Journalism Style Powerpoint

How do I use Numbers in my story? Should I use Mr., Mrs. Or Coach? Where should I use a comma? Should I capitalize homecoming or french? How do I refer to dates in my story? What is the format for my quotes?

These are just a few questions that will be answered in this lesson.

What is Journalistic Style?

Rules and guidelines that serve as a constitution within the newsroom. These rules guide the way that you craft your story for publication.

Where can I find these rules? ď śIn a Publication style book- A handbook for writers who will be constructing stories for the purpose of publication.

The style book is a set of rules that brings unity to a particular publication. ď śYou may also find them in a nationally recognized style book such as Associated Press Stylebook, Columbia Scholastic Stylebook or Sidekick Style Manual.

How do I deal with abbreviations?

For Orginazations- Always use full name on first reference and then use abbreviation on subsequent references. Example: The National Honor Society inducted new members last week. New NHS members are….. For Titles- Always abbreviate titles when they precede a name. Ex. Sen. Phil Graham, Dr. John Smith, Mr. Jimmy Spann. Do not abbreviate: Course titles such as Physical Education-do not Write P.E.

Special holidays such as Christmas-Do not write Xmas

What Is Attribution in my story?

The reference to an individual in your story. This may be a reference to a coach, student, teacher, principal, superintendent or any other person that gives you information for your story so that they will appear in the text of your story

How do I deal with attribution? There is a way to deal with attribution for a student. There is a way to deal with attribution for a teacher. There is a way to deal with attribution for a school positions other than teachers. There is a way to deal with multiple attribution for people with same last name. And finally the placement of the attribution in the story is dealt with in different ways.

How do I attribute a student?

When referring to a student in your story use the full name and grade level on first reference: Ex. “Journalism is great,” junior Robie Wilson said.

When referring to a student on second reference use the last name only. Ex. “I plan to major in journalism in college,” Wilson said.

How do I attribute teachers?

Use courtesy titles and full identification on first reference to a teacher. Ex. “Anyone missing a deadline will lose 10 points from their grade,” journalism teacher Mr. James Rich said.

Use last name on subsequent references to a teacher. Ex. “Your grade will depend on how much work you do for the paper,” Rich said.

How do I deal with Coaches?

When dealing with coaches always use “Coach” or “Assistant Coach” as a courtesy title along with the full name of the coach on first reference. Ex. “If we can win big games like this, we will be in great shape for the playoffs,” coach Mitchell Davis said On second reference use last name just as with teachers. Ex. “This was a big win against Fossil Ridge,” Davis said

How do I deal with Principals and Assistant Principals?

On first reference use courtesy title along with full name of school official. Ex. “I am not in favor of this bill,” Principal Jimmy Spann said.

On second reference use last name of school official. Ex. “I think we will stay as we are now,” Spann said.

What about people with same last name?

When referring to school officials with the same last name in a story use full name and courtesy title on every reference. Ex. “We both teach science,� coach Trent Fuller and coach Mike Fuller said.

When referring to students with same last name in a story use their full names on first reference and their first names on subsequent references.

What should I capitalize and what should stay Capitalize school lowercase? subjects only when they are a LANGUAGE or are followed by a ROMAN NUMERAL. Ex. She is taking English, biology, geography and Algebra II. Capitalize names of ORGANIZATIONS. Ex. The National Honor Society will meet tomorrow.

More on Capitalization Capitalize all NATIONALITIES. Ex. He is a German exchange student.

Capitalize names of MASCOTS. Ex. The Cowboys will play the Kangeroos next week.

Capitalize GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATIONS but NOT DIRECTIONS. Ex. Coppell is in North Texas and is north of Irving.

What should not be capitalized?

Do not capitalize VARSITY AND JUNIOR VARSITY sports. Ex. The varsity basketball team is 5-0 in district play.

Do not capitalize GRADE LEVELS. Ex. “I love Mr. Rich’s class,” junior Robbie Wilson said.

How should I deal with Numbers?

Always write out numbers from zero to nine. Ex. The class meets five days a week Numbers over 10 should always be written in digits unless they begin the sentence.

Exception to rule: NEVER spell out the year even when beginning the sentence with it. Ex. 2001-02 will be Mr. James Rich’s second year as the newspaper advisor. He has printed 10 issues of the paper so far and expects to print four more this year.

How do I uses Ordinal numbers and money figures?

When using ordinal numbers spell out first through ninth. If the number is more than nine use the figure.

Ex. She ranks first in a class of 192 For amounts of money under a dollar spell the amount out. If the amount is more than a dollar use the amount and the $ symbol. Ex. The sandwich cost $2 and he gave me twenty cents change back.

Exceptions to the rule: Make large amounts of money easier to read by using billion, million or thousand after the $ and amount. Ex. The Athletic complex cost approximately $15 million.

How do I deal with Times and Dates? Write 7a.m. and 6:30 p.m., not 7:00 or 7 o’clock Ex. The game starts at 6:30 p.m. Use noon or midnight not 12 noon or 12 midnight Ex. Project graduation will last until midnight. Write out the months of the year if they do not include specific dates. Ex. Christmas is in December

More about dates…. Abbreviate months with specific dates. Ex. Christmas is on Dec. 25. Always write Sept. 5 not Sept. 5th.

Ex. The World Trade Center was bombed on Sept. 11. List times in order from smallest unit to largest. Ex. The game will start at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 29.

How do I deal with sports teams?

When speaking of sports teams always use the plural possessive. Ex. The girls’ varsity basketball team is undefeated.

Remember do not capitalize the varsity or basketball team in this example.

How do I deal with punctuation?

Do not use a comma before and in a series.

Ex. Our colors are red, white and black.

Place all punctuation marks inside quotations marks for direct quotes. Ex. “Your are a great class,” Mr. James Rich said. “You always meet the deadlines.”

For all other rules see one of the style guides mentioned earlier in the lesson.