager of Wings Self-Defense Center Frank Smith said, “Self-defense does not
make a person more violent. It provides a more confident understanding of your
options and capabilities.”
9. “The Air Force has higher social and academic standards than is required of other
students. Cadets in the Air Force ROTC program are expected to act like officers.
A proper attitude, appearance, and manners are expected at all times,” Matthew
Schneider, a cadet third class in the Air Force ROTC, said.
10. Some students agreed that alcohol has affected their grades. “Alcohol has
definitely affected my grades. I think I would have done better if I didn’t drink,”
Jayne Miller, a 21-year-old computer engineering major, said.
D. Edit or rewrite the following sentences to fix misplaced modifiers or other faulty
construction. There may punctuation and other errors, as well.
A. Although John Glenn’s first launch was not covered by so many reporters, which
is not to say it went unnoticed.
B. Michael Rollins said he admired Martha Stearns for her intelligence, energy and
because she is a strong leader.
C. Sam enjoyed researching a topic, conducting interviews and then to write up his
findings.
D. Approved in September by the Board of Trustees, 30 core faculty members plus
25 new faculty members are projected for the new School of Information Sciences
and Technology.
E. Living in a college town with thousands of rental properties, it should not be
startling that bitter tenet-landlord disputes occur.
F. Sometimes blindness is inevitable, such as the case for Kevin Schlessinger.
G. A mother of three, Meskin was born in Wichita Falls, Texas but moved to Green
Bay, Wis., at age 9.
H. By prioritizing, it becomes clear that a Friday morning exam is more important
than a Thursday night bar tour and squabbling with a roommate is not World War
III.
I. Born in Mississippi in 1931, James Earl Jones’s life and career have gone through
many changes.
J. A winner of four Emmy awards and two Tony awards, his roles include Darth
Vader in “Star Wars”.
E. Rewrite the following sentences, as needed, to eliminate ineffective passive voice.
1. The pregnant woman was nauseated by the paint fumes while the nursery was
being painted by her husband.
2. The grisly accident scene was blocked off by police, but not before one
photographer had shot a photo of the driver’s body.
3. 3. In the contested election, victory is being claimed by the military leader.
Thompson / Online Workbook / 30
4. The car was dented by a deer, not a drunken driver, the owner testified.
5. It was decided by the City Council that traffic would be diverted from that street
by signs.
6. The process of amniocentesis involves a needle being inserted through the
mother’s abdominal wall.
7. American teens have been spoiled by their affluent parents.
8. Graffiti was spray-painted on several garages in the neighborhood overnight by
gang members, police said.
9. A bomb threat was called in by someone just before the speech was to have
begun.
10. The peace agreement was conditionally approved by the Israelis on Wednesday.
F. Knowing whether to challenge or celebrate a writer’s use of a metaphor or other
descriptive language is part of the editor’s job. Minnesota Public Radio’s Garrison
Keillor has spoken of “icicles the size of Minuteman Missiles.” A feature about a
Portland brewer in The Oregonian included these passages: “He’s a sunny, compact man
who keeps a headlock on his high school wrestling weight of 130 pounds. . . . He orders a
German pancake the size of Bavaria. . . .”
Find an example of a skillfully used metaphor in a newspaper, magazine or book. Explain
why you think the expression works well.
G. Find an example of a stale, clichéd expression in a news or feature story. Suggest an
alternative way to word the passage.
Thompson / Online Workbook / 31
Chapter 6 ___________________________
Focus on headlines: Precision, power and poetry
Although much of a copy editor’s task involves polishing the work of others, writing
headlines is the copy editor’s chance to make his or her own impact with just a few wellchosen words. Headlines are an art form all their own. Readers who are too busy to do
more than skim the newspaper will at least see the headlines and get a sense of the news
from them. Summary headlines use present tense and avoid articles and conjunctions.
They must accurately summarize the news story while also enticing the reader into the
story. They can evoke emotion, create a mood. They organize and prioritize the news.
They help define a publication’s “personality.” Headlines must clearly state the main
point of the story. They must be appropriate in tone – lighter for features, more
straightforward for hard news. And, sometimes most difficult of all, heads must fit the
designated space.
Guided review of chapter
Brevity is the soul of headlines. Most are written in almost telegraphic style, using (1)
________________ tense. Usually, forms of the verb (2) ________________ are
omitted, as are this part of speech: (3) ___________________. The word “and” can be
replace with punctuation, either (4a) ___________________ or b) _______________.
Headlines, unlike sentences, do not end in (5) _________________. There are five basic
steps in writing a simple headline: (6a) ____________________; b)
__________________; c) _________________________; d) ____________________;
and e) _________________________. Multi-line heads take more skill because awkward
(7) ____________________ between lines can make them silly or difficult to understand.
(8) ____________________ heads are treated like sentences, capitalizing only the first
word and proper nouns. (9) ___________________ heads capitalize all major words, as
book titles do.
Some headlines work in tandem with a (10) ___________________________, usually
the largest, as an anchor. It gives the essence of the story. A smaller, secondary head,
called a (11) ___________________, adds context and detail. A lead-in head, or (12)
________________ is usually short and has no verb. It appears on top. These are more
common in magazine and Web design, and sometimes they are italicized. Headlines
without verbs are called (13) _______________ heads. Heads are usually positioned
above a story either (14a) ______________________ or b) ____________________.
The size of type, including headlines, is measured in (15) _______________. This is a
tiny unit of measurement, 72 to an inch. The size of headline type typically ranges from
(16a) __________________ to b) __________________, depending on the story and the
number of columns it spans. Another unit of measurement, used for the width of columns
and pages is the (17) ________________, one-sixth of an inch. The print area on a
Thompson / Online Workbook / 32
standard newspaper page, called a broadsheet, is typically about (18)
________________. The vertical strips of type on a page are called (19)
________________. There are usually six or seven of these on a standard newspaper
page, fewer on tabloid and magazine pages and on Web sites. The thin white spaces in
between the type are (20) ________________.
The appearance and character of the print itself is known as (21)
________________________. A particular style of type, such as Courier, is called a (22)
_________________________. A (23) ________________ refers to all the letters,
figures and marks in a particular size and style of type. Heavier, thicker lettering, used in
most heads and occasionally in text for emphasis, is (24) _____________________.
“Slanted” type is called (25) _________________________. (26) _________________
styles have small ornamental strokes, or curlicues, at the ends of their letters and figures.
The standard format for a headline order is a three-figure sequence in this order: (27a)
____________________ - b) ___________________ - c) _____________________. For
example, the lead story of the day might call for a 6-42-1 banner head. A shorter story
inside might have a 1-30-3 head, which probably would be more difficult to write.
Headlines on news stories should have a neutral tone. Taking sides or slanting the facts is
known as (29) __________________. Direct quotes in headlines are usually punctuated
with (30) __________________. Some newsrooms also allow colons and dashes to be
used as attribution symbols, but only sparingly.
Headlines can range from ultra-serious to playful, depending on the type of story. There
are four basic types, or approaches to headline content described in this chapter: (31a)
________________, b) __________________, c) __________________ and d)
___________________. Headline writers should be careful not to pile on too many
modifiers and to be careful with words that can have double meanings. Don’t sacrifice
clarity for cuteness. Acronyms and abbreviations should be used sparingly to avoid heads
that look like “alphabet soup.” In a continuing story, the headline should focus on the
latest developments.
Terms
Boldface
Broadsheet
Column
Downstyle / upstyle
Editorialize
Font
Gutter
Head or hed
Hammer
Italic
Kicker
Label
Thompson / Online Workbook / 33
Main hed / drop or deck hed
Pica
Point
Serif / sans serif
Typeface
Typography
Exercises
A. Find a headline in your local newspaper that you think is inaccurate, is poorly
phrased or biased, or otherwise needs improvement. Try rewriting it within the
same count, or approximately the same number of (maximum) characters per line.
B. Find a headline in your local newspaper, or perhaps a magazine, that you think is
particularly well written. What do you like about it?
C. Each of the following headlines has one or more problems. Discuss how they
might be revised, keeping the headline within the same (maximum) number of
characters per line.
1.
Ford, Carter
want censor
for president’s
indiscretions
2.
Water main break affects service.
3.
Rehnquist may find
himself more in the
limelight then ever
4.
Commissioner says
decision on tax will
be appealed in court
5.
Area girls’ teams are
lacking in experience
6.
City restricts who farm can sell land to
7.
State ruling:
Cottle errored,
but not for gain
Thompson / Online Workbook / 34
8.
Christmas trees’ prices
higher to meet demand
9.
If your searching for
a home, here’s advice
10.
Exhibit of Frank Lloyd
Wright designs opens
11.
Appeal planned in
ruling on Utica man
12.
2 area men arrested
after leaving train
13.
Council leaning
toward authority
to pay for plant
14.
Sen. Niles to retire at end of term?
15.
Malibu biker charged
with attempted rape
16.
Tragedy: Man, 83, dies while shoveling snow
17.
He’s likely tuning up angels’ wings [on a feature obituary]
D. Read the following story closely, then complete the headline exercises that
follow:
RALSTON – A water main break brought havoc Monday night to a twoblock section of Locust Street. Sleepy residents were forced from their homes as
basements flooded, and a sinkhole created by the break caused an accident that
sent a Ralston man to the hospital.
Enrique Donoso, 42, of Hill Terrace Apartments, suffered a broken arm
and facial cuts when he drove his car into the 8-foot-deep sinkhole just before
midnight. Fire Chief Howard Longley, whose crew was the first to arrive, said
Donoso told him that water pooling in the street concealed the hole. Donoso was
treated at Mercy Hospital and released.
The break had gone unnoticed until the accident, Longley said, because
most residents were asleep and the neighborhood has little traffic at night. Within
an hour, however, residents of about 20 homes were awakened by volunteer
firefighters going door to door. Their basements were already filling with muddy
water, their gardens were ruined, and their yards were cratered by water eroding
soft sections of ground beneath the surface.
Thompson / Online Workbook / 35
City inspectors evacuated 12 houses near the site of the break after finding
evidence of structural damage that might have put the residents at risk.
Meanwhile, Department of Public Works employees were struggling to stem the
rising tide of water along the street.
“I don’t like being roused in the middle of the night, but I guess it beats
having your house fall on your head,” said Mildred Williams, who left her home
at 114 Locust St. with her husband, Raymond, and their two children. “We just
put a TV room in the basement, and now it looks like Sea World down there.”
The Williamses and several other families spent the rest of the night with
family or friends. But the members of at least six households had to bed down in
makeshift quarters at the Harmony Avenue firehouse.
A more detailed inspection of the affected homes was planned today, but
officials said the water might linger for several days because the ground was
already saturated by recent heavy rains.
The break, which was reported at 2:30 a.m., halted water service to
adjacent neighborhoods overnight.
Write the following:
1. A summary sentence for the story
2. A 6-42-1 headline
3. A 2-30-2 headline
4. A 1-24-3 headline
E. Edit the following story, then complete the headline exercises that follow:
HURLEY FALLS – Kluger Machine Company., manufacturer of calculators and
other office equipment will close it’s doors for the last time on June 1, ceasing all
operations and leaving 153 employees without jobs.
