journalism midterm concepts and vocab 3-4 - for march 5

use strong verbs

verbs can transform a drab asenteebnce into a interestung and powerfillt description. strong verbs describe one spefic action as weak verbs cover a number of diffrnt actions avoid teh repeated forms of tge verb:to be "is,was,as"= these are dull snd particulay when a writers use them in combo ith a pat partcilple ti form a passive voice verb":was captured" sentences with passive verbs= worider action ones

Appositive

A word or phrase that renames a nearby noun or pronoun.appositives may be eiter essiental or non esssential. non-essential= adds supplememtal info and is set off from the rest of the sentence with punctuation, usally commas or dashes. essentisal- defines the noun or phrase it accompanies. It is not set off with punctuation.

dictation

A writer's or speaker's choice of words and style of expressing them = dictation. can be informal or formalthrough this a writer establishes a tone for the storyt abd establishes the charaxtrization of teh subs of the story - particular in feature stories. when iu diubt use formal dictation

Respecting Diversity

journalist stereotype if they use offensive, condescending, or patronizing terms or phrases in describing other individuals, particularly women, people of color, older people, and people with disabilities. good writers are attuned to "isms"- rascism, sexism, ageism- that can show up unintentionally. they are aware that negitive impact thier words

ECHO

IS a redundancy or unecessary repetition of a word. good writting aviods then by eleiminating redundant words/phrases.:ex- "her annuka slary was $29,000 a year"-REVISED- her annual slaray was $29,000.

collective noun

Noun that represents a group of personsMicrosoft animals, or things (e.g., family, flock, furniture,Congress,). these nouns are considers singular and reqire singular verbs

Syntax

The arrangement and relationship of words and phrases in a sentences. if this sytax is wrong- if parys of th sentence are disjointed or imporperly arranged, ythe sentece= confuse readers. sometimesthe sytax error is simp;y the misplacement ot omission of words. "Hill said people can not affor to br partisn but, instead, will work with each other to help fix teh world."REVISED:"HILL SAID PEOPLE CANNOT AFORD TI BE PARTISIN BUT, INSTEAD, SHOULD WORK WITYH EACH OTHER TO FIX THE WORLD. 3 praxtices that can help writers avios sytnatx erros:- (1)keep senteces as simple as possible. sentences that follow the sub-verb-obj order= less sytax errors. 2- think about what you want to say before writting the senetece, plamnning the sentence forced us ti think about tge selection and arrangement. = of teh words and phrases. (3)- reread and edit what you have written and reading your own words alloud helps.

gush

Writers avoid this whih is writing with exaggerated enthusiasm.one way to aviod this is to always use more than one source for a story. another is demad that sources provide soefifc details to support tgier generalaizatiins. using maultiple sourse who are independant of another prenents reporters from being misled or manipukated by source seekikng favorabke publicity. journlaist fisnhes a story - sound lif s aritile- nit a press relese 2 type of gush= an escalation in modifeiers-"funny- now "hillarious" delete these and others and replace w/ facts.

mastering grammer

understanding grammar help journalists they write print and online news stories, develop TV and radio scripts, link w/ audiences through social media and complement information graphics.

Euphemism

a vague, mild expression that symbolizes something more blunt or harsh some etique experts say good manners require the use if euphanisms . EX: women is expecting rsather then pregnant. they detrat from good new writting where clarity and precision are the most imprtant goals . - sometimes news events force reporters to use descriptive words in place of confusing and akward euphamisims.

Personification

abiod treating inatnimen objects or abstractiosn like they were humans .(cars,tress, buildimgs . this error contributes to 2 problems- 1- audiences cant determeine a storys credibikity of rreoprter fail to idenify thier sources . reader can asses teh credibilityof statement attributed to a moypr or govener , but not teh credibily of a statement attributed to a city or state. 2- the erropr allows person to escspe responsibikity for thier actions. officals cant be held repsonsible for tehir actions if trh reporters atribure tose actions yto a busniss or government

ageism of stories

age shouldn't be a factor in the story about an acomplishment: gettimg elected office,or winning an award - unless its relevant to the story. niether ones age should appear in the headline or the lead of the story

Who vs. Whom

along with that and which are relative pronouns. that and which intr clauses refering to idesd, inamite object or animlas ww/o names. "who/whom begin clauses tht refer to people and animlas with names. "who"= the sub of a clause ; "whom"= objectr if teh verb or preposition - look at oic on phine

