Identify people in media stories, not the way others address them in schools: “Mr. Smith” and “Ms. Jones.” For news stories, their first names always should be included on first reference. Subsequent references should be last name only. The same is true for students and all others. “Farmington teacher Debbie Jones” is one good way to phrase it on first reference or “Symsonia fourth-grader Justin Baker is shown performing his monolog.”
- When you have a long list of names, place it at the end of the sentence rather than at the beginning. “Central, Fancy Farm, Farmington, Lowes, Sedalia, Symsonia, and Wingo, and will host blood drives the first week of September” is harder to follow (especially aurally) than saying it this way: “Hosting blood drives the first week of September are Central, Fancy Farm, Farmington, Lowes, Sedalia, Symsonia, and Wingo.”
- Avoid “cheerleading” in news writing. Yes, we want to highlight our students’ achievements, but let the achievements speak for themselves. “Moore’s score is the highest in school history” is factual. “Moore’s score was very high” doesn’t qualify or quantify sufficiently. “Moore’s score was high and everyone at the school is proud of him” is amateurish, unless it’s a direct quote.
- Use as few words as possible. “Will be going” is inferior to “will go.” “The district would like to thank…” is inferior to “The district thanks…”
- The Associated Press (AP) Stylebook says write out numbers as words up to ten, then use numerals for 11 and above. The same is true for first through tenth as words and 11th and above for numerals.
- Journalistic style is to use one (not two) spaces between sentences because copy often is justified.
- It is proper to use a comma after a name such as “Kim Dublin, superintendent ...” However, it is not proper to use a comma in this way as the subject of a sentence: “Superintendent, Kim Dublin…”
What news writing tips would you add to these?