Kluger officials, who announced the closing yesterday downplayed the affect of a
series of lawsuits and fines, blaming the firm’s failure instead on a business climate that
is hostile both to smaller companys and to older technologies.
“We’ve done our best to compete by emphasizing the inexpensive, low
maintenance reliability of Kluger products” said President Victor K. Downes during a
brief news conference. “But tradition only takes you so far.”
Kluger lost $3.2 million dollars last year and has not seen a profitable quarter in
nearly a decade.
Downes promised to devote the company’s resources in the 3 months before
closing to job training and placement for its remaining employees, who’s ranks have
thinned from a peak of about 900 in the early 1970’s.
“We’ll go out the way we came in – with the welfare of our people at the top of
our agenda,” Victor said.
But employees, including many who declined to be named, were not optimistic.
“We know how Kluger takes care of its workers,” said Howard Bettinger, 59, a
machinist at the River Road plant for 32 years. “Things were different back in the old
days, but since Downes has been running the show, it’s hardly safe to work there. You
can’t tell me now their going to up and get everybody a decent job. I’ll be flipping
burgers somewhere – if I’m lucky.”
Thompson / Online Workbook / 36
Since 1988 Kluger has lost three lawsuits related to two on-site employee deaths
and one disabling injury, and has reached out of court settlements in two other injury
cases. The payouts in the five cases totaled $24,200,000. In addition, Kluger has been
rocked in recent years by a series of highly-publicized state and Federal fines and
sanctions for worker-safety infractions.
In one case last year, investigators from the Occupational Health and Safety
Administration (OSHA) sited an incident where part-time employees without training or
protective gear, many of them teens, were working unsupervised 12-hour shifts
immersing metal parts in open baths of corrosive liquids.
Downes, whose grandfather Hiram Kluger, started Kluger Machine in 1927,
yesterday dismissed the pattern of suits and investigations as “government harassment of
an honest businessman” that had been “blown out of proportion” by the media. Noting
that many Kluger employees had worked for the company for decades, he said, “Those
fellas wouldn’t keep punching the time clock here if they didn’t still have most of their
fingers, would they?”
Downes claimed, “Market forces are shutting me down, not a bunch of
bureaucrats.”
Write the following:
1. A summary sentence for the story
2. A 4-48-1 main headline with a 4-24-1 deck head
3. A 5-72-1 headline with a kicker
4. A 1-30-4 headline
Thompson / Online Workbook / 37
Chapter 7 ___________________________
News close to home:
Editing local stories and community news
People care intensely about local news. It can directly affect their lives or involve people
they know. For that reason, local stories receive intense scrutiny. Also, editors often work
directly with reporters to fine-tune local copy. Local news also provides an opportunity to
make a difference in a community – to raise awareness of issues and find solutions.
Guided review of chapter
Some news organizations have chosen to step beyond neutral, detached reporting to host
forums and even lobby for new policies. This emerging style is called (1)
________________ journalism. The Internet and 24/7 all-news cable channels have made
it easy to stay informed on national and international events. But that information glut
doesn’t necessarily include coverage of readers’ and viewers’ communities. Moreover,
the idea of “community” is evolving. Certain Web sites, specialty publications and cable
networks, referred to as (2) ________________ media, speak to communities joined by
beliefs and interests, not geography. Simple Web publishing formats such as (3)
________________ allow audiences to participate more fully in gathering and evaluating
information.
A story is (4) ________________ if it clearly connects with readers and answers the
question “What does this have to do with me?” A news story has (5) ______________
when it becomes personal rather than general. This chapter explains four major reasons
that accuracy problems are magnified at the local level: (6a) __________________, b)
_______________________, c) _______________________, d) _________________.
Local sidebars, often called (7) ______________________ include details such as phone
numbers, addresses, schedules, prices and e-mail addresses.
A sizeable portion of a publication’s revenue, and virtually all of a broadcast station’s,
comes from (8) __________________. This means that newsrooms may feel pressure to
focus on more affluent neighborhoods. But editors must work to make sure their news
organizations reflect the diversity of their communities.
In a University of Wisconsin study, most of the participating newspapers indicated they
had tried to get beyond the (9) __________________ model of presenting news to
develop more of an (10) ____________________ approach, with more historical context
and common ground for opposing views.
Terms
Blogs / Weblogs
Civic journalism / public journalism
Thompson / Online Workbook / 38
Information / help boxes
Niche media
Relevance
Exercises and discussion points
A. Why is local news considered by many to be more important today than ever?
B. What are the essential qualities of strong local news coverage?
C. How can local news editors help keep news copy simple and appealing?
D. What are some of the pros and cons of civic journalism?
E. Find one or more national wire stories in your local paper and suggest a way that
they could be localized.
F. Edit the following stories for style, grammar and punctuation and content. Make
notes of any missing or confusing information you would need to check out with
the writer.
School board
The Spring Valley Board of Education cleared up some parent’s misconceptions
about a recent impromptu pep rally at the high school and elected officers at it’s
regular meeting Monday night at 7:00 PM at Kennedy Middle School.
Robert Bannister addressed the concerns of parents regarding a pep rally that took
place in the halls of Spring Valley High School on November 20. About 300 students
left classes on that day and did a “snake dance” thru the halls of the building. The
dancers eventually made they’re way to the gymnasium where a pep rally ensued in
support of the football team, which is Number One in the conference.
Several students were suspended for vandalism that occurred during the pep rally,
including graffiti painted on the trash dumpsters in the parking lot, but some parents
say the Administration got the wrong students. Many parents argue that the principle
is punishing good kids who were just taking part in a harmless school spirit activity.
“I just think the school overreacted”, said parent John McNichols, who’s fifteenyear old son, Scott attends Spring Valley. “It’s so unfair to ruin the records of some
really descent kids.”
“Suspensions are appropriate for those kinds of defiance and vandalism,” Banister
said defending the school administrators decision.
Some college applications ask if a student was ever suspended and parents are
worried that this suspension for what they see as a trivial matter could jeopardize their
children’s future.
The school board agreed that the appropriate disciplines were handed down and
they will assist any student that desires it in explaining the reason why they were
suspended on college applications.
Thompson / Online Workbook / 39
Before this fairly heated discussion between Bannister, board members, and
parents, the board elected their officers for next year. Carla Buchanan was re-elected
President by a unanimous vote. Cynthia Potter stepped down as Vice-President after 5
years, and was replaced by Marc Sherrill.
The Spring Valley School Board meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of the
month. Meetings are rotated between the seven schools throughout the District.
Hancock obit
Kelly Hancock, 86, a resident of the Paradise residential care center, died Tuesday
at the center. She was born December 20, 1920 in Yuma, Arizona, a daughter of the
late Richard and Hannah O’Keeffe. She married Don C. Hancock, who died Nov. 15,
1995.
A cook for the Spring Valley School District for 30 years before retiring in 1982,
her family moved to the area when she was ten years old. She was a long-time
member and past Elder of the First Presbyterian Church and a member of the adult
Sunday School class there, she also taught childrens’ Sunday school classes for many
years. She also was a 50 year member and past matron of the local Order of the
Eastern Star chapter, Secretary of the chapter for five years, and a member of the
Spring Creek Fire Company Ladies’ Auxiliary.
She is survived by a daughter, Agnes Irene Johnson of Spring Valley, three sons,
John of Norfolk, VA, Thomas of Cleveland and Michael of Kenosha, Wisc., two
sisters May Lewis and Betty Byars, both of Denver, 15 grandchildren and 10 greatgrandchildren.
Visitation will be from 7-9 PM at the McCoy Funeral Home, 102 East Elm Street.
The funeral will be at 10 AM Saturday at the First Presbyterian Church with
Reverend Myrna Malloy officiating. Her body will be creamated and the ashes will be
scattered in the Rocky Mountains she loved to hike in according to family members.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the First Presbyterian
Church Building Fund, the Sierra Club, or the American Cancer Society.
United Way
The United Way kicked off an ambitious campaign Monday announcing it’s goal
of $1.6 million dollars during a catered luncheon of shrimp and prime rib attended by
the Mayor and other city and county leaders.
Pledge cards will be received by participating businesses in the next couple of
weeks, according to this year’s chairwoman, Ada Gardener. Team captains, as well as
the goal were announced at the luncheon.
Gardener said, “We want to emphasize that the United Way truly is a way for our
community to be united in helping others”.
Gardner reminded donors that they can choose the specific organizations they
want to contribute their money to or they can donate to the United Way at large,
noting that last year’s goal was exceeded by reaching a record $1,500,000.
The harsh Winter last year took a toll on some United Way agencies, including;
the womens’ shelter which was filled to capacity on some frigid nights and had to
turn away many women and children, said Gardner, who claimed that the local
United Way chapter only uses about five per cent of its funds for administration.
Thompson / Online Workbook / 40
Everyone is urged to give generously to this important charitable effort that does
so much in our community. For more information call 555-5555.
Library
A 3-dimensional model of the proposed new library building at Alan and Forest
Streets can be seen on display at the Municipal Building downtown this month. The
model was presented to the city’s Library Building Committee at their monthly
meeting Tuesday by the architect James Gantt & Associates.
The model includes the adjacent existing buildings like the Municipal Building,
the Forest Inn bed-and-breakfast and the Longfellow Art Museum. The new library is
to be named in honor of Katy Langston a longtime patron of the library who
remembered it in her will by bequeathing $1,000,000 to the building fund.
“I am delighted that we have reached this major mile stone in bring a long
overdue improvement to the downtown not to mention providing some much needed
space for our books and other materials. We look forward to being able to serve our
patrons more effectively,” said Marla Perkins, the chief librarian, “this is a key part of
revitalizing our downtown area as a cultural and commercial center”.
Other Committee members said they did not find any serious faults with the
design but they will have some suggestions for refining some aspects of it. Floor
plans are on display with the model.
Perkins says the committee welcomes ideas and written comments from the
general public and that hopefully many citizens will take advantage of the opportunity
and attend a number of meetings that will be held in the next two months to present
their comments. The first of those meetings will be held Friday.
The city council also invites comments from the public during the public hearing
at their next meeting at 7:00 p.m. Monday night.
Police chief
Spring Valley police chief Don Baker was welcomed home Friday by
approximately 50 local residents and city officials after serving overseas for the past
year as a member of the U.S. Army Reserve in Kuwait.
The gathering included six cops and firemen along with two K-9 German
Shepherd dogs.
“It’s great to be back,” said Chief Baker, “You have no idea how hard it is to be
away from home for such a long time.”
The warm relationship between the chief and citizens of Spring Valley was
obvious at the gathering.
“He’s such a great guy, and not every city can say that about their police chief.
We are really lucky, and it’s good to have him back,” said Dale Everhart.
Mayor Bertha Jackson officiated at the reception which included a red, white, and
blue cake. She joked about Baker’s “lavish” overseas travel experiences.
Actually, Baker said he and his unit worked 12 hour days as part of Operation
Iraqi Freedom. “We worked 12 hours a day, six days a week,” he said.
