Grammar-punctuation errors in Tampa-Bay publications
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Grammar-punctuation of Tampa Bay area publications
Patrick, for heaven’s sakes, why did you let that vain ninny Dick Greco get away with clipping ten years off his age in his ”Silhouettes” interview?He and I graduated from HHS in ’51.If he is a mere 66 now, he was eight when we graduated.
Paul has outdone himself in bloviating journalistic sycophancy on this one.He has written a hagiography of the local bore that is almost as long as Proust’s A La Recherche du Temps Perdu. I wonder the presses didn’t run out of ink.
Paul spells “descent” as “decent.” I won’t even go where commas appear where they shouldn’tand don’t appear where they should.
Le Guzzo kneels at the feet of Dick—who is getting so fat he won’t be able to see his feet over his belt soon—and writes ad infinitum about this great baby as if he were the El Cid of the bay area.
That Le Dick’s fans have coerced the city into putting up a statue of him in downtown Tampa doesn’t say much for the town’s standards of éclat or aesthetics.
Not one negative thing is mentioned about this highly flawed local character.
Why not a retrospective of his varied marital exploits and nonstop skirtchasing? And didn’t he leave the city in debt?
He discriminated against women in employment so that Tampa Now had to file an EEOC charge against him for patterns and practices of sex discrimination to get him to open the police department to women. He and that rascal Marshall Jessee kept “losing” a young black woman’s application for the police department.
Then he ran around the state bragging that his was the first major city with an affirmative action plan.He didn’t mention that NOW and the EEOC made him do it.
Paul should be ashamed of himself for writing this twaddle and you for publishing it.
Lee
Posted on BayAreaGrammarGrinch in honor of the offenses against writing
Your column displays obtuse customary kick at teachers’ unions as major cause of what’s wrong with education.
It’s clear that you nor other pundits who deliver this same old argument about teacher unions’ demanding higher teacher salaries as major cause of failing education have done no recent research.
What about administration salaries and administration greed and mediocrity?
In Hillsborough County, the superintendent got her job through politics as the inside candidate who would continue the gravy train for administration insiders and board incumbents. She bamboozled a somnolent, complicit board, but its members cooperated in hiring her not because they thought that she demonstrated concern for education or that she was an exemplar of it but that she was an advocate of administrative greed and power hunger.
The board lowered the Ph.D. requirement to Ms. Elia’s master’s from an undistinguished institution so that she could take the job away from Ph.D.s who applied from first-rate universities with distinguished careers of varied experience and publishing.
Besides not being able to punctuate and write beyond junior-high level, Superintendent Mary Ellen Elia is greedy and power mad.
She makes $300,000 a year despite her deficiencies, the highest superintendent salary I can find on the Internet. She augments her salary by taking a “performance bonus” for the work teachers do to raise student scores to bloat her salary even more.
The teacher’s union that you cite as the major problem to excellence in education eked out only $34,000 starting salary for teachers while the part-time school board voted itself over $40,000.
When I objected to this circumstance at a political meeting, Board Member Dr. Jack Lamb screamed at me that he didn’t want to hear from me ever again.This outburst came after he had taken an oath to defend a citizen’s Constitutional right to approach public officials for redress of grievances.
With board collusion, Ms. Elia hires sycophantic, highly plaid administrators with early childhood degrees to fill slots that should have professionals in them. She does not advertise these crony bloated-pay jobs with the board’s acquiescence, equal opportunity and academic excellence bedamned.
When these crony administrators can’t do their jobs, the board rushes in pricey tax-paid consultants to teach them what they don’t know, which is mostly everything.
None of the administrators are interested in education. They are interested in their pocket books and how to raise their salaries even higher. They use their boss as role model for this yen.
The bullying superintendent imposes decrees onto teachers without consulting them while the board pares its cuticles. She forced teachers to accept a grade-inflation scheme so that her performance would look better; she has most recently bought a gim-crack education do-dad for over three million dollars a year that abandons text books for the faux learning of an industrially-produced Skinner-box thing-a-ma-jig that makes money forproducers, leaves students bereft, and gives Ms. Elia another bonus for student recruitment.
This Spring fraud on education has proven in other places to be a bust. The board, of course, sat by and didn’t ask if Ms. Elia had consulted teachers on this Spring gimcrack revolution teachers must carry out in the classroom. Only after the local Tampa Tribune editorialized against the state of affairs did one board member make the tardy suggestion for a workshop, which was closing the barn door after the critter had escaped. Ms. Elia has already signed the deal while the board snoozed.
This too-late “workshop” will be a fraud for show to propitiate the press with hope it looks elsewhere so that the board, Ms. Elia, and her early-childhood-degreed myrmidons can get back to managing the schools so the students get the worst education possible and so that Ms. Elia and her administrator crew get as much money as possible leeched from the taxpayers.
