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9780312560799

Working with Words : A Handbook for Media Writers and Editors

by ; ;
  • ISBN13:

    9780312560799

  • ISBN10:

    0312560796

  • Edition: 7th
  • Format: Paperback
  • Copyright: 2009-11-05
  • Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's
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List Price: $63.90

Summary

Written for journalists by journalists,Working with Wordspresents the best, most comprehensive advice for journalism students. With parts devoted to grammar and editing as well as journalistic style and writing for different media, it goes into depth where no other book does, providing students with the mechanical and stylistic skills to become well-rounded, proficient journalists.Working with Wordsoffers coverage that theAssociated Press Stylebookdoes not and is a reference journalism students will turn to throughout their career.

Author Biography

BRIAN S. BROOKS is associate dean for undergraduate studies and administration at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. In addition to coauthoring Telling the Story for Bedford/St. Martin’s, he is coauthor of News Reporting and Writing, Ninth Edition (2008), Working with Words, Seventh Edition (2010), and The Art of Editing, Seventh Edition (2001).
 
JAMES L. PINSON has taught journalism for about 25 years — at the Missouri School of Journalism and at Eastern Michigan University — and has addressed various press groups on the subjects of grammar and other editing skills. He has also worked for newspapers in Colorado, Missouri and Michigan, and has a doctorate in journalism and a master's in creative writing.
 
JEAN GADDY WILSON leads executives worldwide in creating successful strategies for the future. While on the Missouri School of Journalism faculty, she founded three national journalism organizations: New Directions for News; Journalism and Women's Symposium; and the National Women and Media Collection. She was a founding member of the Council of Presidents, an organization of the leading editorial organizations in newspapers, and of the International Women's Media Foundation. She has served as a Pulitzer Prize Nominating Juror for Journalism, and currently serves as a consultant to international organizations.

Table of Contents

Preface

Brief Contents

Introduction for Students

          Why Does Grammar Matter?

           What Makes Good Writing Work, Anyway?

           How to Master Mechanics

[Part One] Grammar and Usage

Chapter 1: Grammar Basics

USING STANDARD ENGLISH

           Why Don’t We Write How We Talk?