He added that he could not give specific details of his mission. “I can’t give you
real details. We were working on a classified ‘secret’ mission.”
Thompson / Online Workbook / 41
Baker’s longest deployment he had previously experienced was only one month.
He has been a member of the Army Reserves for 25 years.
His absence from the Spring Valley Police Department was made easier by a
partnership with the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department. Lt. Holly Golightly was on
loan from the department and served as Spring Valley’s interim police chief.
“I’m glad to see Chief Baker back, too,” Golightly laughed. She joked that Spring
Valley residents are “a rowdy bunch.”
Hospital
At 11 a.m. Saturday morning the rain ended just in time for the citizens of the
region to gather in the sun and help break ground for the new Providence Hospital,
located just east of Spring Valley off Highway 251. The new hospital will serve
residents from Lafayette to Greenville.
One of the goals of the event, entitled “1,000 Shovels” was to set a world’s record
for the largest groundbreaking celebration. The current record of 1,038 persons was
set June 1, 2002 by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Factory in Lawton, OK.
Among the Spring Valley residents on hand was Mayor Bertha Jackson. She and
Mark Cato, President of Providence Hospitals served as the official witnesses for the
Guinness Book of World Records.
The crowd may not have broken any records, but the weather did. The
temperature soared by noon to 98 breaking a record set in 1955.
“It’s important to have good medical care nearby,” said Jackson. “This will add to
the quality of life in our community, just like good schools and parks and roads.”
After signing the official register, each person in attendance was given a yellow
sticker with a number on it. More than 100 specially painted shovels had been
donated by John’s Pretty Good Hardware, but many residents had brought their own.
The Spring Valley High School marching band played while the crowd
assembled. Several speakers outlined the hopes and plans for the new hospital. About
$2 million has been raised for it by the Providence-Spring Valley Hospital
Foundation.
“This is amazing,” Director of the Spring Valley Chamber of Commerce Joelle
Perkins said. “It sure looks like we have over 1,000 people here.”
Alas, when the last yellow sticker was distributed, it revealed that the crowd had
not set a new record for groundbreaking ceremonies: Total attendance was 995.
“Well, maybe we can do it for the library groundbreaking,” Mayor Jackson said.
ID theft
A Jasper County man has been sentenced to at least 8 years in prison for his role
in an identity theft ring.
Michael Rambo, 28, of New Brunswick pleaded guilty to 15 counts of identity
theft, one count of possession of methamphetamine, first-degree theft, and resisting
arrest.
Circuit Judge Lassie McDonald challenged Rambo’s claim that he was sorry and
had turned his life around when she asked him to name others involved in the ring.
When he refused to comply with her request, McDonald decided not to include the
possibility of early release for good behavior as part of his sentence.
Thompson / Online Workbook / 42
“I don’t see any evidence of your remorse. If you really felt bad about it, you’d
tell me who else was involved,” she said.
Police Detective Shawn O’Malley said the sentencing was “satisfying” because
Rambo’s operation was one of the biggest in town. “We will continue to investigate
others that we think are part of this ring,” O’Malley said.
Rambo was arrested November 15 after police served a search warrant at his trailer in
New Brunswick. Police found evidence of more than 50 victims.
Two of Rambo’s victims testified at the sentencing.
“Stealing like this really hurts people,” said Arlen Sloane, a Spring Valley teacher
whose backpack was stolen from his car. “I didn’t loose much money, but the hassle
of losing my license and credit cards seems never-ending”.
McDonald’s former landlords, who trusted him to gather their mail when they went
on vacation also were victims of identity-theft.
“We got back from a trip to an out of state family funeral to find a $15,000 balance
on a credit card we didn’t even know we had,” said Raymond Albergotti.
Rambo rented an apartment from Albergotti and his wife Lisa for about 2 years.
Lisa Albergotti described their relationship with the thief as almost parental.
“We’re all tore up over this. It’ll have an affect on our lives for as long as we live,”
she said as her husband smoked nearby outside the courthouse after the sentencing.
“It’s made me a lot more suspicious of everyone and much quicker to judge. And I
think that’s just sad”.
Thompson / Online Workbook / 43
Chapter 8 ___________________________
News from afar: Editing wire stories
Wire editors select, sort and edit stories transmitted by wire services and other newsgathering agencies outside the newsroom. They are responsible for revising breaking
stories as updates come in, combining stories from different wire services and sometimes
localizing them. They must be highly organized and have a firm sense of news judgment.
Guided review of chapter
Wire services are rooted in the development of the (1) _______________, which first
sent electrical impulses through a bundle of wires in 1831. This made it possible to
transmit stories across the nation or the globe soon after an event occurred. This created a
need for news-gathering cooperatives. Founded in 1848 as a co-op of six New York City
newspapers that agreed to exchange news with one another, (2) ____________________
is the world’s oldest and largest news organization.
A (3) ______________________ is a one-line, headline-style summary of a breaking
news story. A (4) __________________ designation is used for critical, dramatic
breaking news of great impact and magnitude. The (5) ________________designation is
used to add information to such a story or to introduce a major breaking story. Once the
lead has been sent, further details may be sent in sections called (6) ________________.
Sections of stories designated (7) __________________ are new leads intended to fit
above older material in a previous version of a story. A (8) _________________ is a
complete, new version of the story.
Broadcasters use the term (9) _________________ for the stream of stories, images and
audio sent electronically. Print journalists call this the wire. Four general categories of
wire-service organizations provide this material: (10a) ____________________; b)
___________________; c) ____________________; and d) _________________. The
wire editor compiles a (11) ___________________, outlining stories available from wire
services along with photos and graphics and, possibly suggestions on localizing. An (12)
___________________ is a story about a trend or an issue, intended to run at a specified
future date.
It’s important for the wire editor to know how much space or time is available for news.
The space available in print is called the (13) ____________________. Broadcasters
think in (14) _________________ of stories, which are separate timed segments of the
broadcast. By (15) ___________________, the wire editor continually monitors the wire
for new stories.
Most wire stories in print carry a (16) _________________ telling where the story
originated. It includes the city in all caps and a state abbreviation or full name of the
country, as style dictates.
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Generally, wire stories are considered easier to edit than local copy because (17a)
___________________________________ b) ___________________________
c)__________________________________.
It can, however, be more difficult to assess the relative importance of wire stories. Wire
editors must decide which of the hundreds of daily wire stories need to be published or
aired. This requires sound news judgment. The news value of (18) ________________ is
less important in news from afar, but these news values take on greater importance: (19a)
____________________; b) _________________________; c) ____________________.
Combining stories from different wire services about the same topic can result in a more
complete story that includes the best elements of each. They may have different quotes,
for example. Moving quotes from one story to another is potentially dangerous.
Incomplete (20) ___________________ is probably the most common error in combined
stories. Print newsrooms include a short (21) _____________________ at the end of the
story to credit the reporters or news services contributing to a combined story;
broadcasters include the credit in the story.
Wire stories can sometimes be (22) ___________________ to emphasize their relevance
to the community. This may require the wire editor to revise or add to a story to make
concrete connections between a distant event and the audience. The simplest way to do
this is to (23) ____________________. A further step is to add a local (24)
________________, perhaps a quote from a local expert or someone in the community
affected by the event or issue. A reporter might take it to the next level and uncover a
new angle or additional information that warrants a completely new story – a local
version of the wire story.
Terms
Add / take
Advance
Block
Budget / digest
Bulletin
Credit line / tagline
Dateline
Feed
Insert
Local angle
NewsAlert
News hole
Pickup
Scrolling
Wire / wire service
Writethru
Thompson / Online Workbook / 45
Exercises and discussion points
A. What qualifications and/or personality traits do you think are important for a wire
editor to be effective?
B. Rank these hypothetical wire stories in order of importance for a newspaper or
broadcast station in your community. Use the news values to make and defend
your evaluation of them.
• Tuition has risen so dramatically in the past five years at public colleges
and universities that a college education is becoming unaffordable for the
middle class, according to a new report by a respected foundation.
• A famous supermodel breaks her nose in a rafting accident while filming a
movie in the Cascades.
• A man in another state is arrested on suspicion of cocaine possession but
later released when the substance found in his pocket turns out to be
laundry detergent.
• Ireland once was as poor as a developing nation, but its economic status
has soared thanks to high-technology businesses.
• The president vetoes a bill that would have given a tax break to millions of
middle-class taxpayers. It would have saved the average household about
$50 a year.
C. Find a wire story in your local newspaper and an online story about the same
topic from another news agency, such as The New York Times. Compare the two.
Which is more complete? How do the quotes differ? Combine information from
the two versions into a new story that does not exceed the length of either original
story, or a maximum of 1,000 words. Be careful about transitions, repetition and
attribution. Be sure to include a credit line. Repeat this exercise as directed.
D. Find a wire story in your local newspaper or online that has a local angle. Suggest
a way the story could be revised to emphasize this (such as an addition or insert),
or suggest a sidebar that would make a connection between the wire story and
your community. Repeat this exercise as directed.
Thompson / Online Workbook / 46
Chapter 9 ___________________________
Making a long story short:
Editing for brevity and clarity
Audiences have less time to absorb the information that inundates them daily. This makes
brevity essential. Editing for brevity involves eliminating repetition, succinctly supplying
background and details, providing context and using quotes judiciously.
Guided review of chapter
American adults spent an average of (1) _________________ on broadcast and
newspaper news daily in 2002, down 19 percent in eight years, according to a study.
Younger audiences spent even less time reading and viewing daily news. Surveys
indicate readers don’t like for newspaper stories to (2) _______________ from the front
of a section to an inside page. On the Web, long scrolls can be awkward, and even “longform” media, such as magazines and public radio, are feeling pressure to tighten stories.
The first step in trimming a story is to find out (3) _________________. Once that is
established, there are four basic skills to trimming: (4a) ___________________, b)
___________________, c) ____________________ and d) __________________. One
tip in editing for brevity is to eliminate one- and two-word lines, known as (5)
______________. Editors who indiscriminately cut from (6) ___________________ may
discard details and context that are central to the story. Working from larger to smaller
blocks helps an editor avoid (7) ______________________.
A (8) ________________ reduces a news account to a single phrase, which is
superimposed on a video image. Some move across the bottom of the TV screen; others
are stationary. Critics find these distracting; defenders say they pack more information
into a broadcast.
It can be a challenge to condense a story without stripping it of color. In some stories, the
solution may lie in the tone or approach; in others, it may hang on a single (9)
_________________.
(10) _________________ are news stories that have been written or edited to bare bones,
usually two grafs or even shorter. They often convey the who-what-where-when of
community meetings and events, minor crimes and accidents, and accomplishments of
local people. Some are rewritten from news releases. Their styles vary, but generally they
should convey the essence of a single event or issue as concisely as possible. They cannot
be used to explore complex issues or capture personality. Active verbs are essential, as is
solid news judgment.