Ms. Elia and her myrmidons never consult teachers. They treat them with contempt if they dare come to the board to let the board and administration know their views.Ms. Elia considers teachers not professional educators but her class-room field hands whose existence makes possible her control over a lot of state money to bloat her salary and to buy the intoxication of abuse of power which her psyche requires.
To solve her problems at the beginning of this school year, Ms. Elia sprang an extra class on high-school teachers that takes away their planning time and latitude to sponsor student clubs among other things.
This extra class has produced a lot of tired-out teachers who can’t do their best by students because of fatigue and low morale. These teachers are the heart of the school system that never get an invitation from the board to come and share their insights and never get a say in how Ms. Elia runs the schools because Ms. Elia is Captain Queeg.
If a teacher gets out of line to the point of criticizing Ms. Elia’s tyranny, the Professional Standards office steps forward with a manufactured case against the teacher to terrorize him or her with the threat of job loss.
The school board, supposed to be Ms. Elia’s boss, is her puppet. Its members pose as ceremonial potted plants on the board dais when not lollygagging around Tampa attending community functions so that they can preen as benefactors of education. They don’t visit schools. They don’t even deign to respond to parent pleas for meetings.
One board member, Dr. Lamb, refused to meet with parents in his district to discuss a boundary change but never misses Chamber- of-Commerce breakfasts to chat up how powerful he is with the other piney-woods mandarins of the town. Dr. Lamb’s conduct shows that board members have little interest in education but a lot of interest in amour propre.
The elected board signs off on every one of Ms. Elia’s outrages and salary boosts while the graduation rate and the minority students’ performance plummet. Yet the board Web site touts its allegiance to “excellence in education.”
The single black board member, one Ms. Edgecomb, is an Aunt Tom who never mentions black children’s dilemma in the schools. As Gunnar Myrdal pointed out in An American Dilemma, Ms. Edgecomb is just glad to have made it out of the Black ghetto into whitey’s world. She participates with enthusiasm in the state’s double dipping of pension- and-salary largesse, making over $90,000 a year of tax money in a system in which children come to school ill fed, ill clothed, and too poor to buy supplies they need to participate in class projects.
The next time you do an education column, Mr. Will, don’t report stale research.Expand your research into how the hordes of featherbedding, concupiscent, minimally-educated, greedy administrative parasites injure education.
Come down to the Bay Area to do your research on the Hillsborough County board and administration.
Travel to some of the Florida school administrative bureaucracy’s back-to-back conferences staged at posh hotels and paid for by unsuspecting taxpayers.You will find there throngs of C-student minds with “PhDs” from diploma mills like NOVA, which allows its matriculants to escape with advanced degrees after letting slide theses packed with grammar-punctuation errors, not to mention risible writing and logic.
Concentrate on the supine, complicit elected boards such as those in Hillsborough County, which lie to the taxpayers about candidates’ devotion to education to get elected but in office continue this evil system that betrays students.It is one that rots from the top and prevents children from getting a good education so that they can compete in the world they will face when they exit the auditorium with their often worthless diplomas.
Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan once puckishly said that data indicated that the leading determinant of the quality of public schools, measured by standardized tests, was the schools' proximity to Canada.
Those commas, a retired teacher and once president of the faculty union explains, are redundant.The “measured” past participial phrase is restrictive.It modifies “determinant,” which is the cited standardized-tests measure, not that of some other metric.
You need some new research, Mr. Will.Your analysis is dated. Come on down!
Times staff writers Steve Bousquet, Mary Jane Park and Alex Leary and researcher John Martin contributed. Shannon Colavecchio-Van Sickler can be reached at svansickler@sptimes.com or (850) 224-7263.
And lately a much talked-about potential running mate for Republican presidential nominee John McCain.
John Mc Cain is the sole Republican presidential nominee now; so “John Mc Cain” is a restrictive appositive and needs a comma before it.
Florida's payroll sees some triple-dip
By Lucy Morgan, Times Senior Correspondent Published Saturday, March 22, 2008 12:24 AM
The state has made it far too easy to "game the system,'' according to a national expert on state pension funds.
The comma after “system” cuts off a restrictive adverbial prepositional phrase.The statement is not from a group of actuarial experts; its from “a national expert….”
Offseason shopping: Bucs meet needs, so far
By Rick Stroud, Times Staff Writer Published Saturday, March 22, 2008 9:40 PM
TAMPA — If the Bucs had to play a regular-season game today, what kind of team would they put on the field?
Pronoun-antecedent disagreement problem: “Bucs” is one team: singular; so “they” should be “it.”
You really have to wonder about the Florida Democratic Party with Karen Thurman at the helm.
“Really” is the redundant adverb that Strunk & White inveighs against. It makes the writer sound like a California Valley Girl.
As I watched her being flailed by her own politicians last week when she floated a vote-by-mail scheme, I actually started to feel sorry for the former congresswoman that (gasp!) Florida broke the rules seems an impossible task.
Passive pussyfooting verb: “As I watched her own politicians' flailing her last week…”
“Actually” is another redundant adverb, confirming the California Valley Girl status of Le Garcia.
