Re: Good Journalism...

> Rhia, need some elementry, but good pointers on writing and editing news
> stories, I may have missed something.  We are talking about the 4 W's,
> pyramiding a paragraph, no passive voice and third person, right?  Beastmaste
> and I are trying to housebreak an egotistical so-and-so of bad writing
> habits...he's got us convinced we're nuts!


You didn't ask, but it sounds to me like you're on the right track.  One
thing I've noticed, though, is that many journalism courses and the
Associated Press Handbook (a Bible) are promoting a LOT of bad writing
habits.  A reporter fresh out of college that I worked with started nearly
every sentence with "but" or "and," because "that's the way I was taught."  I
checked the AP book, which DID condone it.  It's a rare sentence that isn't
improved by dropping a misplaced conjunction at the beginning.

Another of her beliefs was that paragraphs should never be longer than two
sentences, to increase "white space" and make the story appear more "reader
friendly" when it's printed.  To her, every sentence became a paragraph unto
itself, a practice that I find extremely annoying!

So... you may feel like you're nuts... and according to some "experts" today,
maybe you are.  To me, though, your philosophy makes for much better (and
more readable) reporting.

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