Terms
Thompson / Online Workbook / 47
Brief
Crawl / deko / ticker
Jump
Refer / teaser / squib
Widow
Exercises
A. Look through five consecutive issues of one daily newspaper and choose three
developing, continuing news stories (local or wire). Write a three-paragraph news
summary, emphasizing the latest developments in the story, but including enough
background that a reader who missed the earlier stories would be brought up to
speed.
B. Find five full stories in a newspaper that would be appropriate for a roundup of
national briefs, and edit each into a two- or three-paragraph brief.
C. Look at a Web site or a local newspaper, and give five examples you find of
wordiness and/or redundancy and make suggestions for revising. Then, choose
one story to shorten by eliminating wordiness or by deleting some of the
subordinate details or quotes. Count the number of words you could save in the
story. Does the audience make a difference in what you would omit? Explain.
D. Trim the following story from 360 words to 250 words. Be sure to edit for any
style or other problems.
Vest
Police say a bullet-proof vest likely saved the life of a Spring Valley officer who
was recovering Wednesday after the vest deflected a gunman’s bullet away from his
heart.
Declaring him a “real hero” police said Lt. Connor O’Riley interrupted the
suspect and two possible accomplices as they beat and robbed a 25-year-old woman
late Tuesday. The assailants remained at-large.
The woman, who’s face was pistol-whipped, is lucky to be alive, police said.
“These people are extremely dangerous,” said Lt. Ben Hurley, department
spokesman. “When you have a suspect willing to kill a uniformed officer, they have
to be considered dangerous”.
The shooting left the department shaken, since O’Riley became just the second
police officer in over a decade to be wounded in the line of duty. Sgt. Jesus Gonzales
was shot in the forearm during the execution of a search warrant twelve years earlier.
“All of our officers put their lives on the line on a daily basis,” Hurley said. “And
over the years, we’ve had lots of officers get shot at, but through training and the
grace of God, we have not become victims. When something like this happense, it
makes us remember we’re all vulnerable.”
The incident began at about 11:45 p.m. Tuesday when officers were dispatched to
the scene at Park Hill Apartments on North Park Hill Road on an assault in progress
call. A woman was attacked in an area just North of the apartment complex and
Thompson / Online Workbook / 48
dragged inside the building where the assailants continued beating her, police records
show.
As O’Connor, a 15-year veteran of the police force entered the building, a man
walked out and fired two shots from a handgun, striking the officer in the left had and
the left side of his chest. A big bruise formed beneath the vest where the bullet hit,
Hurley said. “He definitely would have died if the bullet would have penetrated,” he
added.
O’Riley returned fire as the suspect fled but it wasn’t known if the bullets hit or
missed their target. O’Riley and the woman were taken to Memorial Hospital, where
both were listed in good condition and were expected to be released by Thursday.
E. Compile a roundup of local briefs from the following news stories, condensing
each to no more than three paragraphs.
Blood
The Red Cross will hold an emergency blood drive at it’s chapter headquarters
Friday from 9-5 to restock dangerously low supplies.
Recent disasters and dips in donations have resulted in dangerously low supplies
in the region, according to Adelle Brown, a spokeswoman for the local chapter.
Inclement weather is blamed primarily for the drop in donations, she added.
Blood supplies around the nation have been strained recently by natural disasters,
including tornadoes and flooding, Brown noted.
“When one of these natural disasters strikes, we’re called on to pull together and
meet that urgent need, but the normal demands for blood continue and it takes a toll
on our supplies,” she said. “Now we need to restock because we would really be in
dire straights if another disaster should hit anytime soon.”
Brown said that Red Cross volunteers will be standing by Friday to provide
transportation for those who need it. Those who wish to make an appointment can
call 555-HELP, or you can just walk in, said Brown.
Also, the Old-Fashioned Churn is donating coupons for free ice cream to all of
those donating blood for the first time.
The Friday blood drive is in addition to the weekly regular collection which takes
place at the chapter headquarters, Brown said. “We’re hoping for a really big turnout
to boost our supplies,” she said.
Fire
A fire totally destroyed an abandoned barn in Northwoods Township last night
and burned about an acre of land, all brush, before it was extinguished by volunteer
firemen.
About twenty firemen responded to the blaze which was reported by nearby
neighbors who saw smoke and flames coming from the area at about 7:00 PM and
called 911. It took about an hour to put out the fire.
No one was injured, and a nearby farmhouse, where no one was home at the time,
was not damaged, said fire Capt. Howie Moshowitz.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, said Moshowitz, but he said it is
believed that a cigarette thrown by a passing motorist may have ignited the blaze.
Thompson / Online Workbook / 49
There was no immediate estimate of the damage available. The barn’s owner,
Cecil Davis, who lives in the nearby farmhouse but was away at the time of the blaze,
said that the barn had been unused for years. “I feel very luck,” he said. “I think it
was nearly empty. I don’t think there was anything in it except maybe some old
National Geographic magazines the library wouldn’t take and a broken-downs lawn
mower.”
Hit-run
Police are seeking information about a hit-and-run incident that occurred Monday
at the Quik-Stop on Buehler Lane.
At about 5 p.m., according to police, a small red car struck the left side of a
Chevrolet sport utility vehicle just as the SUV’s driver was pulling into the
convenience store’s parking lot, then it quickly sped off, spraying gravel.
Police said the owner of the SUV was unable to get a good look at the car’s
license plate or the driver, which he thinks was a young man. The red car’s rear
fender was dented and the left tail light was smashed, according to the police report.
Anyone who might have witnessed the accident or have any information is asked
to call the police at 555-3030.
Recycling
Mayor Sydney Delacroix has appointed a new director of recycling for the city.
George Campanella, 38, formerly manager of transportation for the city’s Sanitation
Department, was named to replace Marcia Thomas, who plans to retire at the end of
the month after ten years in the position.
Campanella says he hopes to raise citizen’s awareness of recycling efforts and
improve the efficiency of collection. “I expect my background in managing the fleet
of garbage trucks, as well as my knowledge of the city, to come in handy,” he said
during a press conference at which his promotion was announced.
Participation in recycling is down, noted Campanella. Five years ago, residents
were recycling about 10% of their residential trash including glass, paper, aluminum,
and plastic. That has declined to only about 8%.
Campanella says he wants to study the situation in depth before making any
changes, but he is considering expanding the area served by weekly curbside pickup
and plastics might be dropped from the program to save money.
Currently, some neighborhoods, particularly in the southern areas, have no
curbside pickup, residents must drop off recyclables at collection centers which are
often vandalized, Campanella noted.
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Chapter 10 __________________________
Working with writers: Editing features
Feature stories focus on the human angle or explore the “how” and “why” of events.
They are usually less structured than hard-news stories. A variety of leads are used.
Editing features requires understanding and respecting these differences. It takes
creativity. This type of editing also may involve more collaboration with the writers to
help them sharpen their work. Good feature editors serve and guide both the writer and
the audience.
Guided review of chapter
Stories that blend the human element with news events are (1) __________________.
Features that are mainly about people, their accomplishments or failures, are (2)
__________________. Other stories, focusing on broad changes in tastes or behavior are
(3) _________________. Opinion-oriented columns and reviews also are categorized as
features.
Most good feature writers want to work with strong, confident editors to help their stories
fulfill their potential. The editor should make sure the story draws in the audience and
delivers what the (4) _________________ promises. The (5) ___________________,
which gives the story’s key point, should not be delayed too long. It should come within
five or six paragraphs, certainly before a story jumps. All quotes, opinions and claims of
fact in the lead should be (6) __________________ as high in the story as possible.
The story should focus on a single (7) __________________ and be structured around it
logically. Although color and anecdotes are appropriate, overwritten, self-indulgent prose
is not. Like a news story, a feature should be (8) ____________________, not biased
unless it is a column. Some (9) _______________________ encourage more opinionated
writing, however. In a long feature it is important to ensure (10) ____________________
signal shifts in scenes or ideas and move the story along smoothly.
Feature leads are rarely who-what-when-where summaries. They come in a variety of
styles. A (11) _____________________ lead shows an event, a person or a process. They
work best when there is something unique or quirky about the situation and when no
immediate explanation is required. A (12) ____________________ lead drops the
audience into the middle of the action, delaying the explanation or context. These are also
called (13) ___________________ leads. They work when they create suspense without
confusing the audience. (14) __________________ leads invite the audience into the
story with a shorter story that hints of the theme to follow. An (15)
____________________ lead encourages the audience members to imagine themselves
as participants in the story. This may involve the use of (16) ____________________
pronouns. A (17) ________________ lead withholds key information to arouse the
reader’s or viewer’s curiosity. (18) ____________________ leads are rare because they
Thompson / Online Workbook / 51
usually require explanation or context. These should raise a flag for editors because they
can be used ineffectively by inexperienced or lazy writers. (19) __________________
leads immediately explain why the story is important. They should be conversational and
avoid laying on too much technical information. The goal of all feature leads is to involve
the audience in a story that does not have clear, immediate news value.
Feature writers sometimes use the same narrative techniques as fiction writers. One of
these techniques, (20) ___________________, helps prepare the audience for what is to
come. It sets up key facts early in the story. (21) ______________________ is similar, in
that it provides crucial details, but it looks to the past rather than the future.
Just as the inverted pyramid is a practical way to organize hard-news stories, there are
three basic structures that are common and useful for feature writing. The (22)
______________________ relates a sequence of events dramatically. It may begin by
briefly setting up the present situation, then jump to an earlier starting point and work
back to the present. Or it may open with some crisis central to the story’s theme. Another
approach is to contrast the present situation with several points in the past. A second
feature structure is the (23) ____________________, which begins with an inverted
pyramid, then makes a transition into recounting a sequence of events that explains or
dramatizes the information at the top. A third feature structure, used to frame stories with
no single dominant element, is the (24) __________________. It involves a central event
or scene and a number of related events or scenes. When a story has serious
organizational flaws, the editor should consider three basic questions: (25a)
__________________________? b) _____________________________?
c) _________________________?
Terms
Anecdotal lead
Audience-identification lead
Backstory
Context lead
Descriptive lead
Dramatic / narrative lead
Foreshadowing
Hourglass structure
Hub-and-spokes structure
Mystery lead
Narrative structure
News feature
Nut graf
Profile
Transition
Trend story
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Exercises
A. Find a feature story in a small, local newspaper or on the Web, in which you think
the nut graf is either missing or buried too far down in the story. Suggest a way of
reorganizing the story to reveal the main point sooner.
B. Find a story that has been written in a “straight” news style that you think could
be rewritten as a feature. Rewrite the lead, using a technique other than a
summary lead.
C. Find one example of each of the three types of story organization discussed in this
chapter. Why do you think the writer, in each case, chose that structure? Does it
work?
D. Find a feature story that you think is well written and demonstrates the qualities
discussed in this chapter. Identify the type of lead and the nut graf. How far down
is the nut graf? What structure is used? Identify any creative techniques used,
such as metaphors and foreshadowing or backstory. How are quotes and
attribution handled? Identify the transitions and the section each introduces.
E. Find a profile story in a newspaper, magazine or online. Identify key details that
give insights into the person’s character or way of life. What revealing anecdotes
show, rather than tell, about the person? List the sources used in addition to the
profile subject. What, if anything, does the profile story leave you wondering
about its subject?