Agreement errors

basic principle of grammar : is that the nouns and verbs should agree with each ither, amd so should nound sand pronouns. singular subjects should have singukar verbs; plral nouns shouk have plural prnonouns etc. yteh priciple is simple, but the oppurtunies for error is numerous.

spelling

be carful of how you spell words- mispelling= laizness of th writer and makes reader doubts facts in story. andf uses are important:accept/except. dint depend on a spell check to fixz all spell errors.

vague time references

do not usewords of " yesterday or tomorrow-" in news storied ti refer to a specific dat and use "today,tonight ti reefer only o the day of publication, instead use tge dau=y of te week to dat eevents tat haoppen withen 7 days before or after teh day of pub. for that that happens nore than 7 days in past or future, use specific date. - doing this eleiominates confusion for teh readers. journalist avoif wored - recently= too vauge

Stating the obvious

dull, trite obvious remarks- platitudes - journalist must learn to aviod them.

eliminate unecessary words

unnecessary words= confinement among consumers and make reading and listening more difficult. Journalist use brevity to aid audiences grasp the main idea of a story and retain enough detail to make their stories interesting and informative. some unnecessary words:" that, then currently, now, presently" writers who use two or more words when only one is needed waste time and space. Ex: "eliminate redundant words refering to time such as "past history " "is now" and "extremist"

indépendant and dependent clauses

clause= a group of words containing a subject,verb, and used as part of a senytence. independent- is a complete sentece; it can stand independantly . dependent - is one taht would be an incomplete thought or sentence if removed from the sentece of which it is a part. comes at the startm middle, or end of a sentence. writers can combine bith types in a varied of ways: 1- cimbine independant with a dependant=complex sentence :"i eat after my last class is over. " 2- combo of two independeng- ones that could stand alone- in order to make a compound sentece:" ice skating is her favorite sport , but she enjoys roller skating, too. 3- string one or more dependent clasuses together w/ 2+ independent clauses tio make compound complex sentences.:"i visit my aunt whenever i go home for teh holidays, but i call her almost every week". PHRASES: sentences can contain phrases - related groups of words tht lack both a sub and a verb. Prep phrases and verbal phrases are common types. nay be incorporated in the body of the sentence, or may intro the main clause. Sentence structure: - writers vary them to keep thier prose from becoming too predictable and simplistci, but sentences yahy stuck to sub, ver- obj orser are clearest and most easily understood.

first person references

journalist should remain neural observers. shouldnt mention themesleves in news stories. avod words, "I,ME, WE,OUR,US- excepyt ehrn they are directly quoeting some other person, use of first oreson rpronouns implies that the writer and te new organizatiin ens=doese what is said.

negative constructions

for clarity avoid negative constructions , sentences should be castin postitve rater then negituve form

simplify words, sentences, and paragraphs

g. orwell complained that too often writers reolace strong verbs, and conmcrate nouns with abstract phrases. such phrases tends to obscure facts nd confuse the audinece of news media. when kloisterners and viewrs are stuck on a phrase miss imprtant info whike the news story continues. they (journalist) - shoryt paragraphs and sentences - focus on ine idea with a sentence or even paragraph. they rewrite long/akward sentences and dived them into shorter ones = easier to read and understand. - yhe longer yhe sentence= more difficult it is to understand too many shores sentecnes put together= choppy sound of yoiur writting. long senyences made well and used sparingly, can be effective tools for the writer. sentenses that vary in lenghth = make the writying more interesting.

punctuation

helps make meaning of the sentence to reader and the marks indicsate the oauses and stops that the voice makes when speakeing they ondicstde not only where teh pause goes but teh lenght of the pause and otehr marks show inflections in tge voice like questions or excalamotory remarkes.

that - which

if the sentence is read w/o the subordinate clause and the meaning does not change, the "which " should intro ther clasue, otherwise use "that"

subject and verb

if the subject if a sentence is singular , use a singular verb, and if the subject is plural, use plural verb. when prepositianl ohrases seperate sunjects ahd verbs or when sub is a collective noun, agreement becomes tricky. some nouns may seem to be plural bc they end in "s" but they are considered sungular :economics,politics, physics"

simplyfing words, para sentences cont

journalist should write from ear- listening ti the natural rythmn , or flow of words ans senyteces they write.they test thier storues buy reading them aloud to themselves/orfriend. if sentences sound to akward or non approtript efor a talk with a pal, then writer =rewrite them to eliminate complex phrases and long or awkward sentences. simplicity in words and sentences makes storied clearler and mor interesting. well written stories have no distracting clutter- but theu stress the most key facts and report them in a syreaightforward, forceful manner. a way to keep sentesnces short, clear,conversational- use standard word order- subject, berb, and direct objects. words taht make sentences shou;d flow smoothly and teh sentences taht form paragraphs shpuld also flow together, logicly combininh simialr thouths or ideas. common doing in journalism = start new para with each shift in topic, no matter how slight ideas that are linked or realted together shouldn be artifically seperated just to make shorter paragraophs.

