Copycrafting Editing for Journalism Today

by Rosenauer, Kenneth

• ISBN13: 9780199763658
• ISBN10: 0199763658
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2013-07-15
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

From newspapers to Twitter®, the media's ability to deliver news and interact with audiences is constantly changing. In Copycrafting, author Kenneth Rosenauer provides aspiring journalists and copyeditors with the essential tools for delivering content effectively and correctly, regardless of the media platform. More than just the basics of copyediting and AP style, this complete package provides a wealth of examples and exercises for practice. This allows students to actively learn the editing skills that they will need to flourish in the constantly evolving media landscape.

Features
* Excellent coverage of AP style with explanations and examples
* Tips on writing headlines, editing problem leads, editing images and designing pages
* Stories for students to edit
* An Appendix that contains a directory for students to consult as they complete the exercises
* A Solutions Manual with corrected versions of every exercise in the book, available to instructors on the Companion Website (www.oup.com/us/rosenauer)

Author Biography

Kenneth Rosenauer is Professor of Journalism and English at Missouri Western State University. He is a former newspaper editor and reporter. He is coauthor with Vincent Filak of The Journalist's Handbook for Online Editing (2013) and author of Storycrafting: A Process Approach to Writing News (2004).

Table of Contents

PART 1. The Basics
1. The Role of the Copy Editor
What Copy Editors Do
Check Facts and Figures for Accuracy
Check Style for Consistency With Associated Press and House Guidelines
Review Stories for Potential Legal and Ethical Problems and Resolve Them
Cut, Add, Replace or Rearrange Words, Sentences and Paragraphs
Check for Focus, Readability and Organization
Work Closely and Creatively With Reporters
Write Effective and Appropriate Headlines
Traits of Good Copy Editors
Strong Grounding in Basic Skills
Attention to Detail
Love of the Written-or Spoken-Word
Curiosity
Creativity
Familiarity With and Knowledge of Particular Media
Newsroom Organization and Copy Flow
2. Editing Content
Three C's: Clarity, Conciseness and Correctness
Clarity
Conciseness
Correctness
Leads
The Body and Organization
Questions to Consider
Inverted Pyramid
Other Story Formats
Finishing Up
3. Copy Editing for Print and Online
Characteristics of Print Stories Versus Online Stories
Being Aware of Search Engine Optimization
Editing Approaches to Print and Online
ONLINE INSIGHTS: Using Google Trends
Editing Hardcopy Versus On-Screen
Copy Editing Marks
4. Legal, Ethical and Inclusive-Language Concerns for Copy Editors
Distinguishing Between Law, Morals and Ethics
Legal Concerns-Libel
ONLINE INSIGHTS: Copyright
Legal concerns-Privacy
ONLINE INSIGHTS: SOPA, PIPA and Dealing With Piracy
Ethical Concerns-Codes of Conduct
Ethical Concerns-Diversity
PART 2. AP Style
5. Abbreviations and Acronyms
Academic Degrees
Addresses
Months
Organizations
State Names
Text Messaging
Titles
Political Parties
Others
Exercises
6. Capitalization
Addresses
Agencies
Buildings
Compositions-Names of Books, Movies, Television Programs and Other Works
Congress
Constitution
Department
Directions and Regions
Fields of Study
Foods
Heavenly Bodies
Historical Periods and Events
Indians
Legislature
Online References
Plurals
Political Parties
Religious References
Room
Seasons
Time
Titles
Other Entries of Interest
Exercises
7. Numerals
Exceptions to Less-Than-10 Rule
Numbers Beginning Sentences
Fractions
Millions, Billions
Ordinal and Cardinal Numbers
ONLINE INSIGHTS: "Google it"
Math and Conversions for Editors
Percentages and Decimals
Averages
Distance, Time and Rate
Area Measurements
Exercises
8. Plurals
For Most Words
For Words Ending in -ch, -s, -sh, -ss, -x and -z
For Words Ending in -is
For Words Ending in -y
