Successful Journalistic Writing by Bryce Aston

SUCCESSFUL JOURNALISTIC WRITING A Brief Guide by Bryce Aston

INTRODUCTION “Not everyone realizes that to write a really good piece of journalism is at least as demanding intellectually as the achievement of any scholar.” --Max Weber I will be the first to attest that journalism can be a thankless field to work in. It’s a dangerous thing: we write, we pursue truth, we are constantly learning and growing just as anyone is. And yet everything we do is in the public light. We are so careful. We check and double check, we edit and then edit again, but at the end of the day, we cannot be perfect because the very essence of our work is that it is timely. When you write a breaking news article, you don’t have time to workshop and draft for weeks. Every deadline is a hard deadline because if you wait too long, it isn’t news. Your work is wasted. This, of course, leads to mistakes. Errors in judgement, missing facts, misrepresented information. These are things that are sometimes unavoidable. And of course, it is our great misfortune that these missteps are not kept private within our professional community or field. Once we publish, our errors are out there in the world, and the world loves to hate us for them. We become just another cog in “the media,” that amorphous cloud of constant information that everyone relies on but everyone seems to deeply mistrust in this day and age. Sometimes I wonder if we aren’t all martyrs in this field, getting paid minimal amounts to write stories that we unavoidably get criticized for. This may be coming off as fatalistic and self-pitying, and I won’t lie that there is that part of me. But the point of this is not to tell you that as a journalist you are doomed to constant hate and feelings of failure. The point is to tell you that we are doing good work, even when we make mistakes. The important thing is to decide which mistakes we will continue to let ourselves make. A key part to being the best journalist possible is to make sure they can’t catch you on the little things. We may not always get the facts right, we may have to make weekly corrections to ensure that we are always truthful, but we can make sure that we are never told that we are bad writers. This is my goal: to make sure that no matter the criticism, it’s never for being a bad writer. Writing successfully in journalism is an art. I don’t believe it’s self-aggrandizing to say that. Firstly, consider AP Style. Consider the fact that every journalist in our country – in the world – has memorized at least in

part a set of rules that fills a 300+ page book, with entries as specific as whether to refer to a drink as “Champagne” or “sparkling wine” based on where it was made. Then there’s the nature of writing for our audience. More specifically, writing for an audience that will not read our story unless they can get to the main point within the first sentence. We have to be concise and direct. We have to make sure that a person clicking on our article will stay on the page for at least the 30-second average. We want to be the organization they come to for news, and if we don’t make it easy for them, then we’ve lost. This, then, is the essence of being a good writer in our field. Firstly, you must follow the rules. Not just any rules, our rules (or, AP Style’s rules): no oxford comma, “ok” not “okay,” always abbreviate months when accompanied by a specific day. Secondly, get to the point. The first sentence of a news story should tell the reader the most important information, and then work down from there. There is no such thing as a chronological order in journalistic writing. We all know about the inverted pyramid: essentials first, then the nut graf, then a quote, and so on. If you’ve had any basic training as a journalist, you know all this. My purpose is not to rehash these points but to address areas that don’t get much attention. Because it’s assumed that all journalists can write on a basic level, we don’t tend to revisit the basics. However, there are some basics that get completely ignored so often in all forms of writing. There are rules of grammar that seem inconsequential but can vastly improve our writing – not just from a technical standpoint but from a journalistic standpoint as well. My goal is to revisit a number of basic writing rules that will help to improve you as a writer in general, but will also help you improve specifically as a journalist. These rules will enhance your ability to write with clarity and concision while still maintaining all the key elements of a story. Maybe this seems like a waste of time – after all, copy editors exist for a reason. But let me tell you, as a copy editor: a) it’s always nice when someone’s writing is already good when it reaches us, and b) we don’t catch everything. We don’t catch everything, but in an audience of millions, you can bet there will be someone who will. The hope is that, if we all follow these rules, there will be a few less things to catch.

