CITY COUNCIL CLUBS

Colleges And Schools

A course pertains to a specific subject and usually contains a number of classes. Ex: The fall course schedule was updated with a mixture of online, in-person and hybrid classes. Course names should be capitalized and put in quotation marks.

For list of Columbia’s official clubs, see Columbia’s website.

Spell out full names of a college or school on first reference, except for Columbia. Ex: University of Illinois at Chicago on first reference. UIC on second reference.

Use the article “the” when an institution begins with “University of.”

When referring to multiple institutions together, lowercase colleges or universities: “DePaul, Roosevelt and Northwestern universities”

The Chronicle

Use “the Chronicle” when referencing ourselves in a story. Reference the Chronicle as “The Columbia Chronicle” in all other cases.

DDATES

If an event occurs within seven days of the current date, use the day of the week AND date. Only use day and month; do not include the year unless you are writing a caption. If an event occurs more than seven days before or after the current date, use only the date, as per AP Style. If referring to an event that occurred the day prior to the article’s publication, do not use the word yesterday. Instead, use the day of the week and the date. Do not use dates or addresses in the lede of a story.

FOR DATES AND YEARS, USE FIGURES

Always capitalize months and spell out the month unless it is used with a date.

Lowercase and use as an adjective when referring to a hearing-loss condition or to a deaf person who prefers lowercase. Capitalize for those who identify as members of the Deaf community or who were born Deaf and consider sign language to be their first language. Always ask whether or not a source prefers “deaf” to be upper or lowercase in reference to their identity. Avoid using “hearing-impaired.”

Add a note at the bottom of the story if an ASL interpreter is used.

DEPARTMENTS/ MAJORS

Capitalize department names. Do not capitalize majors. For example, “However, this is not unique to the Photography Department, which was quick to provide clarity to its students regarding plans for the rest of the semester.”

“Senior commercial photography major Alie Stanton was worried when she learned that her last semester had been “put on hold” due to the coronavirus.”

Diversity In Coverage

Deaf And Deaf Culture Disability

Consult Robert Maynard’s Faultlines, as a way to make sure to produce a story that appeals to a diverse audience. And for more information on producing diverse and inclusive reporting, consult the Online News Association’s diversity guide.

Ask the source if they prefer person-first or identity-first language. Follow guidelines from the National Center on Disability and Journalism when referring to a group with a disability. Examples of person-first language include “people with diabetes” or “person with epilepsy.” Examples of identity-first language include “autistic person” or “asthmatic people.” Avoid Autism Spectrum Disorder or ASD when referring to Autism.

Never use “suffer” when writing about disability. Never use the term “Aspergers” in relation to an Autism diagnosis or identifier. Never use the term “mental disability,” instead use “intellectual and developmental disability.” When referring to a person with a mental illness, use person-first language, i.e. “a person with anxiety.”