For Words Ending in -o
For Words Ending in -f
For Words With Latin Endings
For Compound Words
For Proper Names
Others
Exercises
9. Commonly Misspelled and Misused Words
Exercises
10. Titles
The Golden Rule of Title Capitalization
Abbreviating Titles
Government Officials
Past and Future Titles
Long Titles
Doctor
Legislative Titles
Party Affiliation
Religious Titles
Royal Titles and Titles of Nobility
Composition Titles-Names of Books, Movies and Other Works
Television Program Titles
Exercises
11. AP Potpourri
Potpourri
Inclusive Language
ONLINE INSIGHTS -- Online Terms for Editors
Exercises
12. Style Mastery
Exercises
PART 3. Punctuation and Usage
13. Commas
Compound Sentences
Elements in a Series
Other Series
Introductory Elements
Interrupting Elements
Attribution
Large Numbers
Beyond the Rules
Exercises
14. Semicolons and Colons
Semicolons-Independent Clauses (Complete Sentences) Joined Without
Coordinating Conjunctions
Semicolons-Elements in Series That Have Commas
Colons-Introduction of Lists
Colons-Separations for Explanations, Rules or Examples From Preceding
Independent Clauses (Full Sentences)
Other Uses
Exercises
15. Apostrophes
Possessives
Contractions
Single Letters
Figures
Double Possessives
Omitted Letters or Figures
Descriptive Phrases
Plural Words
Special Expressions
Exercises
16. Quotation Marks, Question Marks and Exclamation Points
Quotation Marks-With Other Punctuation
Quotation Marks-For Direct Quotations
Quotation Marks-With Composition Titles
Quotation Marks-With Nicknames, Irony and Unfamiliar Terms
Question Marks
Exclamation Points
Exercises
17. Hyphens, Dashes, Ellipses And Parentheses
Hyphens-Compound Modifiers
Hyphens-Prefixes
Hyphens-Suffixes
Hyphens-Ratios and Odds
Hyphens-Fractions
Hyphens-Scores and Vote Tabulations
Hyphens-Other
Dashes-Abrupt Change
Dashes-Series Within a Phrase
Dashes-Other
Ellipses
Parentheses
Exercises
18. Irregular Verbs
To Lay or To Lie
To Raise or To Rise
To Set or To Sit
Irregular Verb List
Exercises
19. Problem Pronouns
That and Which
Who/Whom and Whoever/Whomever
Who's andWhose
There, Their and They're
Exercises
20. Prepositions
Unnecessary Prepositions
Wordy Prepositions
Idiomatic Use of Prepositions
Exercises
21. Agreement
Subject-Verb Agreement
Pronoun Agreement
Exercises
22. Wordiness
There Is/There Are and It Is Sentences
Form of the Verb To Be as the Main Verb
Nominalization
Redundancies
Circumlocutions
Empty Phrases and Words
Clichés
Euphemisms
ONLINE INSIGHTS: Editing Blog Posts
Passive Voice
Exercises
23. Punctuation and Usage Mastery
Exercises
PART 4. Leads, Headlines, Images, Design and the Full Story
24. Leads
No-News Leads
Buried Leads
Too Long Leads
Passive Leads
Defi nition Leads
Direct Quotation Leads
Question Leads
Cliché Leads
Weak Beginnings
The When
Attribution
There Is/There Are
Exercises
25. Headlines
The Tradition of Headline Writing
First Step
Traditional Headline Rules
Traditional Headline Types
Headline Do's
Headline Don'ts
Headline Tips
Accurate, Interesting, Appropriate and Effective Headlines
Examples of Winning Headlines
Some Additional Headline Advice
Column Measures
ONLINE INSIGHTS > Web Page Headline Tips
Using Microsoft Word to Write Headlines
Exercises
26. Images
Working With Photographers and Graphic Artists
Selecting Images
Photographs
Graphics
Understanding Composition
Rule of Thirds
Balance
Contrast
Lines
Perspective
Format
ONLINE INSIGHTS: Free Online Photo Editing Tools
Preparing Images
Cropping
Sizing
ONLINE INSIGHTS: Preparing Photos for the Web
Adjusting
Sharpening
Writing Captions
Exercises
27. Design
Design Principles
Balance
Proximity
Alignment
Repetition
Contrast
Dominance
Unity
Typography
Font Choices
Display and Body Type
Type Guidelines
Images
Photographs
Graphics
Designing Print Pages
Designing Online Pages
ONLINE INSIGHTS: Web Page Editing Tips
Exercise
28. The Full Story
Exercises
PART 5. Appendix
Appendix
Heartland Directory
Online Editing Resources
Irregular Verb List
Common Clichés List