• The Miami Herald: It's an "absurd idea...a last-ditch, Hail Mary pass that has failure written all over it."
Garcia demonstrates wrong use of ellipsis; what he needs is a comma or a dash. Use an ellipsis for omitted material or to indicate a trailing off of the speaker’s words.
If a re-vote happens, he said, Democrats will take part. But he acknowledges "nobody's really dying for it, either, it seems."
The commas surrounding “either” are redundant.It is a restrictive adverb.
I guess what strikes me most is the apathy I hear about the whole voting mess, as if we are so beaten down in Florida, so used to being the butt of cable news and late-night jokes, that we've lost the will to argue.
The “as if” adverbial clause is restrictive: no comma after “miss” or “jokes.”
We just shrug our shoulders like Jake Gittes' private-eye colleagues in the last scene of Chinatown and say, with resignation, "Forget it, voters. It's Floridatown."
“Just” is a redundant adverb. Dump it. The comma after “say” is superfluous: it cuts off a restrictive adverbial prepositional phrase. “Gittes’” should be “Gittes’s.”
Graham Greene, who would have gotten a Nobel if one of the Nobel Committee members had not had it in for him, eschewed adverbs altogether. Read a page or two of him to see what punch this abstention gives his style.
Does punctuation count? Punctuation matters little to people who eat out of a rhetorical trough.But for those who want to pick up forks and knives, punctuation is the next level of writing civility. ldd
Charles Beck never missed a day of work and he would call if he was going to be late, employers told deputies.
A comma goes after “work” for a coordinating conjunction’s dividing two independent clauses.
By Daniel Ruth
The Tampa Tribune
Published: March 20, 2008
By now it has probably dawned upon you as a resident of Florida, and therefore an eyewitness to hysteria, that the ham-handed galoots running the Democratic Party hereabouts make "The Honeymooners" Raccoon Lodge seem like a Marine Corps precision drill team.
The commas after “Florida” and “hysteria” are redundant.The phrase is restrictive.“Precision drill” is a hyphenated adjective before a noun: “precision-drill team.”
There weren't official greeters for Siena coach Fran McCaffery and his lads, unless you count] freshman forward Ryan Rossiter's dad. Steve Rossiter, a retired New York City firefighter, is here for Friday's game against Vanderbilt.
The comma after “lads” is superfluous: it cuts off a restrictive trailing adverbial clause.
The writer's clarity in this ethics piece comes from crisp sentences and punchy diction. He also has a quirky sense of humor.
His weaknesses: Raging comma overuse; passive verbs; redundant modifiers
Overuse of commas ranks the most frequent error of punctuation.
Commas for the last four hundred years have been on the decline. Fowler is the best authority on this trend.
Writers used to sprinkle commas with a hey nonnynonny to suit rhetorical pauses or any other urges they had to insert a comma. Read some Elizabethan prose to see what I mean. Basing comma use on rhetorical pauses ranks unreliable since a person can pause anywhere in a sentence.
I sense that linguistics studies influence the trend toward minimal commas. Chomsky and his followers of generative grammar emphasize the structure of a sentence. Commas have waned because this mark of punctuation now follows sentence structure and not the whim of the writer.
I used to tell students, "When in doubt, leave it out." You shouldn't be in doubt. But you are safer leaving out a comma than putting one in that you can't justify with a rule. There are a mere six comma rules. The hard one is non-restrictive element. To use this last comma rule right, you must know the guts of a sentence.
One would think that newspaper writers should welcome diminution of commas since in a time long, long ago lost in newspaper legend, news writers defied comma convention, snapped their suspenders, adjusted their green eyeshades, spat into their newsroom spittoons, and vowed never to use a comma before the last item in a series.They vowed also never to allow women on the premises of the newsroom sweat lodge lest they put up Pricilla curtains and insist on the civility of not too many references to the female pudendum from the spittoon brigade.
This latter ban of late has lifted at the Tribune, which has seen Pricilla curtains hung in the management offices upstairs.
News crews, however, cleave to superfluous commas with irrational tenacity as this Tribune ethics essay shows. They continue to bestrew commas with vague ideas of why they put them in a sentence.They appear to cling to a stubborn resistance to learn comma lore. The best newspaper writers suffer this affliction as my grammar blog on the NYT and the Washington Post shows (Grammargrinch.blogspot.com). Hunkering down in defiant ignorance is easier than mastering the structure of a sentence so as to know for sure where a comma goes and where it does not.
Passive verbs are wimps that weaken the thrust of a sentence and sound sneaky by leaving out who did things.They are longer than active verbs. They make the reader distrust the author, who appears to hide secrets behind passive verbs.
Grammar checkers give the percentage of passive verbs, but they don't tell you how to spot or fix them. Spotting them is easy: A passive verb is a verb phrase; its main verb is the past participle; one of its helping verbs is a form of the verb "to be"; and you find in the sentence or can add yourself "by somebody or something." The "by" phrase is where you find your subject to convert passive to active voice.