THE GRAMMAR PHILOSOPHY OF A COPY EDITOR “Journalism is a craft that takes years to learn. It’s like golf. You never get it right all the time. It’s a game of fewer errors, better facts, and better reporting.” --Ben Huh I’m going to take a moment here to explain my grammar philosophy. Hopefully, this will give you a better sense of the choices I make in this guide. It might also give you a chance to think about where you stand on these things – I know I didn’t think about it until I had to, so let this be that moment for you. I’ll be the first to admit that I used to be a total stickler for grammar. I was the person who corrected every instance of bad grammar, every misplaced modifier and misspelled word. I still get a little touchy about “there,” “they’re” and “their,” I’ll admit it. But I’ve also come to a new conclusion about grammar rules. The conclusion is this: they do not have to matter. Now, let me put a condition on that statement: this is my personal – personal, not professional – philosophy. Of course there are instances in which grammar is crucial. There are many professional settings or public platforms where a problem with grammar can be your downfall. For example: misusing grammar in a resume is probably a solidly bad idea. Additionally, a piece of writing that isn’t artistic and is going out to a large audience should probably adhere to the rules as well (given that this is a guide for that exact type of writing, I’ll get into this more in a moment). But in really any other case, I believe that grammar is up to the author. I think that the rules can be bent, and that they can change based on context. They can even change permanently, based on societal shifts. This is a descriptive approach to grammar. Instead of believing that there is a set of universal and ubiquitously true rules to adhere to, I believe that the rules should be based off of the way grammar is being commonly used in this day and age. The prescriptive rules can serve as a framework for the ones we follow, but there should be room for adjustment based on the ways that our language and society are constantly changing. When it comes to journalism, I have a more particular grammar philosophy (i.e. my professional philosophy). The first tenant, of course, is to follow AP Style. I don’t always agree with it (I, for one, love the oxford comma) but it’s there for a reason. It gives our industry unity, and helps us use non-biased language. I also believe that we should not invent our own grammar rules outside of AP Style. That is, we shouldn’t be trying to break the rules and push boundaries. In general, we should follow the prescriptive rules (the boring, strict ones) unless breaking these rules is widely accepted enough to not get flak for it. There are fields and professions out there where it is okay – where it might even be encouraged – to break and bend the rules. Unfortunately, because we are supposed to be an unbiased and completely factual industry, we don’t really get to

play around. Basically, this means that when it comes to the little wiggle room we get, it’s a matter of professional judgement. You and your staff get to decide how strict you’re going to be. That touches on another important issue: unfortunately, unless you’re editor-in-chief, these aren’t necessarily decisions you get to make for yourself. For example, I work for the school paper at California Polytechnic State University, Mustang News. On our staff we follow AP Style (of course), but we also have our own customized stylebook. This Mustang News style guide includes everything from how to refer to different university departments, to when we can refer to our hometown as San Luis Obispo versus SLO. Point is: you may have your own stance on any number of rules, but when writing for your publication, your editor’s rule is law. There will of course be times where there is ambiguity over what the correct choice is when it comes to grammar. This happens sometimes when I’m copyediting. For a while I would constantly bother my higher-ups, asking what to do, and they’d tell me to use my judgement. The rule I’ve come up with is this: in cases of ambiguity, choose the version that involves the least words. This might be oversimplifying it a bit, but the point is, use the least amount of words possible. Remember, our industry prizes brevity. If both options are fairly equal in that regard, I usually choose the less fancy option. The fact of the matter is that with a highly diverse audience, we want to maximize the availability of our information. I’m not saying to dumb it down, but if there’s a choice to simplify without lowering the quality of writing, do it. In summary: personally, I take a very descriptive stance on grammar. I believe rules are made to be broken. Objectively, I appreciate their usefulness, but I think that adhering to them too tightly can lead to gatekeeping, pickiness, a general sourness. I think the bottom line is communication: if the words get the point across, does the grammar really matter? When it comes to professional philosophy, I would say it boils down to four rules: 1.

Follow AP Style.

Listen to your editor.

Don’t break the rules.

When in doubt, do what’s simplest and shortest.

What can I say? We signed up for this.

THE RULES “The best writers who have put pen to paper have often had a journalism background.” --Rick Bragg For this guide, I’m going to outline ten rules. These are common grammar or style rules that we’ve probably all learned at some point but may have forgotten. Just to give you some context, these are the rules that, as a copy editor, I see being broken or ignored the most in stories I read. They’re also rules that, when properly adhered to, help with concision. They are also important when it comes to writing professionally. If you want to avoid criticism from grammar sticklers in your audience, these rules are a good place to start.

