Why end with 30?

At the bottom of each entry in this site’s blog, I use </30> to designated the end of the it.

In my own way, it’s a nod to the tradition of ending newspaper stories (and occasionally broadcast and magazine pieces) with - 30 -.

While no one’s sure why 30 was used as an end sign, there is no shortage of ideas. —Craig SailaWhy end with 30? (Living Can Kill You)

Somebody e-mailed me this question. In the back of my mind, I thought, “An obsolete typesetting symbol?” but I didn’t know.

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  • In one of my corporate communications classes I learned that they used the thirty because they transmitted articles via telegraph, and they would tap XXX to signify the end, and somehow someone decided to use a thirty instead because that's what XXX equals in Roman Numerals? Anyway, that's a very strange excuse for it and it doesn't explain the use of "###," unless a pound sign is just a fancy "X."

    Anyway, it's just another version of the 30-telegraph story to add to the "Why end with 30" debate.

    Blame this explanation on _Mass Media Writing An Introduction_ by Gail Baker-Woods, et al.

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Dennis G. Jerz

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