The cat was chased [by the dog].
The dog chased the cat.
News writers are professionals whose only tools are words and the little squiggle marks between words to convey meaning. The squiggle marks--punctuation--form an integral part of these writers' craft. So there's no excuse for newspaper writers' not using punctuation well if they mean to write well. There is also no excuse for their not dumping boggy passive verbs and redundant modifiers to produce more readable prose. The reason they continue these negative habits is resistance to change, laziness, and the belief that people won’t notice their marginal literacy—which, among other delusions, they beguile themselves into believing is a banner of the romance of their profession.
Newspaper writers, most of whom dropped out of college in the second year, also relish the idea of thumbing their noses at the prissy academics they left behind who know the rules but who can't hit a spittoon for beans.
Some newsroom philosopher produced this press-virtues doxology below fifteen years ago.It needs updating with clean-up of its shoddy grammar and punctuation.The person who does this job must also consider making the virtue guidelines more realistic and less coincident with the practices of Himalayan monks, who submit to abstinence, undergo food deprivation, walk barefoot in the snow for miles, and chanthours on end out of tune to the discomfort of anyone in hearing range including themselves.
The new guidelines don’t have to convey “It’s party time” but should outline a more human behavior model for the Tribune Knights and Pricella Ladies of the Yellow pad and the CRT Screen.
ldd
Published: May 16, 2002 Last Updated: May 16, 2002
Tampa Tribune Newsroom Ethics Policy
People ought to trust us. It irks us when they don't.
All we have are our principles.
The indefinite pronoun "all" is plural when it refers to people or things you can count; it is singular when it refers to things that you can't count. "All" here means "the only thing that we have"; so the verb should be singular: "is."
The magisterial Fowler in Modern English Usage says this: "When 'all' is the subject of the verb `to be' followed by a plural complement, the linking verb is expressed in the singular." The usual linking verb is some form of the verb "to be" as is the case in the Tribune sentence. The plural complement is "principles."
We have forgone lucrative careers in medicine, business and law in order to defend democracy, free speech and the American way. Without us, Ann Landers would be just another know-it-all.
Prominent correction: Some of us failed science and math.
Diction: "Disclosure" should replace "Prominent correction."
Readers don't know our sacrifices.
We suffer through elections without benefit of bumper stickers. We know which politicians are idiots but can't scream it in a crowded room.
We lunch with millionaires but can't let them pick up the check.
Meanwhile, our siblings, who drive better cars, expect us to shower them with Bucs tickets and Disney passes. Our neighbors, who boast of knowing us, want publicity. We fail, unable to profile their tire stores on Page 1.
We feel quietly superior at high school reunions. But that's pretty much the end to the fun.
"Quietly" and “pretty much” are redundant adverbs. I hazared that “pretty much” is too informal even for a newspaper. It makes the writer sound like a guy named Luke attired in overalls, hanging out in front of the drugstore in some tiny Southern town with a sparse population of farmers and seasonal bean pickers.
Credibility is a platform for words and ideas.
Without it, no one can hear us.
It's not a stomping ground for our personal viewpoints.
And it can't take the weight of our personal gain.
Anonymous sources
It's sometimes necessary, but seldom a good idea, to quote an unnamed source. Likewise for using fictitious names.
The commas following "but" and "idea" are redundant: they cut off a linking verb from the predicate nominative "idea." The "Likewise” locution begins a fragment. We allow Proust, James, and Faulkner artful fragments. Tribuneauteurs do not enjoy this largess. As soon as these write an A La Recherche du Temps Perdu, The Ambassadors, or Go Down, Moses," s/he enters into this hallowed demesne of fragments and endless sentences.Faulkner’s “The Jail” is only two.
When we do so, we in effect tell readers: "Trust us."
The more we ask for trust, the less we seem to deserve it.
By not revealing a source, we vouch for the veracity of what's said. That puts our own credibility on the line.
So we ought to be judicious in bestowing anonymity.
A few thoughts:
1. Exhaust other options. Don't stop interviewing. Will someone else go on the record, now that you know, or seem to know, the story?
The three commas are superfluous. The one after "record" cuts off a trailing restrictive adverbial clause; the ones around "or seems to know" split a compound verb: "know or know."
Example: A Tampa surgeon cuts the wrong foot off a patient. We learn of it from an insider who does not wish to be identified. The hospital spokesman won't comment. The surgeon won't comment. We don't know the patient's name. An editor suggests calling hospital board members. One goes on the record, confirming our report.
2. Talk it over with an editor. Is the interview even worth using, given the ground rules? If a reporter and team leader can't agree, get a senior editor involved.
"Even" is a redundant adverb.
Be careful what you promise sources. Assure anonymity in print, when necessary. But editors may need the source's identity to make an informed decision. The source may have burned us before.
The superfluous comma after "print" cuts off a restrictive elided ("when [it is] necessary") adverbial clause.