1. NOMINALIZATIONS I always prided myself on having a pretty complete grasp on the English language, knowing all the weird parts of speech and rules. But when I learned about nominalizations this year, they were completely new. And honestly, it was kind of life-changing. Nominalizations show up all the time. Seriously, once you start noticing them, you’ll never be able to stop. While there’s a time and place where they fit, I would say that they’re generally overused. I know that personally, I’ve always overused them.

DEFINITION A nominalization is when you turn a verb or adjective into a noun. These abstract nouns can clutter up your writing and tend to make the writing seem a little passive.

EXAMPLES Original Sentence: “The belief within the scientific community was that the normalization of the concept made it easier for the development of the opposition.” Nominalizations: belief – to believe normalization – to normalize development – to develop opposition – to oppose Revised Sentence: “The scientific community believed that normalizing the concept allowed the opposition to develop.” Analysis: In the original sentence, the nominalizations make the sentence more cluttered, and also makes the writing much more passive. By removing several nominalizations, the idea is much more direct and much less complex. It also shortens the sentence which, as I mentioned in my philosophy, is important in journalistic writing. You’ll notice that I left one nominalization – this is to illustrate that there are situations where nominalizing a verb can be more direct. It’s simply a matter of judgement: you look at the sentence and decide.

2. COMMAS Let me guess what you’re thinking: commas? Really? After all, we already have one rule when it comes to commas, that darned one about omitting the oxford comma (I’m only a little bitter). However, it’s amazing how often you notice commas being misused once you revisit the rules. This is an important one for our field because, harkening back to the age of entirely print journalism, the goal is to use as little ink as possible. I know that in Mustang News, we have a strict “as few commas as possible” policy, and I think that’s a good standard for the industry. Reducing comma use is also important to avoid run-on sentences.

THE RULES & EXAMPLES These rules tell you when to use a comma. 1.

Use commas to separate two independent clauses with the linking words “and,” “but,” “or,” “nor,” “for,” “so” and “yet.” EX. It rained all day on Thursday, and this led to the buses being very full.

Use commas after introductory phrases, clauses or words. EX. Before the rain, it got very misty.

Use commas on either end of nonessential clauses in the middle of a sentence. EX. The rain, which annoyed the students, was coming down hard by class time. NOTE: Do NOT use commas to separate essential clauses, usually those that start with “that.” We will get more into essential and nonessential clauses in another rule, if this is confusing you. EX. The weather that annoyed students the most was the rain. (No commas)

Use commas to separate items in a list of three or more items; do NOT use a comma between the second-to-last and last items. EX. The students were wet, irritated, restless and tired when they got to class.

Use commas between coordinated adjectives describing one noun. Coordinated adjectives are equal to one another. If you can switch the order of the adjectives without the sentence sounding awkward, then they are coordinated. EX. The dark, gloomy clouds put everyone in a foul mood.

Use commas between the main clause and free modifiers at the end of the sentence that describe something at the beginning or middle of the sentence. EX. The students complained to their teachers, feeling frustrated with their day. *Notice that the phrase at the end is modifying “students” and not “teachers.”

Use commas as AP Style dictates in addresses, geographical locations, dates and titles. EX. The student is originally from Reno, Nev. *Assuming you have access to a style book, I’ll let you figure out the rest.

Use commas before dialogue and at the end of a quote if the attribution will follow. EX. He said, “I hate the rain.” / “I hate the rain,” he said.

Possibly the most important part of properly using commas is knowing when NOT to use them. Below are some important instances to avoid comma use. 1.

Never use a comma to split the verb and the subject. EX. The worst thing about the rain, is that the students were wet all day.

Never use a comma between the two verbs or verb phrases in a compound predicate. EX. The students finished class, and walked to their houses.

Never use a comma between the nouns, noun phrases or noun clauses in a compound subject or object. EX. Between their hard classes, and the rain the students were unhappy.

Never use a comma after the main clause when a dependent clause follows. EX. The students were very frustrated, while walking home.

Following these rules ensures that you only use commas when they’re needed. It might surprise you how often you have to correct yourself after having these rules refreshed in your memory.

3. SEMICOLONS & COLONS Semicolons, like commas, are something that I see misused quite often. They can be really useful in the right situation, but the trick is knowing what those situations are. Putting a semicolon in the wrong place can make a sentence seem stilted. It can also lead to run-on or disjointed sentences. The big problem with semicolons is how often they are used in place of commas or colons. Colons are misused as well in the same way. So here I’m going to differentiate the two and when it’s appropriate to use them.