Thompson / Online Workbook / 53
Chapter 11 __________________________
No safety in numbers:
Stories based on polls and surveys
Polls have become a popular way of taking society’s “pulse.” A sampling of people is
questioned to get an idea of the attitudes and/or behavior of the larger group they
represent. Polls can be great sources of information for trend stories and political
forecasts. They help news organizations keep abreast of public opinion. It is important for
editors to be familiar with how polls are conducted to evaluate their credibility. It is also
important to be familiar with the terminology of polling. But polls are only tools; they do
not replace sound reporting and editing.
Guided review of chapter
Polling is done by a variety of organizations and individuals. Some are independent
companies; others are political groups or businesses that may have a stake in the results.
And some media organizations do their own polls. The source of a poll may indicate its
(1) __________________, if not its accuracy.
When polls influence voters to switch allegiance to a candidate who appears more
popular, they are said to create a (2) _____________________ effect. Call-in or coupon
polls do not apply the methodology needed to draw firm conclusions about public
attitudes. For example, online “polls” in which users are invited to weigh in on issues
have no safeguards against (3) __________________ responses. National independent
firms with solid track records have won public acceptance of polling.
Editors owe it to their audiences to explain how polls work. A few key terms help to
evaluate a poll’s methodology and results. Three interrelated numbers are important. The
number of participants in a poll is called the (4) ____________________. Generally, the
bigger this number is, the greater the chances of getting an accurate picture of the group
being studied. Pollsters use a mathematical formula to rate the probability of a survey’s
accuracy as a percentage, called the (5) ____________________. This figure is related to
(4) but is also related to a third key statistic, which calculates the degree or range of a
poll’s accuracy: (6) _____________________. Changing one of these three figures
affects the other two.
The way in which questions are asked can also affect the outcome of a survey. Phrasing
should be neutral and not cue a respondent to think of the question in a particular context.
Poll stories should, if possible, include specific questions asked, as well as identifying
who asked them.
Reliable polls begin with a (7) __________________ of people from the group the poll is
attempting to draw conclusions about. This means that every person in that group, known
Thompson / Online Workbook / 54
as the poll’s (8) ___________________, has an equal chance of being included. (9)
___________________ phone lists provide a more inclusive list of people than a phone
directory. But the timing of calls must also be considered. Caller ID and cell phones pose
other challenges for pollsters. A person who can’t be reached or refuses to participate is
called a (10) _______________________. Pollsters can adjust for under-representation of
subgroups (gender or racial group, for example) by (11) ________________. This means
adding emphasis to answers from an under-represented subgroup to reflect its actual
presence in the full pool surveyed. The audience should be informed if this technique is
used. Web and coupon “polls” do not accurately reflect public opinion because
respondents are (12) ___________________, not chosen by sampling. They also lack
other scientific controls of reliability.
Terms
Bandwagon effect
Confidence level
Margin of error
Nonrespondent
Random sample
Sample size
Universe
Weighting
Exercises
A. Circle or provide the correct answer, as needed:
1. If a poll shows the support for a particular candidate has fallen from 25 percent to
20 percent of likely voters, the change is:
a. 5 percent.
b. 5 percentage points.
c. 20 percent.
d. both a and b
e. both b and c
f. none of the above
2. The latest election poll indicates Candidate A is leading, with 53 percent of likely
voters’ support, compared with 47 percent for Candidate B. This poll has a
margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. What can you deduce from
this poll about the likely outcome of the race?
3. If a town’s population grows from 10,526 to 12,711, it increases __________
percent.
4. If student enrollment at a university falls from 25,743 to 24,865, it declines
_____________ percent.
5. An organization reduces its annual budget by 3 percent, from $450,000 to
___________________.
6. If a mayoral candidate wins an election by a vote of 30,000 to 15,000, her victory
is by a [margin / ratio] of 2-1.
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7. Many reliable pollsters report results of a survey with a confidence level of about
95 percent. To achieve a _______________ percent confidence level, every
person in the population being surveyed would have to respond to the questions.
8. Based on the chart in this chapter, what is the most accurate statement about the
relationship of sample size and margin of error?
a. The larger the sample size, the more important the confidence level.
b. Margin of error decreases more dramatically as you get into the thousands
of respondents.
c. The gains in accuracy diminish as the sample sizes grow.
9. If budget is a major consideration, a pollster might settle for a ______________
sample size or a ________________ confidence level to achieve the same
accuracy. An alternative would be accepting a _________________ margin of
error.
10. Which of the following questions might cue a respondent to lean toward a certain
response? How could the question(s) be phrased more neutrally?
a. Do you believe that same-sex couples should have the right to legally
marry?
b. Do you believe that harming an unborn child should be a federal crime?
c. With tuition rates spiraling out of control, do you think a college education
is worth its price these days?
B. Find an example of a report on a poll in a newspaper or online. Answer the
following questions about it:
• Who conducted the poll? When and how?
• How many respondents were included, and how were they chosen?
• What was the margin of error?
• What specific questions were asked?
• If you were editing a story about this poll, what further information would
you seek from the reporter or the pollster?
C. What are the seven elements the AP Stylebook says every story about poll results
should contain?
Thompson / Online Workbook / 56
Chapter 12 __________________________
Doing justice: Ethical and legal issues
One of the editor’s most important jobs is safeguarding the news organization’s
reputation for accuracy and fairness. This means being alert for language and images that
may be considered offensive or, worse, legally damaging. It is, therefore, important to
understand the ethical dimensions of reporting and to develop an ability to recognize the
potential for legal problems.
Guided review of chapter
Ethical breaches such as the Jayson Blair case have cost the media a great deal of
credibility and respect from the public. In a survey of U.S. adults reported shortly after
the Blair scandal, only (1) __________ percent of respondents said they believed the
media in general reported the news accurately. Many editors think that 24/7 cable, online
news and the proliferation of news outlets have created a breakdown in sourcing, factchecking and caution in the rush to be first to report stories. It’s easy to condemn lies and
fabrication, but most ethical questions involving the news are not so clear-cut. There are
issues of diversity, for example. References to someone’s heritage, gender, sexuality or
disability should be included only if they are (2) ______________ to the story. Most
editors routinely avoid identifying accusers in sex crimes, but that policy is under
scrutiny. Other ethical issues involve revealing allegations about candidates just before an
election, using unnamed sources, staging the news and defining the line between news
and promotions. In an effort to establish a liaison with their audiences, some newsrooms
have established the (3) _________________ position. This person can help a newsroom
define its mission and evaluate its performance, as well as helping readers understand the
editorial process.
Media ethics are standards of conduct that help determine how news should be gathered,
reported and edited. Asking the right questions can help editors establish a framework for
making wise ethical decisions. Unlike members of other professionals, such as
physicians, journalists are unlicensed and cannot be barred from practicing for unethical
conduct. Because of protection under the (4) ___________________, they are not subject
to governmental oversight. The media, therefore, have established codes of conduct as
guidelines.
Legal and ethical decisions are closely related. But a practice can be unethical without
being illegal, and it’s possible under rare circumstances for an illegal action to be
considered ethical. Lapses in either can damage lives. Also, a major lawsuit can have a
(5) ______________ effect, making the media more reluctant to aggressively report on
an issue for fear of reprisals.
The U.S. Constitution forbids censorship or government control of the media through (6)
__________________. This means the media are free to publish or broadcast what they
Thompson / Online Workbook / 57
will. Individuals, however, have the right to protect their reputations against false claims
and invasion of privacy, and they can sue the media in civil courts for monetary
compensation, called (7) ______________. Damage to reputation caused by publishing
or airing false information is called (8) _________________. The courts have established
five key tests of this: The information must be (9) _______________; the person must be
clearly (10) _____________________; the information must be (11) ________________
or otherwise made available to an audience; the person’s (12) _________________ must
have been damaged as a result; and the news organization must be shown to have been at
(13) ______________. Public figures also must prove (14) ______________ or reckless
disregard for the truth. This extra burden of proof was established in a landmark 1964
Supreme Court case, (15) __________________.
The single best defense against a charge of libel is (16) ____________. Two other major
defenses have been established: qualified (17) _________________, which protects the
media in reporting what people say in government meetings. It stems from (18)
_______________, which is given to public officials so they are free to speak their minds
freely during official proceedings. The other major defense is (19) __________________,
which applies to editorials, columns and reviews. Also, the courts and news organizations
acknowledge that reputation is relative, the dead cannot be libeled, and libel claims have
time limits.
Invasion of privacy is another legal concern for the media. These cases resemble libel
cases in some ways. But privacy suits are very different from libel suits in one crucial
way: (20) ______________ is not always a defense in a privacy case. Invasion of privacy
involves three basic situations: use of material that discloses highly personal information
about an individual or portrays that person in intimate terms when there is no (21)
_____________________; depiction of someone in a (22) ______________ light; or
evidence that a journalist has (23) ___________________.
Copyright laws protect intellectual property, such as writing, from being used without
permission. The principle of (24) _________________ has established that small portions
of copyrighted materials may be freely used for informational purposes and commentary,
such as use of brief quotations in book reviews or speech stories. Still, the source should
always be credited. The law is continuing to evolve on libel, privacy and copyright issues
involving the Internet.
Terms
Actual malice
Chilling effect
Damages
Defamation
Fair comment
Fair use
False light
Fault
Libel
Thompson / Online Workbook / 58
Ombudsman / public editor
Prior restraint
Privilege
Public figures / public officials
Sensationalism
Stakeholders
Exercises
A. Skim some newspapers and/or Web sites for stories about lawsuits against the
media. You might try using a search engine (such as Google News) or database to
find such stories with key words such as “libel,” “sue” or “defame.” Share these
stories in class, and discuss why the lawsuit was filed and what, if anything,
editors could have done to reduce the chance that the person would sue.
B. This chapter listed a number of defenses used in libel suits and also presented the
distinctions between private individuals and people in the public eye. How, if at
all, should these defenses affect the way stories are written and edited?
C. Although it is legal to run the name of an accuser in a rape trial, many news
organizations do not. Discuss the ethical pros and cons of running the names of
crime victims.
D. You are the photo editor at a wire service, and a freelance photographer brings
you some compelling pictures of hostages taken in the latest hot spot on the other
side of the globe. You have dealt with this photographer before, but she has never
brought you such dramatic images: guards pointing guns at handcuffed prisoners.
The photographer offers you exclusive rights to the photos, but she says if; you
don’t buy them, others are waiting to make offers. What questions should you ask
her about the photos? Would you buy them?
E. You are a copy editor at a newspaper, and a featured columnist has turned in a
column about an outrageous new Web site that shows movie clips of purported
executions at various prisons. As you read the column, you begin to wonder how
real the clips are. The Web address is not included in the column. You decide it
should be included so readers can evaluate the clips for themselves. You try a
search, using various words such as “execution” and “death row,” but can’t find
the site. You try to call the columnist at home, but she’s not there. You are 30
minutes from deadline for completion of that page. What should you do? What
questions should you ask yourself and/or coworkers?