3. Grant anonymity only if someone's professional, financial or physical well-being are at stake - or if the subject matter suggests a need for privacy. For instance, stories about AIDS, impotence, personal debt, divorce, incontinence, rape and child abuse may require anonymity for candor.
Subject-verb agreement: The subject is "well-being." The verb should be "is."
4. Be skeptical of a source's motives and be fair: Don't permit anonymous character attacks.
5. When quoting unnamed sources, describe their credentials as thoroughly as possible without jeopardizing identity. Make sure the source is comfortable with the description.
Fictitious or composite characters aren't allowed, except in cases of obvious exaggeration.
The comma after "allowed" cuts off a restrictive adverbial prepositional phrase.
These guidelines do not preclude confidential conversations between reporters and sources, sometimes necessary in the news-gathering process. It's OK to go off the record, and reporters should guard the integrity of their relationships with sources.
But published material, in general, ought to be clearly attributed.
Commas should not encircle this restrictive prepositional phrase. It's superfluous. I would dump it.
Civic activity
Few other ethical issues cause more head scratching.
We're supposed to be plugged into the community, able to recognize the heart and soul of our neighbors. Yet we're also supposed to be neutral about the issues that concern them.
The compromise: Be independent but not detached.
And if a conflict emerges, declare it.
Don't give up your right to be a citizen. Just be cautious when choosing civic bedfellows, particularly if you cover a beat.
Sacrifice "particularly": it's a redundant adverb.
Normal syntax is subject-verb-adverbial modifier. In the normal end position, the adverbial modifier is restrictive and gets no comma before it. If you move it to the beginning or the middle of the sentence, an adverbial modifier remains restrictive but gets commas because you have disturbed syntax.
There are only a few hard-and-fast rules: Don't join fund-raising arms of political parties. Avoid organizations with hot agendas, such as abortion rights or gun control. Don't take a stand on something you cover.
Jettison "only": it's a superfluous adverb. The comma after "agendas" cuts off a restrictive adjectival phrase.
Join a church, but stay away from religious lobbying groups.
The comma splits a compound verb: "join but stay."
Don't sign petitions. Research before you sign a check.
Join the Sierra Club, hoping for a few good canoe trips, and your dollars may pay for local opposition to a road. It's not so embarrassing if you're the food writer, but what if you cover roads?
The environmental reporter shouldn't belong to Greenpeace. The education reporter shouldn't run for PTA office. Otherwise, professional, humanitarian, cultural, environmental, support, alumni, hobbyist, athletic and neighborhood associations pose few risks.
Use common sense.
The AARP is one of America's largest lobbying groups, but membership likely won't cause a conflict.
Generally, it's fine to volunteer with groups such as Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Habitat for Humanity, the Spring or local theater companies - but don't let your Tribune connection be exploited for publicity.
Passive: "Don't let these enterprises exploit..."
I wonder whether the press's failing to italicize a newspaper is laziness or another affectation of the green-shade buccaners.
Civic activity may demand a case-by-case consideration. Don't hesitate to get others' opinions.
See also "Political activity."
Connections
However tempting, it's unethical to mine professional contacts for personal gain.
That means no personal letters on Tribune stationery. No threats, overt or implicit, of retaliation or pressure. No using your position to get better seats at a concert or a table in an already booked restaurant. No attempts to speed up personal business with public agencies.
After "stationery" is a good place for a colon; then you avoid a series of fragments.
Hyphenated adjective before a noun: "already-booked restaurant."
No benefiting from unpublished information.
Financial reporters and editors shouldn't own stock in Tampa area companies, excluding mutual funds. Nor should they own stock in companies they might reasonably anticipate covering. If a conflict emerges, someone else should do the story.
Hyphenated adjective before a noun: "Tampa-area companies"
Dump "reasonably”: it’s the style-killer superfluous adverb that Strunk & White eschews.
We shouldn't use our beats to look for better jobs. If a source - a political candidate, for instance - offers a job, the offer should be disclosed to an editor, so as not to jeopardize the newspaper's appearance of impartiality.
Passive: “The reporter should disclose..." The comma after "editor" is dead wrong. It cuts off a restrictive trailing adverbial clause.
See also "Paying our way."
Corrections
There's no hiding from a correction. It's like a blemish. Coworkers who didn't even read your story will manage to see the correction.
Superfluous adverb
Nobody likes the embarrassment.
But in correcting mistakes, we reaffirm to readers our intent to get things right.
Corrections and clarifications appear on the section front in which the error occurred. They shouldn't repeat a mistake but should contain enough detail for clarity.
If incorrect information was provided to the Tribune, we should say so, but we shouldn't engage in internal finger-pointing in print.
I wish you would for the fun of the readers. Passive: "If someone provided incorrect information to the Tribune... “I suppose it’s sentimental to yearn for the continuation of the civility of the subjunctive mood: “If incorrect information were given…”
A team leader should be made immediately aware of factual errors and misleading statements, and should sign off on the correction.
passive verb-redundant adverb
Passive: "A reporter should make a team leader aware of factual errors and sign off on the correction."