RULES & EXAMPLES These rules tell you when to use a semicolon. 1.

You can use a semicolon when separating two separate but related independent clauses. EX. My favorite band is The Frights; their style of music makes me feel so happy.

You should use semicolons to separate items in a list when one or more of the items involves a comma. ***This is the only situation where a semicolon is required.*** EX. I’ve seen them perform in San Luis Obispo, Calif.; Reno, Nev.; Columbus, Ohio; and New York City, New York.

These rules tell you when to use a colon. 1.

Use a colon at the end of an independent clause before a list EX. I have several favorite songs by them: “Kids,” “You Are Going To Hate This,” “Of Age” and “Puppy Knuckles.”

Use a colon between two independent clauses when emphasizing the second one. EX. There’s one thing I know for sure: I will never forget seeing them in concert.

Use a colon after an independent clause before a quotation. EX. There’s one particular lyric I love that they wrote: “My mom cries when I sing this song.”

These rules will help to keep track of these two very similar pieces of punctuation.

4. HYPHENS Hyphens are overused all the time. It can get confusing, knowing when to hyphenate. To make it more complicated, AP Style has a list of words to hyphenate that seems arbitrary at times. However, when AP Style doesn’t specify, it can be hard to tell if a word should be hyphenated or not. Here we have the rules for that situation.

RULES & EXAMPLES These rules tell you when to hyphenate words 1.

Hyphenate two or more words acting as a single adjective for a noun. EX. The down-to-earth professor didn’t let the student’s outburst bother her.

Hyphenate with the prefixes self-, all- and ex- (when it means former). Also hyphenate the suffix -elect, when a prefix is attached to a capitalized word, or when a prefix is attached to numbers. EX. She was a self-taught negotiator, and it didn’t phase her.

Hyphenate in order to avoid ambiguity. EX. She simply asked him to re-sign the permission slip. *Note that this is to differentiate from “resign,” which has a different meaning.

While there aren’t many of these rules, they’re important to know. You should also note that hyphens are often used when a word goes over a line break, and there are some rules surrounding that. However, your designers and editors will take care of that when they place the text, and many programs automatically break the word in the correct spot.

5. SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT When it comes to subject-verb agreement, there are only a few rules. However, those rules are vitally important. Messing up this agreement can result in awkward writing that often just sounds wrong. This is also a sure way to get criticism from your particularly observant or nitpicky audiences. The most important part of fixing problems with subject-verb agreement is being able to identify the subject of your sentence. I’m going to list the rules below and then give a number of examples to make sure that you get a little practice looking at those parts of the sentence.

RULES These are the rules that you can refer to for subject-verb agreement. 1.

The verb must match the subject of the sentence, as implied by the name of this rule. THIS MEANS that if a subject is singular, then the verb has to be singular. If the subject is plural, then the verb has to be plural. EX. One student was so panicked he threw up. The answer sheets for the final were collected at 4 p.m.

When referring to portions – for example, percentages, fractions, majority, some, all, etc. – this rule changes. In these situations, the noun closest to the verb determines whether it is plural or singular. EX. Fifty percent of the professor’s classes have failed the class. (Notice that “classes” is the noun closest to the verb, so the verb matches its plural form.) Fifty percent of the class has failed. (Notice that “class” is the noun closest to the verb, so the verb matches its singular form.)

When the sentence uses “or,” “either/or” or “neither/nor” the verb matches with the noun closest to it. EX. Neither the professor nor her students were ready for the test. (Notice that “students” is the noun closest to the verb, so the verb matches its plural form.)

When the subject is a compound, the verb is plural unless the subject EX. The test key and the Scantrons were missing after the test.

If you follow these rules and take note of these examples, it should be easier to make subjects and verbs agree. Sometimes, though, it can be difficult in particularly convoluted sentences to determine which subject is affecting which verb. In these cases, try to reduce the sentence down to its bare bones in order to figure out what form your verb should take.

6. WHO/WHOM I think that this is a classic rule that everyone struggles with. How many times have you sat down and mulled over whether the proper word is “who” or “whom”? I know I used to do it all the time. However, I’ve recently learned an incredibly easy trick to solve this problem. This entry is going to be brief, but effective. Trust me, you’ll never need to wonder again.

THE RULE “Who” and “whom” are known as relative or interrogative pronouns. 1.