F. Identify an illegal action that a journalist might take that might be considered
ethically proper.
Thompson / Online Workbook / 59
Chapter 13 __________________________
An eye for news: Editing photos
Thoughtful photo editing is valuable not only to the audience, but also to the
photographer. Editors choose images for their news value, photographic quality and
suitability for the audience. Careful editors trim and size photos to bring out the best in
the images. Editors also write cutlines, or captions, which enhance the messages apparent
in the photos. Each must complement the information in the headline, lead and the photo
itself so there is neither conflict nor unnecessary repetition. Good editors know that
photos deserve the same news judgment and attention to detail as words.
Guided review of chapter
There are three key elements of photo quality. First, a photo is (1) ______________ when
its shapes and details are plainly delineated and the foreground is distinguished from the
background. (2) _______________ refers to the photo’s visual clarity. And range of light
and dark tones is called (3) __________________.
Content also must be considered, sometimes balanced against the visual quality. Like
news stories, strong photos involve one or more of the news values: conflict, impact,
proximity, timeliness, novelty, prominence and audience interest. Other major content
criteria are (4) _______________________. Sometimes editors use small half-column or
one-column close-ups of individuals, called (5) _________________. If an editor must
choose from two or more good photos, he or she should consider the relative power,
shape and size of each. Contrast is better than likeness, and a single large photo is usually
better than two smaller ones.
An image accompanied only by a caption and no story is a (6) ______________ photo.
(7) ________________ are front-page or section-front photos that lead readers to related
stories on inside pages.
In Western cultures (8) __________________is the most eye-pleasing shape for photos.
Dramatically deep or wide photos also are more appealing. Unusual shapes and borders
are usually discouraged on news pages. So are tilting photos and (9)
_________________, or overlapping shots so the corner of one cuts into the body of
another. Scenes depicted in photos and on video should not be set up or staged. An
exception is the (10) _________________, posed specifically to convey a theme or
present a powerful image. These are used mainly with feature stories and should be
clearly labeled.
The process of cleaning up a photo to improve its quality is called (11)
__________________. This should not be done to alter the content of a photo. Printing
two or more photos as a single image, or (12) ________________, is sometimes used for
dramatic effect but only if clearly identified to illustrate a feature, not a news story.
Thompson / Online Workbook / 60
Another technique, (13) _______________, is turning a photo so its mirror image is
published. Digital technology makes it tempting and easy to manipulate images. But only
minor, neutral adjustments for clarity are appropriate for news photos. Editors should
choose file photos or footage cautiously to avoid seasonally inappropriate images and
identifiable people who may have died or whose circumstances may have changed.
Editors sometimes have to decide whether to use high-quality images that may offend
their audiences. Some photos may pose legal risks, as well. Decisions about problematic
images should be made collaboratively, with a variety of viewpoints. These decisions
often reflect the values of a community, as well as news values.
(14) ________________ is the process of selecting the best and discarding the rest. This
is usually unnecessary with good photos. It may be required, however, if a photo has
wasted space near the edges, if the background is cluttered or if one part needs to be
enlarged for emphasis. (15) _________________ is the process of planning and
calculating how much space a photo will occupy when it is reproduced on the page or
screen. If the dominant photo is vertical, it should run (16) ____________ columns wide.
Secondary photos should be two columns if horizontal, one or two if vertical. The photo’s
original (17) ___________________, or the relationship between its width and depth,
should be maintained.
Cutlines should explain the action and details in a photo but avoid stating the obvious.
(18) ___________________ tense should be used to describe the action or situation.
Photos that don’t accompany stories should have (19) ___________________. Small
head-and-shoulders photos should have (20) ___________________ for identification.
Terms
Composite images
Cropping
Cutlines
Flopping
Namelines
Lead-in / catchline
Mortising
Mug shot / head shot
Photo illustration
Proportion
Refer
Retouching
Sizing
Stand-alone photo
Thompson / Online Workbook / 61
Exercises
A. Download the zip file from the website, pick the best photo from the Center folder, crop it,
specify how many columns wide and picas deep it should run, and write a caption based
on the following information.
Center (info for all photos)
Who: Confederated Tribes of Grande Ronde
What: building Grande Ronde Youth Center
When: Under construction, occupancy expected in two months
Where: Grande Ronde, Ore.
Why: To serve tribal youth. Paid for through earnings from tribe’s Spirit Mountain
Casino.
Credit: Tom Ballard
B. Download the zip file from the website, pick the best photo from the Kayak folder, crop it,
specify how many columns wide and picas deep it should run, and write a caption based
on the following information.
Kayak (info for all photos)
Who: Brian Morrisey, local optomitrist
What: paddles around picnic tables
When: today
Where: Lower City Park, bordering West Second St.
Why: recent heavy rain caused Cozine Creek to overflow its banks
Other: “I was above most of the tables, but I bumped into a few.”
Credit: Tom Ballard
C. Download the zip file from the website, pick the best photo from the Fire folder, crop it,
specify how many columns wide and picas deep it should run, and write a caption based
on the following information.
Fire (info for all photos)
Who: State police fire investigators
What: Investigators examine remains of house destroyed by fire, killing Lisa Luann
Thompson, 36, and her son, Israel James Thompson, 2. Escaping the fire were
Thompson’s sister, Mysti Schafer, 33, and her daughter Lacey, 14. House belongs to
Marvin Youngberg, father of Thompson and Schafer.
When: yesterday
Where: rural part of Yamhill County
Why: cause is undetermined, but investigators are considering careless smoking as
possible cause. May have started in living room couch, according to District Attorney
Brad Berry..
Credit: Tom Ballard
Thompson / Online Workbook / 62
Center
Center2
Center1
Center3
Center4
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Center5
Center6
Thompson / Online Workbook / 64
Kayak
Kayak1
Kayak2
Kayak3
Kayak4
Kayak5
Kayak6
Thompson / Online Workbook / 65
Kayak7
Kayak8
Kayak9
Kayak10
Thompson / Online Workbook / 66
Fire
Fire2
Fire1
Fire3
Fire4
Fire5
Fire6
Thompson / Online Workbook / 67
D. Download the zip file from the website, pick the best photos from the Ball folder, crop them,
then lay out a photo spread for a half page (six columns wide by 10 and half inches deep).
Based on the photos and information provided for the cutlines, write a headline, and block out
10 column inches for a story. Write captions for each photo based on the following information.
Ball8 and Ball9
Who: Lee Niederer
What: Mayor’s Annual Charity Ball
When: today; ball takes place tonight
Where: Community Center
Why: benefit for Kids on the Block after-school program
Other: she’s arranging table decorations
Credit: Tom Ballard
Ball (all other photos)
Who: volunteers
What: work on decorations in preparation for Mayor’s Annual Charity Ball. Theme this
year is “Savannah Serenade” with decorations including arched windows, a sweeping
staircase, gazebos, trellises and chandeliers and outside a “cotton field,” a stage coach
and a cannon.
When: today
Where: Community Center
Why: for Kids on the Block, an after-school care program
Credit: Tom Ballard
E. Download the zip file from website, pick the best photo from the Girls folder, crop it,
specify how many columns wide and picas deep it should run, and write a caption based
on the following information.
Girls
Who: McMinnville High School Grizzlies vs. Silverton High School Foxes
What: Triple overtime basketball game; Silverton won 49-47
When: last night
Where: McMinnville High School
Why: in Pac-9 conference Silverton is 6-4 and McMinnville is 5-5
Other: Girls1, Girls2 and Girls3: Becky Jones (20) of the Grizzlies flies by Brigette
Saunders (22) on her way to the basket. Girls4: Grizzlies’ Susan Smith (14) gets off a
jumper from long range before Dahl can close in. Girls5, Girls6 and Girls7: Grizzlies’
Rennika Doty (10) is defended by Foxes’ Cora Dahl and Katie Stadell (background).
Credit: Tom Ballard
Thompson / Online Workbook / 68
Ball
Ball1
Ball2
Ball4
Ball3
Ball5
Ball6
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Ball7
Ball8
Ball9
Thompson / Online Workbook / 70
Girls
Girls1
Girls3
Girls2
Girls4
Thompson / Online Workbook / 71
Girls5
Girls6
Girls7
Thompson / Online Workbook / 72
F. Download the zip file from the website, pick the best photo from the Men folder, crop it,
specify how many columns wide and picas deep it should run, and write a caption based
on the following information.
Men
Who: Linfield Wildcats vs. Willamette Bearcats
What: Willamette 74, Linfield 61
When: last night
Where: Linfield
Why: Northwest Conference basketball game
Other: Men1: Willamette’s Ryan Hepp (12) tries to fend off Linfield’s Nick Fusare (52)
as Nic Johnson (42) and Casey Kushiyama (13) wait for a rebound. Men2 and Men3:
Linfield’s O.J. Gulley (21) drives past Willamette’s B.J. Dobrkovsky (20). Men4:
Linfield’s O.J. Gulley (21) shoots over Willamette’s Harold Sublett Jr. (24). Men5:
Linfield’s Casey Kushiyama gets a screen from teammate Nic Johnson. Men6: a
scramble leads to a jump ball. Men7: Center Nick Fusare, 6-foot-11, gets a jumper off.
Credit: Tom Ballard
Thompson / Online Workbook / 73
Men
Men1
Men2
Men3
Men4
Thompson / Online Workbook / 74
Men5
Men6
Thompson / Online Workbook / 75
Chapter 14 __________________________
Showing the story: Working with information graphics
Audiences sometimes may find it easier to grasp information when it is presented
graphically. Such information graphics, or infographics, combine text, numbers and
sometimes illustrations in various ways. Different types of graphics – bar or line charts,
tables, maps, lists and diagrams – are used to present different kinds of information. They
must be created and edited carefully to avoid discrepancies and distortions. Also, they
can overwhelm the audience and defeat their purpose if they are too complex.
Guided review of chapter
Many editors use the terms “chart” and “graph” interchangeably. There are five basic
types. A (1) _______________ is a set of horizontal, parallel bars in proportional lengths.
It is closely related to the (2) ___________________, in which the bars are arranged
vertically. Both are used to compare numbers side by side. To show a trend or trends over
time, the (3) ____________________ typically has a horizontal axis representing time
and a vertical axis for quantity. The circular (4) _______________ is divided into
sections to show the relationships of various quantities to the whole. Historical
information can be presented in chronological order on a (5) ________________ divided
into intervals.
Infographics also include tables, lists, diagrams, maps and combinations, or graphic
packages. Maps have four main applications in the news: weather, locator, explanatory
and data. Weather maps have become more sophisticated since the 1980s and sometimes
include breakouts of information for cities or regions. The point of a locator map is to
orient viewers by (6) _________________________. An explanatory map usually
combines a locator map with (7) _____________________ to trace an event or show a
process step by step. Data maps show statistics distributed across (8) ________________.
They can reveal interesting patterns of activity. Diagrams, which rely on illustrations to
explain how something occurs, should be neither too complex nor oversimplified.