The comma before "and' splits a compound verb.
Diversity
We flinch at one-source stories. They seem incomplete.
But how about one-race stories?
It's false and misleading to put African-Americans on the sports page and in the crime log, if general reporting automatically defaults to a backdrop of white voters, white Girl Scouts and white commuters.
Dump wordy "false and." The comma after "log" cuts off a restrictive trailing adverbial clause. Jettison the redundant adverb.
It's our job to reflect the community. Each day's newspaper creates a snapshot of the Tampa Bay area. The snapshot shouldn't overlook minority members. Nor, in an attempt to feature aspects of race, ethnicity or religion should we overstate the differences among us, while ignoring our common ground.
Omit the comma after "nor" and put it after "religion" for the long introductory prepositional phrase.
The comma after "us" is redundant: It cuts off a trailing adverbial prepositional phrase.
We must not lose the nuances of individuality by casting a community through a high-contrast filter.
Diverse voices should be woven into the everyday fabric of the newspaper.
Passive: "Writers should weave diverse voices...."
Do Muslims tell us about Ramadan but offer no opinions on education, zoning or Monica Lewinsky? Must a disability be a news peg? Aren't people in wheelchairs also parents and taxpayers?
While we seek diverse voices, we avoid labeling individuals. Unless relevant, we don't identify someone's race or ethnicity in a story.
Nor do we imply that any one person speaks for others by virtue of a common denominator such as race or gender.
Crime suspects should be identified by race only if it is part of a complex description. Unacceptable: "a black male in his 40s." Acceptable: "a light-skinned black man with freckles and short, graying hair, wearing khaki slacks and driving a blue Escort." One description merely perpetuates a stereotype. The other may solve a crime.
Passive: "Don't identify crime suspects by race." Get rid of superfluous adverb.
A guy wrote this piece. Were it a woman, she would include a woman-diversity paragraph to remind that ritual citing of a woman’s attire and looks is sexist.
Lastly, we don't repeat slurs without good reason, such as when a public figure speaks inappropriately.
Diction: Use "last" unless you want to sound like an ancient pontificator on a walker. Omit comma after "reason": it cuts off the restrictive trailing adverbial clause.
Fairness
It's good to get both sides but even better to get all sides.
Insight is our constant goal, even in the shortest of stories.
The redundant comma cuts off an adverbial restrictive prepositional phrase.
If we quote the advocates and the naysayers, we should also consider the undecided, the compromised and the confused. We must seek out the silent.
Before sullying a person's reputation, we should make every effort to elicit a response, even at the expense of delayed publication, when possible.
If we've reported criminal charges, we should report verdicts in corresponding court cases, especially when the accused is acquitted. If an arrest drew prominent play, the acquittal demands equally prominent play.
Passive: "When the court acquits..." The two adverbs are redundant.
Freelancing
It's permissible to take on freelance assignments, as long as they don't interfere with regular duties or compete directly with The Tribune. Competing publications usually are considered to be those within the circulation area.
The comma after "as" cuts off a restrictive trailing adverbial clause. Passive: "We consider..." “Usually" is a redundant adverb.
Supervisors should be told.
Passive: “You should tell supervisors.”
Work done for The Tribune becomes the newspaper's property. Stories and photographs can't be resold. That doesn't preclude staff members from rewriting or photographing familiar subjects for new markets after publication in The Tribune.
Passive: "Tribune employees can't sell..."
Company equipment, including camera gear and computers, should not be used for freelance ventures.
Both commas rank redundant: they cut off a restrictive adjectival prepositional phrase. Passive: "Employees should not use..."
The employee manual also addresses outside employment.
Gifts
Nobody bribes us with bundles of cash.
But if tins of cheddar popcorn were gold, we'd be rich.
On any given day, free stuff loads the newsroom mailboxes.
"Given" is a redundant adjective.
The general rule: Accept no gifts.
"General" is a redundant adjective.
That includes food, alcohol, clothing, tickets, travel offers, sample products and offers of free services.
For the sake of sanity, items of token value (under $10) are exempt. Other stuff should be returned or donated to charity. The readers' desk will maintain a charity bin and preprinted gift return cards. (No raiding the bin!)
Passive: "People should return..."
The logistics:
1. If you receive a gift of value from a source, subject or reader, return it by mail or in person. Write a note or use a preprinted gift return card.
Example: "The crystal toad is adorable, but I must return it. We can't accept gifts. Maybe I did, as you say, overlook a few warts, but the chocolate mousse was ribeting."
2. Mass mailings from marketing companies require less delicate treatment. Put the gift in the charity bin and send a gift return card to the giver.
3. Review copies of books, music CDs, software and videos - in effect, press releases - may be kept by the reviewer. It's OK for writers to keep reference copies: a food writer might keep a cookbook for future use.