           Conventional Wisdom

           Competing Grammars and Stylebooks

           Grammar and Confidence

           Communicating Well

TALKING SHOP

KEY PRINCIPLES OF GRAMMAR

Web Resources: Grammar Help

Chapter 2: Phrases, Clauses, and Sentences

PHRASES

          Phrases as Subjects and Objects

          Phrases as Verbs

          Phrases as Modifiers

          Phrases as Connecting Words

CLAUSES

          Independent Clauses

          Dependent Clauses

RESTRICTIVE VERSUS NONRESTRICTIVE

Journalism Tip: Punctuating Nonrestrictive Phrases and Clauses

SENTENCES

Journalism Tip: Using Different Types of Sentences

SENTENCE ERRORS
 
          Fragments

          Fused Sentences

          Comma-Splice Sentences

          Run-on Sentences

Chapter 3: Subjects and Objects

KINDS OF SUBJECTS

KINDS OF OBJECTS

COMMON NOUNS VERSUS PROPER NOUNS

Journalism Tip: Using Trademarks

THE FORMS NOUNS TAKE

          Forming Singulars and Plurals of Nouns

          Forming Possessives of Nouns

PRONOUN PERSON, NUMBER AND GENDER

PRONOUN CASES

          Nominative Case with Pronouns

Journalism Tip: Predicate Nominatives in Formal Writing Versus Broadcast

          Objective Case with Pronouns

          Possessive Case with Pronouns

RELATIVE PRONOUNS

          Whose Versus Who’s

PRONOUNS ENDING IN SELF OR SELVES

VERBAL NOUNS: GERUNDS AND INFINITIVES

Chapter 4: Verbs

HELPING VERBS VERSUS MAIN VERBS

TRANSITIVE VERBS VERSUS INTRANSITIVE VERBS

TENSES

          The Simple Tenses

          The Perfect Tenses

           The Progressive Tenses

           Shall Versus Will

           Regular Verbs Versus Irregular Verbs

SEQUENCE OF TENSES

          Past Tenses

          Present Tenses

Journalism Tip: Journalism and Sequence of Tenses

          Future Tenses

MAKING VERB TENSES AGREE

ACTIVE VOICE VERSUS PASSIVE VOICE

Journalism Tip: When Not to Change Passive Voice to Active

MOOD

          Indicative Mood

          Imperative Mood

          Conditional Mood

          Subjunctive Mood

Journalism Tip: Verb Moods

NOUNS USED AS VERBS

VERBALS

          Gerunds

          Participles

          Infinitives

Chapter 5: Making the Parts Agree

SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT

          Conjuctions

          Collective and Uncountable Nouns

Journalism Tip: Groups of People in the News

          Names of Teams and Musical Groups

          Other Confusing Nouns

          Indefinite Pronouns

          Intervening Nouns and Pronouns

           Prepositional Phrases

           Subject and Predicate Nominative Disagreement

           Inverted Order

MAKING PRONOUNS AND ANTECEDENTS AGREE

          Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

          Clear Pronoun Reference

MAKING SENTENCES PARALLEL

         Make Items in a Series Parallel

         Make Verbs Parallel

Chapter 6: Modifiers and Connecting Words

MODIFIERS

          Forms of Adjectives and Adverbs

          Adjectives Versus Adverbs

          Coordinate Adjectives Versus Compound Modifiers

Journalism Tip: Compound Modifiers Without Hyphens

          Articles

          Sentence Adverbs

          Participles

          Double Negatives

          Interjections

CONNECTING WORDS

          Prepositions

          Conjunctions

Coordinate Conjunctions

Correlative Conjunctions

Subordinate Conjunctions

          Conjunctive Adverbs

Chapter 7: Getting Words in the Right Order

MISPLACED MODIFIERS

ADVERB PLACEMENT

LESS CONFUSING JUMBLED WORD ORDERS

Chapter 8: Usage: Finding the Right Word

Journalism Tip: Conservative Stylebook Rules

MISUSED AND CONFUSED WORDS AND PHRASES

[Part Two]: Mechanics

Chapter 9: Punctuation

COMMAS

          Always Use a Comma

          Never Use a Comma

          Possibly Use a Comma

QUOTATION MARKS AND OTHER PROBLEMS OF QUOTING

          What to Quote

          Attribution of Quotations

          Paraphrases

          Quotations Across Paragraphs

          Other Issues with Quotes

SEMICOLONS

COLONS

DASHES

PARENTHESES

HYPHENS

APOSTROPHES

SLASHES

PERIODS, EXCLAMATION POINTS AND QUESTION MARKS

Chapter 10: Spelling Relief

SPELLING RULES

          Prefixes

          Suffixes

Journalism Tip: Spelling and Your Career

          The Silent e

          Other Spelling Rules

WORDS OFTEN MISSPELLED

HYPHENATION AS A SPELLING PROBLEM

          Looking up Words for Hyphenation

          One Word, Two Words, or Hyphenated?

AMERICAN VERSUS BRITISH SPELLING

Web Resources: Spelling

[Part 3] Style

Chapter 11: Writing as a Journalist

KEYS TO GOOD JOURNALISTIC WRITING

CLARITY

          A Clarity Checklist

          Writing Levels

          Unanswered Questions

          Specifics

          Math and Clarity

CORRECTNESS

          Objectivity

          Rules of Objective Writing

Web Resources: Writing Help

Chapter 12: Conciseness

TIGHTENING

          Use Fewer Words

          Use Simpler Words

          Use Exact Words

           Be Fresh, Not Stale

WHAT TO TIGHTEN, A TO Z

Web Resources: Concise Writing

Chapter 13: Sexism, Racism, and Other "isms"

DON’T BE RIDICULOUS

LANGUAGE TURNS TO THE FUTURE

NEW PLAYERS IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM

A BRIEF HISTORY OF "ISMS"

FUTURE REALITIES: MORE LANGUAGE TRANSFORMATION COMING

DEALING WITH CURRENT REALITY

           Sexism

           Racism

           Ageism

          Other Stereotyping

THE NONBIAS RULE

SYMBOLIC ANNIHILATION

DUMPING TODAY’S STEREOTYPES

Web Resources: Competent Language

[Part Four] Writing Methods for Different Media

Chapter 14: Writing News That’s Fit for Print

NEWS LEADS

PICK THE BEST ANGLE

HARD-NEWS LEADS

          Who Was Involved?

          What Happened?

          When Did It Happen?

          Where Did It Happen?

PROBLEMS WITH HARD-NEWS LEADS

SOFT-NEWS LEADS

SOFT-NEWS CLICHES

WHAT COMES AFTER THE LEAD?

Web Resources: Journalism Reviews

Chapter 15: Writing News for Broadcast

PRINT VERSUS BROADCAST NEWS

          Use a Conventional Style

          Personalize the News

          Make it Easy to Understand

          Keep it Short

          Keep it Timely

          Make it Clear

BROADCASTERS MUST KNOW GRAMMAR

BROADCAST HARD-NEWS LEADS

          Start With the Who

          What Happened?

          Other Points to Remember

BROADCAST STORY STRUCTURE

BROADCAST STYLE SUMMARY

          Preparing Your Manuscript for Radio

          Preparing Your Manuscript for Television

          Editing and Other Symbols

          Pronunciation

          Abbreviations

          Numbers

          Punctuation

          Names

          Spelling

Web Resources: Broadcasting

Chapter 16: Writing and Editing for the Web

ONLINE MEDIA ARE UNIQUE

          Correctness (or Credibility)

          Conciseness

          Consistency

          Completeness

           The Fifth C

WRITING AND PRESENTING NEWS ONLINE

          Writing With Search Engines in Mind

          Legal and Ethical Concerns

          Corrections

          Hyperlinks to External Sites

          Tomorrow’s Readers

Web Resources: Online Media

Appendix: Wire-Service Style Summary

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

          Punctuation

          Symbols

          Dates

          People and Titles

          Organizations

          Places

          Miscellaneous

CAPITALIZATION

          Proper Nouns

          Geographic Regions

          Government and College Terms

          Religious Terms

          Titles

          Miscellaneous

NUMBERS

          Cardinal Numbers

          Numerals with Suffixes

          Numbers as Words

          Other Rules for Numbers

Web Resources: Associated Press Style

Bibliography

Index

Web Resources: Additional Sources

Supplemental Materials

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