Graphics can distort data if numbers visually skewed or otherwise out of proportion. One
common source of distortion is a (9) ________________, or starting point, that is
unsuited to the numbers. The general rule is to start a graph at zero. This provides the
audience with an (10) ________________ point of reference and keeps the numbers in
perspective. When plotting subtle trends and those involving large numbers, however, it
is sometimes better to start with a higher figure. Once the starting point is set, two more
qualities are necessary to ensure clarity and accuracy: (11) __________________, or
constant distance between points on each axis; and (12) _____________________, or
comparison only of like quantities. Compression of time frames to show more recent
developments in more detail can make it look as if the same amount of change occurred
in one year as in the previous decade, for example.
Thompson / Online Workbook / 76
Sometimes a simple, stylized image, or (13) __________________, may be used to
represent a complex measurement. These can make data look more attractive, less
intimidating. But they can be overdone, obscuring the main point of the numbers they
represent. They should be place (14) _________________ the plotted area, not depicting
the numbers themselves. Also, it can be confusing to use two-dimensional representations
of one-dimensional numbers.
Graphics that focus on financial trends must take (15) _______________ into account. It
creates a shifting baseline over the years. Shifting baselines also must be considered with
changing (16) ___________________ statistics.
It’s important for editors to remember to update graphics, as well as stories, during a
rapidly changing event. Such oversights may be the most common source of mistakes in
infographics that accompany breaking news. To minimize such errors, editors should
keep designers informed, suggest that graphics be designed so changes are unnecessary
or easy to make, and proofread them with the same attention given stories. Graphic
headlines should be kept simple and precise; identifying titles or (17) _______________
are usually adequate. Explanatory text should briefly identify parts of a graphic or
provide background information. The source line tells (18) ___________________; the
credit line is (19) ___________________. The overall accuracy of the graphic is
ultimately the responsibility of (20) ____________________.
Terms
Bar chart / bar graph
Baseline
Column chart / column graph
Credit line
Icon
Infographics
Line chart / fever line
Maps: weather, locator, explanatory, data
Pie chart / pie graph
Regularity
Similarity
Source line
Time chart / timeline
Exercises
A. Collect examples of three different types of graphics from newspapers, magazines
or Web sites: line charts or fever lines, pie charts, timelines, bar graphs, maps,
diagrams. Discuss the effectiveness or shortcomings of each in presenting that
type of data.
B. Find a newspaper or magazine story that could have been illustrated with a
graphic. What type of graphic would have been most appropriate?
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C. Visit the U.S. Department of Agriculture Web site (or use an almanac) and gather
data on the number of farms, average farm size and the number of people in farm
occupations for the years 1950, 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990 and 2000. Sketch a series
of charts using this information, then try combining the data in one chart to
emphasize the trends.
D. Gather data that could be used in a chart from a table, news story or the previous
exercise. Use Excel or similar program to enter the data and create the appropriate
kind of chart (bar, pie, etc.) for the data gathered.
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Chapter 15 __________________________
The balancing act: Designing pages
Visual appeal is crucial to reaching audiences in print and electronic media. Stories and
images must be packaged in a way that engages people and maximizes understanding.
Design should enhance the information presented. Although there are many approaches,
designers agree on some basic principles: contrast, proportion, balance, harmony and the
need for a dominant photo or graphic on each page. Many of the fundamentals used in
designing a newspaper page can be applied to other media, including Web pages and
magazines. Design skills are becoming increasingly important for editors.
Guided review of chapter
Strong design creates a positive first impression and gives the audience a sense of a
publication’s personality. A well designed page or screen helps establish a sense of (1)
__________________, or which stories are most important. Effective design helps
audiences absorb the news, and it saves them time. Creativity must be balanced with
consistency.
The terms “design” and (2) ___________________ are somewhat interchangeable. Both
refer to making decisions about the placement of headlines, photos, graphics and text on a
page.
Many publications have style guides for design as well as stylebooks, such as AP, for
copy. One typeface is generally used throughout, with standard (3) _________________,
or space between lines of type. Also there is a basic (4) ________________ for each
page, which establishes the number and width of columns. Many pages have elements
that always appear in the same place. The front page, for example, will have a (5)
_____________________ at or near the top that presents the publication name. Each
section front also includes this kind of element. Certain types of news and features,
including columns and briefs, generally appear in the same section in every edition.
Readers’ eyes will usually stop first on the most dominant visual element on a page, or
the (6) ________________. This could be a large photo or headline. Otherwise, readers
may feel confused. They need what editors call a (7) _________________ to know where
to begin. Another important element of design is (8) ___________________, produced
by differences in size, darkness, texture, type and color. Headlines, photos, boxes, screens
and (9) _____________________, the large capital letters sometimes used to start stories,
help to bring out distinctions between elements on a page. (10) ___________________
refers to the relative size and shape of elements. Headlines and images should vary in
size; stories should vary in length. The page also needs overall balance in the size,
number, weight and placement of elements – not crowding the biggest images and
headlines into one corner, for example. When the elements work together well, the page
conveys an overall sense of (11) _________________. White space provides visual
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relief, but it should not be (12) __________________, placed awkwardly on a page’s
interior.
In (13) _________________ layout, the designer groups related elements into rectangular
packages. This gives the page a clean, uncluttered look. It also makes a page easy to
change quickly to accommodate breaking news. The most important story, with the
biggest headline, usually goes (14) _____________________. Headlines (15)
_______________________ in size as they go down the page. Rules or boxes should be
used to avoid (16) ____________________ heads. Text should be wrapped (17)
___________________ the art. Each “leg,” or individual column of text, should be at
least 2 inches deep; very shallow legs of type make the eye work harder. A headline, or
part of one, should appear over every column of text, and an art element should never
completely interrupt a column of type. Avoid full-page (18) _________________, or
white spaces between columns. If (19) ____________________, which are light gray or
colored backgrounds, are used over type, they should be kept to a minimum.
Making a page fit together is sort of like working a jigsaw puzzle. Even experienced
designers may have to play with the elements a bit to make it work. Even though the final
page may be laid out electronically, designers often sketch out ideas on (20)
_______________ sheets. The printing surface of a typical broadsheet is 78 picas wide
and 21.5 inches deep. (Remember from the chapter on photos that a pica is one-sixth of
an inch.) Pages with ads are usually divided into (21) ________________ columns, each
about 12.5 picas wide. Most tabloids are half the size of a broadsheet, turned sideways.
Type size and rules are usually measured in (22) _____________, the smallest unit of
measurement in typography. Stories are measured in (23) _______________.
Stories with art generally have four basic design schemes. In the (24) _______________
stack, elements should be placed in this order: photo, cutline, headline and text. In the
(25) __________________ arrangement, the story is beside the photo with the headline
above both or just over the text. In an (26) _________________, the text goes around the
photo, with the headline over all columns. A variation, in which the head runs only across
the text columns, is called a (27) ___________________. In the very symmetrical (28)
_________________, the text goes around both sides of the photo.
An open broadsheet page, one without ads, should include five to seven story modules
and two major pieces of art. The dominant art and top headline and story should be
placed on the page first, followed by the secondary elements. Stories that are too long can
either be trimmed or (29) __________________ to another page. If a story comes up
short, a mug shot or graphic element might be added. The page should be designed so at
least (30) ___________________ headlines appear above the fold. Inside pages involve
many of the same design principles, but juxtaposition with ads must also be considered.
Body type in news stories usually is set (31) ___________________, with each line
filling the entire column to both the left and right margins. Features, columns and special
packages, however, may be set (32) __________________, which leaves slight variations
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in white space at the right margin. Ragged left and centered text are used rarely because
they are difficult to read for more than a few lines.
Display headlines, which use typefaces creatively, can add interest, especially to feature
pages, but they should be used only as visual accents.
Visual and organizational breaks in a story may be provided by (33)
__________________, small one-column heads inserted at intervals. Another visual
element that involves type is the (34) ________________ box or liftout, highlighting
someone’s words or the story’s theme.
When designing for the Web, it’s especially important to establish a visual identity.
Navigation tools need to be simple and clear. Links should guide users to relevant
information, not just clutter the site. Strong, simple typefaces work best, as do tight
photos with simple backgrounds.
Designers can use a variety of techniques to create distinctive-looking news feature
packages. One is to go outside the standard grid and use modified column widths, or (35)
________________. Also, photos can be used innovatively, perhaps playing a dramatic
photo unusually large or severely cropping a shot. White space can be used creatively
around headlines, art, text or packages. Headline styles and positioning can be varied.
Initial caps and other variations in the size of text type also add interest. Screens and (36)
__________________, the use of white type on a dark background, can be effective if
used judiciously.
Color adds impact and appeal, but it can be overdone. Just as publications must have
standards for styles involving words and typefaces, editors must develop coherent
strategies for using color effectively. It’s important to be familiar with some
fundamentals of color. The primary colors are red, yellow and blue. The combined color
used in photos and some illustrations is called (37) _______________ color. This is a
complex overlay of at least four images, each using a different color in varying densities
to produce the illusion of full color. (38) _________________ color is a single color used
for type, screens, rules and bars. The term (39) ________________ usually refers to 100
percent yellow, magenta (a red shade), cyan (a blue shade) or black. Tints are obtained by
mixing pure colors with white; shades are obtained by mixing pure colors with black.
(40) _________________ is the technical term for the degree of lightness or darkness.
Terms
Bastard measure
Bumping / butting / tombstone heads
Dummy sheet
Columns, column inches
Flag / nameplate
Folio
Grid
Gutter
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Initial cap
Jump
Justified
Layout
Leading
Leg
Modular
Pica
Point
Point of entry
Process color
Pure color
Quote box / liftout
Ragged right / ragged left
Reverse type
Rule
Screen
Side-by-side
Spot color
Subhed
Value
Vertical stack
White space
Wraps: “L” wrap, “raw” wrap, “U” wrap
Exercises
A. Gather copies of three newspapers on the same day, avoiding Sundays. Make
notes on what you see as similarities and differences in their headlines, photos and
graphics, and body text. Also compare caption treatments, bylines and credit
lines, use of screens, boxes and rules.
B. A broadsheet newspaper page with a six-column format is 78 picas wide and 21.5
inches deep. The gutters between columns are 1 pica wide. If a photo for that page
is three columns wide, how many picas (and points) is that?
C. Take the front page, or any open page, from one of the newspapers you used for
Exercise A. Copy the page onto a dummy (provided on page 84) by hand, or use a
layout software program such as QuarkXPress or Adobe InDesign to copy the
page on the computer. Label spaces for art elements and include a slug, or
working title, for each story to indicate where the text would go.
D. Take the stories listed in the following news budget and dummy them in a twocolumn space that runs on the left side, the full length, of a six-column broadsheet
page. Be sure to indicate headline sizes. Stories can be trimmed as much as 10
percent. They are listed in order of their importance (news value).
1. School board – 15 column inches
2. Hospital donations – 10 inches
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3. Summer festival – 10 inches
4. Blood drive – 5 inches
E. Use the following stories from a news budget to lay out an open section front for
local news. The page is a six-column broadsheet page. You need to leave space
across the top for the section flag, 2 inches deep. Stories can be trimmed as much
as 10 percent. The policy is not to jump any stories. Major photos must run;
available mug shots can be used at your discretion. Except for the lead story, these
stories are not listed in order of importance.