Passive: "The reviewer may keep..."
Otherwise, review materials should be donated to charity. They should never be sold or traded at commercial outlets.
Passive: "Donate review materials to charity; don't sell or trade them at commercial outlets."
4. Perishables, by nature, are handled differently.
"By nature" is a wordy redundancy. Passive: "We handle..."
Food may be offered up for newsroom consumption, within reason. Return all sides of beef and cases of caviar. All alcohol should be returned.
Passive: "One may offer up..." "Return all alcohol."
Fresh flowers may be kept, but consider intent: A $100 arrangement from a developer grateful for publicity should be returned. Not so for a daisy basket from a reader, delighted we noticed his 100th birthday.
The comma after "kept" spits a compound verb. Passive: "Keep fresh flowers but consider the intent." Passive: “Return a $100-dollar arrangement…”
If in doubt about what's appropriate, talk to an editor.
Misrepresentation
People have a right to know they're talking to a reporter before an interview begins.
We don't sneak around trying to trick people into talking.
In rare instances, a reporter may require candid, first-hand knowledge of how an agency, company or individual behaves. Senior news management should first approve of any such activity.
Newsroom independence
Increasingly, reporters and editors hear of relations forged between The Tribune's advertising and promotions departments and the business community - unique arrangements with a stadium, a shopping mall, a housing development.
The redundant adverb and adjective should go.
It's important to remember that the newsroom's impartial voice exists independently of all other departments.
"Exists" is a linking verb (They aren't always some form of "to be."). So the adverb "independently" should be the predicate adjective "independent."
News is news. Advertising is advertising. News content is not dictated by advertising sales. Advertisers attempting to influence coverage deserve only a polite refusal.
Passive: "Advertising sales do not dictate..." "Only" is a redundant adverb.
Similarly, the editorial staff expresses the newspaper's opinion as a business. The editorial board, by nature, attempts to persuade, commenting on community issues.
The adverb and adjectival prepositional phrase are redundant.
Columnists enjoy similar latitude, although columnists should not use news pages to promote candidates, legislation or referendum issues.
Likewise, news pages are not an appropriate venue for a reporter or editor's crusade or cause.
For separate possession, each owner gets an apostrophe "s."
Online journalism
The Internet's unique characteristics do not lower the standards by which we evaluate, gather and disseminate information.
Material gathered online should be verified.
Material disseminated online should be solidly confirmed.
The two previous sentences say the same thing: drop one.
The ability to change information around the clock does not lessen the need for accuracy.
Paying for news
We barely pay reporters, let alone sources.
Be wary of anyone offering information for money. We never pay for news, and the very attempt to solicit payment raises questions about truthfulness and motives.
Possessive before the gerund: "anyone's offering." "Very": superfluous adverb
We do, of course, pay material costs such as copying expenses for documents.
Wordy superfluous phrase
Paying our way
Food: Restaurant critics dine anonymously, so there's seldom a scramble for the bill. However, critics, columnists and other journalists are sometimes recognized, and owners may try to sweeten the experience by dismissing the check or adding a complimentary bottle of wine. While sometimes awkward, we must pay our way.
Example: You're on a restaurant review. Dick Greco stops by the table to say hello. Minutes later, the owner is at Greco's table. Not long after, the owner brings you a bottle of wine ""on the house." Geez: Does he know you're from The Tribune? Does he just think you're Greco's friend? Either way, if you drink the wine, you pay.
"Geez"? The writer must have a more sophisticated expletive than "geez" in his vocabulary kit.
When dining with sources, pick up the check … or take turns. Our standards differ from those of the regular business world, and it's incumbent upon us to explain the rules.
The ellipsis here confirms to no recognized use of the mark. Use nothing and have a compound verb.
Do so in a way that doesn't make people feel like crooks. Sometimes it helps to explain that the newspaper will reimburse you.
None of this precludes common sense.
Reporters aren't expected to go hungry just because there's no way to pay for the buffet at a conference or sporting event. Sometimes there's nowhere else to go without missing what you're there to cover. But news-savvy organizers may know of your concern and already have a plan in place to allow you to pay.
Both adverbs are superfluous.
Tickets: We don't take free tickets, unless they're free to anyone.
The comma after "tickets" cuts off a restrictive adverbial trailing clause.
We can't ask for them, and we can't use them, whether delivered in person or unsolicited by mail. We can't give them away to family, friends or coworkers. We should send them back with an explanation or a gift return card. Otherwise, donors may assume we used them.
The comma after "them" cuts off a restrictive past participial phrase.
If we want tickets, we stand in line like the rest of the world. It builds character. It reminds us how much average people pay for mediocre performances. Likewise for admission to sporting events. Ethics would not spare us the joy of a foul ball to the upper, upper, upper tier.
Attach the “likewise” fragment to the previous sentence with a comma or an "and" with no comma.
We shouldn't accept special treatment, either on or off the job.
The redundant comma cuts off a restrictive adverbial prepositional phrase.
