journomeme

Stick to facts, but write news your readers will actually want to read.

Students who put a lot of effort into learning the editing guidelines in the AP Stylebook might benefit from the…

4 years ago

Journalists who are doing their job by reporting fairly on a controversial topic often get attacked from both sides.

Americans can fairly and legitimately differ on important values. Freedom or security? Peace or justice? Which short-term sacrifices are worth…

4 years ago

I never have time to create materials like this during the academic year. Brand new handout. Easily 10 hours of work. Hoping to post one a week.

AP Style follows the standard English practice of capitalizing proper nouns. They stayed with Uncle John at Gracious Living Inn on the shore of Grenada…

4 years ago

Meme unfairly blames “protesters” for four crimes

A Facebook meme that claims "3 of these 4 honorable men were killed by 'protesters'" is false. I don't mean…

4 years ago

Journalism 101: I fixed this meme for you.

I can sympathize with the sentiment, but the top part of this meme (the white text on black background) is…

6 years ago

Journalists Verify Claims

Confirm what your sources tell you. Fact-checking makes the difference between ethical journalism (which sometimes upsets the powerful) and propaganda…

7 years ago

Details drive the news (new handout)

I have nothing against essays, but not every writing task requires an essay. I tell my students they will be…

7 years ago

Writing a news story calls on different skills than writing a traditional essay.

Updated an older instructional handout with a bunch of new examples and some fancy red/green color coding. To write a…

7 years ago

Journalists Prefer “Said”

Journalists prefer the neutral "said" to attribute a source's statements, opinions, and emotions. Using "claimed" generates doubt. Using "explained" confers…

7 years ago

Journalists write to inform, not to impress.

Sometimes when I find myself putting more than a usual amount of creativity into a comment on a student paper,…

7 years ago

Inverted Pyramid: A news story starts with what’s most important, not with whoever spoke first at the event you’re covering.

Jerz > Writing > Journalism Using the inverted pyramid structure is one of the major differences between a news story and a personal essay.

7 years ago

Verify or Duck! Journalists should confirm all details they didn’t witness.

New instructional web page -- Verify or Duck! Confirm all details you didn't witness. #fridaynight #partylikeaprofessor.  

7 years ago

Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. –Mr Dooley on the function of journalism

“Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” I first heard that quote from a newsroom mentor. It’s now one of…

7 years ago

Journalism ethics and the elephant in the room.

The point of “the Rosenthal Rule” is not to penalize any one political viewpoint; rather, the cub reporter who wanted…

8 years ago