When the interrogative pronoun is in its subjective form, OR BEING USED IN RELATION TO THE SUBJECT OF THE SENTENCE, it is “who.” This means that if the interrogative pronoun can be replaced by “I,” “you,” “he,” “she,” “we,” “it” or “they,” then it is “who.” EX. The boy who accidentally blocked his own shot was very sad. *Notice that “who” can be replaced by “he,” which tells us that it is correct.

When the interrogative pronoun is in its objective form, OR BEING USED IN RELATION TO THE OBJECT OF THE SENTENCE, it is “whom.” This means that if the interrogative pronoun can be replaced by “me,” “us,” “you,” “him,” “her,” “it” or “them,” then it is “whom.” EX. The boy asked the man whom was running the booth for another chance. *NOTE: These sentences can be confusing. The best way to approach it is to reduce the sentence down to its minimum: “He asked him for another chance.” This assures us that “whom” is the right choice.

THE TRICK IS… The best way to remember this rule: If the interrogative pronoun could be replaced by “he,” it is “who.” If it can be replaced by “him,” it is “whom.” If you just keep this in mind, it can help a lot.

7. REDUNDANT MODIFIERS This rule is more about style than it necessarily is about grammar. It’s a fairly specific rule, and there’s not a lot to it, but I think it’s key. Far too often, I see this rule being violated in my own writing and that of others. The problem here is when people add modifiers that are already implied in their nouns. This is incredibly common in all types of writing, but it’s particularly problematic in journalism. As I’ve mentioned over and over, journalistic writing is all about being concise. If we are stating the same thing in different ways, that isn’t very efficient. There’s not much more to be said here, but I will give a few examples of what I’m talking about so we’re clear. EX. There was a terrible tragedy last night. *”Terrible” is already implied in tragedy – we can remove this. EX. Her home country that she was born in was Ecuador. *It is already implied in “home country” that she was born there, so we can remove “that she was born in.” EX. Any future plans for housing are not yet public. *Anything that is a “plan” is taking place in the future so we don’t need to include that in the sentence. Bottom line: avoid redundant modifiers (and redundancy in general). It will help with the clarity and concision of your piece.

8. THAT VS. WHICH The conflict of “that” versus “which” is another one that trips people up regularly. When you’re writing, this can be key to having a sentence that flows correctly and, more importantly, puts emphasis on the right sections. Using the wrong word can actually change the implied meaning greatly. It also affects punctuation because you put commas around a nonessential “which” clause, but don’t around an essential that clause. The key here is the difference between essential and nonessential clauses. An essential clause is one that affects the meaning of the sentence. A nonessential clause is one that doesn’t. So if you have an essential clause that changes the meaning of the sentence, it will start with the word “that” and not be surrounded by commas. If you have a nonessential clause that does not change the meaning of the sentence, it will start with the word “which” and be surrounded by commas. This punctuation indicates that it could be removed and the sentence would not change in basic meaning. Here are some examples. EX. Essential: The car that my mom bought me for Christmas was bright pink. EX. Nonessential: The car, which was bright pink, was a Christmas present from my mom. In the first sentence, the phrase “that my mom bought me for Christmas” specifies the car. If the sentence just said “The car was bright pink,” we would not know which car was bright pink. In the second sentence, the phrase “which was bright pink” does not specify the car. Instead, we know which car it was because it is the car from mom. Therefore, the pink phrase is nonessential.

9. KNOWN-NEW This is another rule that is solely about style. It’s an interesting thing, in the sense that many people adhere to it without knowing it and often, without ever having learned it. It’s meant to increase cohesion in a piece by creating a common thread throughout and orienting information in a logical progression. It can be a bit tricky to follow this rule in journalistic writing, given that the point is to get the information across in as few words as possible with as little overlap as possible. However, if you’re writing a feature piece it can be easy. Even in news pieces it’s possible, you just have to work at it. The idea of the “known-new” technique is pretty straightforward. In each sentence, you first present the familiar information, and then you present the new information. EX. The university announced yesterday that they would be holding an “I Love Finals” festival this week. This announcement sparked protests on campus. Because of the protests, students were unable to attend class. You’ll notice in the example that the second sentence takes information from the first and adds onto it, and the third sentence takes information from the second and adds again. This creates a string of information that the audience can logically follow. If you use this tactic not only within individual sentences but also in paragraphs and stories as wholes, you’ll notice that your story will flow much better and be much more cohesive.

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