Exceptions exist.
Concert and theater promoters may set aside press seating for critics. We accept the convenience but pay for the tickets. Critics should sample acoustics throughout the arena. We pay when possible.
We can't buy seats at movie preview screenings or in the press box during athletic events, but competitively, we can't afford not to be there.
The adverb is redundant.
We don't pay for stage or field access when photographing musicians or athletes. But we don't sell, lend or give away credentials.
Credentials are tools. If we aren't taking notes or shooting pictures, we should question their use.
Regularly, the Tribune promotions department gets tickets to dinners and events in exchange for sponsorship. Those tickets, obtained through the business arm of the newspaper, may be enjoyed without restraint when distributed to the staff.
The adverb is redundant. Passive: "The staff may enjoy..."
Travel: During any business trips, we cover our own travel costs.
Modifier wordiness
That includes travel with political candidates and sports teams.
"That" should be "those," referring to "costs."
In charter situations, we pay our share of total costs.
Redundant modifier
Under special circumstances, senior newsroom management may approve of different arrangements, such as when military transport is the only way to reach a disaster scene or war zone.
Comma cuts off trailing restrictive adverbial clause.
Media days at theme parks and other attractions are off limits, unless we're covering the event, as in the debut of a ride. Such previews shouldn't be parlayed into family outings.
The commas are both redundant: the one after "unless" cuts off a trailing restrictive adverbial clause; the one after "event" cuts off a restrictive adjectival prepositional phrase.
Commercially sponsored media parties … including those staged during political conventions and Super Bowl festivities … create conflicts and should be avoided. In some cases, they may offer newsgathering opportunities. If you go, attempt to pay. If in doubt, talk with an editor before going.
The writer does not know how to use ellipses. The "including" phrase is a restrictive prepositional phrase modifying "parties."
We don't accept free or reduced-price travel to research travel stories. If freelancers take free or reduced-price accommodations, we should say so in print.
Photography
Photographs should remain truthful in spirit, manipulated only through quality enhancements such as burning, dodging, contrast control, color balancing, spotting and cropping.
The comma after "spirit" cuts off a restrictive past participial phrase.
We don't stage, re-enact or recreate news events for photos. Personality portraits and studio illustrations shouldn't create an artificial sense of spontaneity. Photo illustrations, computer enhancements, colorized and composite photographs should be labeled as such, out of regard for the public's trust.
Passive verb: "We should label..." No comma after "such": it cuts off a restrictive adverbial prepositional phrase.
Removing or adding an object in an editorial photograph is not permitted.
Nor is flopping a photograph.
Readers deserve accuracy and honesty, whether viewing an image or reading words. Their eyes may deceive them, but the newspaper should not.
Plagiarism
Please, only original work.
If you borrow a clever idea, joke, turn of phrase or unique observation, give the author credit, and maybe one day, someone will grant you the same courtesy.
Political activity
No running for public office. No working for a candidate, government agency or special interest group.
No placards, buttons or bumper stickers, on your person, desk, car or yard.*
No campaign contributions.
No political demonstrations marches or rallies.
No giving advice to candidates.
Yes, by all means, you should vote.
Political affiliation is a matter of public record. It's an individual choice, but some reporters find it prudent to declare ""no party" when registering to vote.
* In the interest of marital harmony, the newspaper does not attempt to control the activities of spouses. But if a spouse becomes active in a political campaign or public cause, please tell an editor.
Radio, TV, personal appearances
If you're going to be a star, clear it first with your supervisor.
Newsroom staff may appear as unpaid panelists and guests on radio and television shows, with prior approval.
"With prior approval" is a restrictive adverbial prepositional phrase: no comma cuts it off.
Professional standards don't change with the migration to airwaves. A news reporter should remain impartial, while a columnist or editorial writer will be free to express opinions.
No comma: it cuts off a restrictive adverbial clause.
Don't say anything you wouldn't be willing to write, and don't scoop The Tribune on significant news.
Relationships
Steve Otto gets to humiliate family members in print.
Others should stick to covering strangers.
Exceptions may be made for first-person accounts, but generally, we don't write, photograph or make news judgments regarding relatives, close friends, business partners or romantic interests.
Redundant adverb
Friendships and relationships, while a matter of personal choice, may limit the sorts of stories we may write or edit.
The prepositional phrase is restrictive: no commas.
It's a conflict, for instance, to write a feature on a friend's business, to date a police officer while covering police, or to edit a child abuse story if married to a caseworker.
Hyphenated adjective before a noun: child-abuse story
Ethics: Winging it
The ethical decisions we face can't all be covered here.
Passive: "We can't cover..."
Even if they were, there's little to keep a crafty journalist from finding ways to benefit between the lines.
Consider this code to be a yardstick. See how your own situations measure up to the spirit of these words.
If it's not on the list, talk it over among people whose values you trust.
Think critically.
All we have are our principles.
This remains a subject-verb agreement error as it was when the writer started the piece with it.