avoid excessive punctuation

jounalist abiod excessive punctuation - particularly !,-,()'s. exalmation points are rearley necessary and should never be used after ebery sentence in a storu, regardless of the storys imprtance. paraenthese intrupt florw of ideas and forces people to pause and assimilate so additional oftern jarrung bit of info - if souce says something vause or convoluted- writer should parapjrase or use partail quotation rather than insert ecplanatuin in parenthese,

difference between journalism and other writing

journalism is fact-based storytelling to an audience wiyh varied interest, ediucation,ages,and oyther demographics =. to reach mass audinces, journalist communicstoe how yhe info is important to the individual. yhey present complex info and break it down in a way that allows lmost everyone to comprehend it easily. even short tales must comtain enough info yhat audences csn comprehend what has happend. newswritting style allows text and visual journalist preseny fatcual info succinently and in an impartial or objective manner. basic journalism rule= the seperation of fact and opioomn and being fair and ballenced in reporting multiple viewpoints. Journalist are also known for writing clearly and concicley and presnting info in a organized and obkective manner. with thier good news judgement they can identify imemeadtliy the importance of a story and it supporting elements. writtinh well is a desuorable trait in any prifession.

racism in journalism

journalist avoid stereotypes of African Americans,Asian americans- Native Americans and all other racial groups. they mention a persons race, reliogion, or ethnic background only when the fact is clesarly relevant to the story. identifying a criminal by race when that is the only charictaristic known , is very harmfull as it casts suspisiouns on every menber of the race.

slang

journalist avoid this which tends ti be more radish than cliches feat stirues and presonality profiles sometuime empoly slang effectivly but it is inapprotrate in straight news storied as it is too informal and anniying. salng may baffke readers s theyt arent of teh right age ir ethni c grouo to comprehend it . it also cinveys meanings that journalist may want to aivod

sexism in journalism

men and women treated equally in news stories.. journalist avoid occupational terms that note only one gender:" fireman,policemen,fireman". journaslist instead use "fire-fighter,letter-carrier" etc. the APA book suggests journalist use "chairwomen" or "spokeswomen" when refering to a woman and "chairman, or spokesman" when refering to.a man. they use the terms" leader" or representitive - to aviod akwardness. attire- if its not central to the story- journalist avoid writting about the attire of men and women. the clothes and hairstyles of noth genders should be equally fascinating or equally important. journalist use "man "and "woman" when a adults gender is important. the words "female" and " male" = to general as they invole all ages." Lady "is a spefic class of women , just as gentelemn is for a man. bith men and women = should be reffered to by thier last names- rarley thier first escept in stories where multiple members of teh same faily are quoted as sources and first names are needed to clarify whoes being quoted. to often news stories indentify a spouse onliy in a relation to the subject. " Gov christie's wife ," or "Rep Nancy Pelosi husband". It appears that one person is important and yhe oyther is not. this also brings up that the spouse is only a possesion =. people should be identtified with frist and last name writers eskew using the pronoun "he" as a general reference to men/women. but he/she or he and /or she can become so cumbersome that it distracts audencies. writers use an article in place of pronoun, remove the pronounor use plural nouns and pronouns instead if singular ones.

dangiling modifier

modifers dangle when the word or phrase that tight are supposed to modift does not apper in the sentence. may occur when a thoughtkess or hurried wrter starts sentece intending to state an idea and the switches in midsentence to exoress it another way. resaders understand tyhat inteo words and phrases modift suv of the sentence. if that is not the case, yhe modifer is either misplaces or dangiking.

misplaced modifier

modifier - are words/ phrases tat limit restrict, qualify some other word or phrase. they shoukd appear as claose a spossibke ti the word of phrase that they modify. misplaced moddifers= cn make sentences ambiguois, confusing and nonsensical.

profanity

news executives allow this when relevant/essentail to strot meaning, eben then they refude to publish the most offensive terms.