1. Lead story: Bank robbery downtown, third in metro area in 10 days;
“brunette bandit” suspect (woman) at large – 13 inches; mug available.
2. City Council discusses plans for new municipal building – 9 inches, mug
shot available.
3. Circus opens five-day run – 14 inches with 3-column-by-8-inch photo of
animal-rights protesters at “elephant walk.”
4. School bus accident, no injuries – 8 inches.
5. Locally owned business to expand – 10 inches, mug shot available.
6. Highway interchange planned near mall – 7 inches.
F. Design a six-column, standard-size front page that uses all or some of the
following stories, photos and graphics. Two stories can jump. Photos and graphics
must run in the dimensions specified. Mugs, which should be one column by 2
inches or one-half column by 1 inch, are optional. The nameplate is 2 inches deep,
and it runs across the full width of the page under a row of three 1-inch-deep refer
boxes.
1. Lead story: Governor charged with fraud – 20 inches, with two-column by
4-inch photo. Refer box to four inside related stories needed.
2. Sidebar to lead story: Profile of prosecutor who pursued governor – 15
inches; mug shot available.
3. 4,000 run city marathon in record cold – 13 inches; five-column by 4.5inch photo; refer to two sidebars.
4. City Council expected to approve downtown redevelopment project,
Skyway, after year of debate – 11 inches.
5. Jobless rate increases after six months of decline – 10 inches, with onecolumn by 3-inch graphic.
6. Congress debates Social Security overhaul – 12 inches, multiple mug
shots available.
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Section
Page No.
Run Date
Designer
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5
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Chapter 16 __________________________
The future now: Convergence and the Web
Media that once considered one another competitors are now cooperating, or converging,
in new approaches to news reporting. The Internet’s multimedia format has had a big
influence. The Web is a convergent medium, integrating text, still images, video and
audio in new ways. Its interactivity has created new ethical considerations, as well as
opportunities. Journalists are changing the ways they think about and present the news.
Even so, traditional standards and principles of news judgment, accuracy and fairness
remain essential values to guide them.
Guided review of chapter
Convergence, also known as (1) __________________, means breaking down the
historical walls between print, broadcast and online media. From Fargo to Phoenix,
Tampa to Topeka, news organizations are starting to practice various degrees of this. The
simplest, most cautious form of partnership is (2) ____________________, in which one
medium promotes another’s stories. Full convergence includes a common assignment
desk and multimedia editing positions to adapt stories to different platforms. A troubling
economic dimension of convergence is the growth of (3) ___________________, in
which one company controls several news outlets in an area or market, and (4)
_________________, in which a large corporation buys up smaller media companies.
As the Web’s popularity soared, daily newspaper readership declined. But the Web has
not made print or broadcast news obsolete; it has given them new life. Of the 20 most
popular Web news sites at the end of 2003, four were operated by newspapers or
magazines. But the top four included relative newcomers Yahoo! News and AOL News,
operations born of the Web. Also, (5) ____________________ outdrew the TV networks.
Some news is gathered via interactive online forums and Weblogs. It may come from (6)
___________________, or mobile Weblogs. Distinctions between “old” and “new”
media are blurring. Digital and conventional media are interdependent.
Traditionally, there has been a “firewall” between advertising and news staffs. But the
Web has breached that. Online editors must consider how to maintain distinctions
previously viewed as sacred. Ads at online sites are more prominent than in newspapers.
News and ads compete, making it imperative for designers to make the news content
clearly identifiable and visually distinct from the ads.
(7) ____________________ allows users to respond to the news in open-discussion
formats such as forums and Weblogs.
A growing number of news organizations are using Flash and other (8) _____________
tools to integrate video, photos, sound, text, graphics, even animation. The use of
different formats requires editors to rethink the notion of a central story giving the major
Thompson / Online Workbook / 85
facts, with sidebars supplying secondary elements. Online, each story must be (9)
_________________ because the users basically decide what the “main” story is. A
certain amount of redundancy is inevitable, but strong writing and editing can minimize
the repetitiveness. It’s more important on the Web than in print to give audiences visual
cues and (10) ____________________, design elements that are consistent from page to
page, to help navigate the story and the site. Web sites require visual, as well as narrative,
logic. The coding that links related stories and images, called (11) __________________,
allows editors to provide background, context and historical data. Users can move
through stories in many ways. They also can contact journalists and sources through
links, forums, Weblogs and e-mail.
Online editors are finding renewed value in the “old-fashioned” inverted pyramid. It
takes the audience from the moist important facts to supporting details and background.
Online, however, these are not presented in a single block of text. Usually, the
information is (12) ________________, or organized in smaller linked pieces. Closely
related to this is (13) _________________, or breaking up text into smaller units than
those typically seen on a printed page. Sentences and paragraphs are even shorter, and
text is often divided by subheds.
Convergence is reshaping newsroom dynamics and creating new chains of command.
Early Web sites were simply online versions of the newspaper packaged with so-called
shovelware. The interface is slowly evolving, and some papers are creating (14)
_________________ positions, editors who oversee the sharing of resources between
print and online staffs.
Technology and services such as aggregator software and Rich Site Summary news feeds
are enabling the public to customize their news reports. This circumvents a traditional
role of editors: gatekeeping. The role of editors is expanding, rather than contracting,
however. In addition to choosing and presenting information, they will become guides,
helping audiences navigate the media for themselves.
The immediacy of Web publishing allows great flexibility. Stories can be updated around
the clock, breaking news plugged in as it occurs. But users seem to have a cycle of their
own. They prefer certain types of information at certain times of the day. This has led to
(15) ___________, or breaking the news day into segments, emphasizing different kinds
of content at different times.
Weblogs, or “blogs” have given the public a new forum. Some are being used to
challenge the mainstream media. And some have become mobile reporters, able to
capture breaking news on the fly, mostly without the oversight of editors.
Terms
Chunking
Consolidation
Convergence / multiplatform publishing
Cross-ownership
Dayparting
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Hypertext / hypermedia
Interactivity
Layering
Moblogs
Multimedia authoring tools
News aggregator software
Rich Site Summary
Shovelware
Visual logic
Weblogs
Exercises
A. Examine the Web sites of various metropolitan newspapers such as the Los
Angeles Times, New York Times and Washington Post. Compare the way the
sites are organized, whether searches are allowed, what parameters searches can
use, and whether the newspaper’s archives are available and for how far back.
Decide which site you like best and why. (If you are unsure of a newspaper’s Web
address, use a search engine or go to www.newslink.org for a list of newspaper
sites.)
B. Repeat the above exercise for television station or network Web sites. Compare
these sites with each other and with newspaper sites. Finally, compare the sites of
the Tampa Tribune, WFLA and Tampa Bay Online. Note that they link to each
other and have similar appearances.
C. Find a source-rich story that a newspaper published on its Web site. Make sure it is
a story that doesn’t already have any links embedded in it. Then find links for as
many sources cited in the story as you can. For example, find a story about a U.S.
Supreme Court decision, then, using one of the Web’s search engines, find the
text of the decision at the Supreme Court’s Web site or another publicly available
site that makes decisions available. Also, link to the lower court decisions in the
case. If any companies, institutions or people are named in the story, link to their
Web sites, too, if you can. Make sure the links are to the most appropriate pages
at a site, not just the home page. Do this exercise for several kinds of stories until
making links to people, institutions or documents mentioned in stories becomes
easy.
D. Take a story that appears in a print version of a newspaper, and break it into linked
segments for display on a Web site. To do this, print out the story, cut it up, and
paste it to a board with lines linking each segment to show how a reader can
navigate the story on a Web site. For example the lead would be on the first page,
the paragraphs immediately following the lead would be on a second page,
background paragraphs would be on other pages linked to the second page and
perhaps even to the lead itself. Show which specific words would be used to
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trigger a link. These story segments would be diagramed like an organizational
chart or family tree. Do this for several stories of increasing complexity.
E. Locate a transcript from a TV news broadcast, for example, “The Newshour with
Jim Lehrer” on PBS (www.pbs.org/newshour/). Take a segment of the program
dealing with specific topic and “re-purpose” it for a Web site. Write a lead and
several other individual segments that would be displayed on separate Web pages
linked to the lead. They need not run chronologically but should be linked to each
other based on references and cross-references within each segment. Paste the
segments on a poster and draw lines to show how they would be navigated,
indicating which words would be hot links.
F. Now that you understand the concepts of Web pages and linking them together, use
a program such as Frontpage or Dreamweaver to create Web site that pulls
together the elements you have gathered for one of the above exercises.
G. According to Editor & Publisher, newspaper and Web page designer Alan
Jacobson says, “The home pages of most news Web sites are too cluttered and
suffer from link and content overload. Nearly all handle photography poorly. Page
designs are the same day after day. There's not enough hierarchy in story
placement. Home page links are repetitive. Online classifieds design is often
awful, making it difficult for consumers to find what they want. Advertising is
handled so poorly that it's not effective.” Find examples of newspaper, radio,
television and magazine Web pages that exhibit the problems Jacobson mentions.
What would you do to correct these problems?
H. Compare the New York Times Web site on a particular day and the print version
of that day’s issue of the newspaper. Do the online stories match word-for-word
the text of the printed version? Look for a story that appears on the Web site as it
is breaking. Compare that to the stories that appear the next day in the paper and
on the Web site.
I. Not all search engines use the same methods for cataloging Web sites. In fact they
differ quite a bit – more than most people think. Try using several of the better
known search engines to run searches on the same terms to check the results of
one against the others. Google is the most popular search engine, but also try:
www.alltheweb.com
www.altavista.com
www.askjeeves.com
www.excite.com
www.hotbot.com
http://lii.org
www.lycos.com
www.msnsearch.com
www.webcrawler.com
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www.yahoo.com
Then try some of the metasearch engines, which combine the power of several
engines to complete a search. Try:
www.dogpile.com
http://ez2find.com
www.mamma.com
www.metacrawler.com
www.surfwax.com
www.vivisimo.com
J. Check on the latest news about search engines by visiting
www.searchenginewatch.com.
K. Develop a list of Web sites you can use to check facts while editing. These might
include online phone books and reverse directories, maps, business information
sites, almanacs, dictionaries and fact books. If you need inspiration for sites to
search for, just look for online versions of printed reference books you might use,
such as the ZIP code directory. (Hint: Start at www.usps.gov.) Try
www.refdesk.com, also. Bookmark the sites you find useful.
L. Because sites change constantly and may be difficult to remember, you will need
your own list of bookmarks. But bookmarks are not very useful unless they are
organized in a logical way. Assuming you are on the national news desk, what
links would you want to have bookmarked, and how would you organize them?
Do the same for another section of the newspaper, such as the foreign desk (find
the CIA Factbook), business (try Hoovers) or sports (ESPN).
M. Find something interesting about your city or state at www.fedstats.gov.
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