overuse of adjectives and adverbs

news writers avoid these two things as they lack force and specificty of nouns and verbs. most of these two (adj,adv) waste soace as they state obvious / they may inintentailly eject teh opions of th wroter

nouns and pronouns

not only must pronouns agree w/ verbs, but also nust have rge sane number and gender as thier antcedotes. a singuklar femine noyn rquires a singular feminine pronoun, a plural noun requires a plural neuter pronun. collective nouns like "team,jurt,group, comitee, family" = csuse thje ,ost issues with noun pronoun agreement . if a collective noun is used in plural snese, then a plural pronounis nneesed.

paragraphs in new stories

often = one sentence bc that's all that's needed to get the point across before moving to another idea. short paragraphs are better because long dense ones discourages readers. short paragraphs are best when writing for audio, or video. therefore journalist divide stories= bite -sized chunks that are simple to read, hear , and understand.

avoid stereotyping other groups

people with disabilities: termed - as " person with a disabilty," "person who is blind" etc. such phraseing sytresses the individual before the condition. religious- journalist are careful to aviod sterryotyping all followers of a faith bc of the actions a few members.

Use present tense

print report s avoid present tense and s=tems" at the preent time" om storied for yeh printed newspoae as many of ythe events they report end before readers get the paper. "the victims identit id not known"-REVISED: POLICE WERE UNABLE TI LEARN THE VICTIMS IDENITY IMMEDATLEY" STORIES FOR B-CAST OR FOR IMMEDIATE PUB ON A WEB OR SOC MEADI = MORE LIKLY TO USE PRESENT TENST . WHEN A STORY IS LIKELY TI REACH READER OR VIEWERS AS THE EVERNT SARE UNFOLDING, THE PRESENT TENSE MY BE MORE ACCURATE AND COMPLEEING.

Active/Passive Voice

sentences that use the sub- verb- obj form are active voice sentences. a passive vioce turns the order around. the direct object of the active voice sentence becomes sub of the passive ssentence,the sub=part of prepasional phrase and the verb= replaced w/ its past particle and some form of the verb "to be ." the sub can fade from the passive voice sentence. some writers make the error of using the indirect obj as teh subjet of the passibe voice sentence, this error is common with vebs like "give,present". writers should avoid passive voice not only since its wordier the active voice but bc it camafloges responsibility. if a distaer strikes or a defective product harms someone, then government maty admit "mistakes were made", but that passive constructiob reveals nothing about who made the miskates and why. the passibe voice is the ally of all who seek to evade responsibility: it is teg enmey of all who seek clarity,

run-on sentence

sometimes writers string too many words and phrases together in such a way that the sentence becomes wordy and confusing. such fuaultly sentences is called a run on sentences . the sentence contains so many thoughts jumbeles together that the sentences that mnakes no sense." I love to read books i would read a new one evey day if i could. we did not know which resturant we wanted to eat at we drove for hours until we found one we all agreed to eat fast food." the cilprit in the run on sentence is the misuse of the simple comma. statring writters sometimes create run ons by inserting a comma between 2 complete sentences= this is clles a comma splicde error: " the purchae of a used car is hard., there are many good ines availible."- FIX"the purcshace of a used car is hard . There are many good ones availble. good writers carefully edit thier stories to eliminate any run on sentences the story may contain.

journalist eliminate cliches

that is so closely associated with news writing that they are called "journalese"- term identified phrases journalist use to dramatize, exaggerate, and sometimes distort the events they describe. cliche ex: fired "rage" temperatures "soar" and earthquakes "rumble". Floods "go on a rampage."

basic sentence structure

the rules and principles used to combine words into sentences = syntax.. successful writers learn syntax and comprehend the importance of good sent structure for conciseness and clarity. sentences can be either simple or complex simple sentences - include a Subject + verb + direct object. the subject is the person, thing doing action. the verb describes the action. the direct sub= tgeh person or thing acted on. sometimes sentences have indirect object= tells us to who or for whom an action was done. the test for an indrect is to place "to " or "for" before the word. EX OF BOTH SENT WITH an IN/DIRECT SUB: Juan sent Maria a Valentines card. Lucinda bought her husband an Ipad. when a noun alone is used as an indirect obj, it usually comes between the verb and the direct object, as the preceding ex(maria and luc sentences). but when the indirect obj-follows the direct obj. it takes the form of a prep phrase. : Juan sent a Valentines card to Maria Lucinda bought an Ipad for her husband.

Technical language/jargon

the special vocabulary of a trade or profession. jargon= wordy confusing and repetitious. journalisy must trasnlate jargon into engkish tech languge - may be apporopriate in some specilaiszed publications written for experts in a part fiel. its not approrate in newspapers written for mass aud

nouns

the sub of a sentence is the part about which something is said. the sub of the sentence= can be noun, pronoun, gerund or infinitive. a gerund = a verbal noun formed by adding the ending "ing" to the base form. infinitive = the basic dictionary form of the verb, appearing with or without the particle "to" which can, among numerous other uses, stand as a noun phrase. ex-Bill threw the ball. He through the ball. Throwing the ball is tiresome. To throw the ball all day is tiresome.

journalist strive to be objective and impartial as possible.

they report facts and details of ether stories not their opinion about the issues and events. they express their own opinion in only editorials and commentaries, which are clearly labeled as such. when they inject their own opinion into a story, they risk offending readers and viewers who might not want reporters telling them how to think. reporters assume audience members = intelligent and capable of reaching their own conclusions about issues in the news. one way-they (journalist)keep their opinions out of stories is by avoiding loaded words: "demagogue", "extremist, "radical "racist" and "zelot". this type of words are usally unecessary and inaccurate. many occasuions-- loaded words state the obvious: that an argurement was "heated" or a death "unfortunate". reprters can eliminate the opinions in the some sentences by delteing a single adj. or averb: "famous actor"," orignal senytence- the price for tickets are inexpensive at only $5. Revised: tickets are $5. entire sentences sometimes convey opinions, unsuported by facts . editors and instructirs will eleimnate those sentences: "The canidate looks like a winner" news writers can report the opinions expressed by other people- the source for thier stories- but has to clearly attribute those oppinons to the source- if journalist fail to give the proper attribution- audiences might think the reporters are expressing thier own opinions or agreeing with the source. ex: "Kwame Kilpatrick lied about his actions. Revised:" the city's lawsuit charged that Kwane Kilpatrick lied about his actions.

verbs

three types of verbs- transitive, intransitive, and linking transitive= propel the action in the sentence from the subject to the object. these verbs are always followed by a direct object. example : People belived the mayor when he said the water was safe to drink. " - "Mayor is teh subject of "belibed". intransitive verbs-show action, =but arent followed by a direct object. they can describe a action or give a sense of lpcation and are often follwed by prepositiional prhases or adverbs. linking verbs - describe a state or condition and link a noun,pronpun, or adk that describes or identifies the subject.

to be precise

to communicate effectively, reporter must br precise those who dont use precise languge frustruates their readers and can undermine thier credibiklity and thier readers will question thie accurxy of teh stories. this can lead to double meanings . confusion comes when words look or soud alike:navek/naval.

ch 4- the effectiveness of words

when looking for employees, new companies look for people who understand/respect the language, knows spelling and grammar, has an extensive vocab and writes in a clear and interesting manner. even careful writers make mistakes - but if errors become too numerous - they can hurt news organizations credibility and force it to print or b-cast costly and embarrassing corrections. writers devotion- they value prose that is clear, concise, and accurate - strive for selecting teh exact word nedded to push/convey an idea, use the work properly and place it in a sentence that is grammaticly correct. when a significatn event happens: the election of the new pope or a bombing, jpornalist rush to the scene to gather info and transmit it to the public. all journalist may, therefore, write about the same event, but some are better than others. Why?- some are better at getting the info needed to write exceptional stories. others produce exceptional stories bc of thier command of the English languge. - the language is forceful, and thier stories are inscribed so clerarly= everyone can understand them these reporters describe people, places, and events inbvolved in news stories and use quotes that let the actors in thier stories speak directly to the pub. skilled reporters can transform even routine events into front page stories.

parallel form

when writers link similar ideas= they use apratlell sructures. these create harmony and balance in writting and teh aid readers compare and contrast the idead that atre linked within the sentence. the orinciple af parrellism- requres that items in a seriers take the smae gramatical form. FOR EXAMPLE:"all are nouns, all sre verbs or alla re prepostionalphrases. if teh first verb in a series uses past tense- every verb in seris uses the past tense. if rwriters fail to hhave the same gramatical structire in stentences= convoluted and confusing.

cliches

words or phrases that writers have heard and copied ove and over. " called teh greatest labor saving devises . the news media can tajke a fresh phrase and iveruse u so it quicklty becomes a chliche. journalist emply these wen they lack the time or talent to find words for specifif, descriptive or orignal.