02.11.09
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The dog that bit me

… and other tales of woe.
After I told the editing class always to use the relative pronoun “who” for people, not “that” or “which,” one student asked me about how to refer to dogs. Are dogs “who” or “that”?

I’ve been looking for an answer to that one. I’m going to save “who” for people and let the dog be the one “that” … . Ardent pet lovers would disagree. Go ahead. Even some grammar experts do. For example, Big Dog’s Grammar at http://aliscot.com/bigdog/pronouns.htm. You can’t believe everything you read on the Internet.

02.03.09
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Students blog about editing

Students created the following blogs to fulfill an assignment in JOUR420, News Editing, at the University of Illinois. I’ll be following them. And they’ll be following each other.

Morning Lab, JOUR420, SP09
Tom Cyrs, http://tcyrstheloon.blogspot.com/
Terrell Starr, http://grammarking-terrell.blogspot.com/
Chris Sienza, http://theconcernedjournalist.blogspot.com/
Lindsay Ignatowski, http://redinkeverywhere.blogspot.com/
Regina Hernandez, http://reginajh.blogspot.com/
Amanda VanDyke, http://amandasanecdotes.blogspot.com/
Betsi Freeman, http://betisfly.blogspot.com/
Mayra Carranza, http://mayracarranza.blogspot.com/
Jing Gao, http://jinggao1.blogspot.com/
Kimberly Scarabello, updated Feb. 16, http://kimbereli.blogspot.com/
Schuyler “Sky” Opila, http://skyopila.blogspot.com/
Justin Hemenway, http://justinhemenway.blogspot.com/
Jean Kim, http://j420blog.blogspot.com/
Ann Colletti, http://annie-thoughtblog.blogspot.com/
Kate Leifheit, http://kateleifheit.blogspot.com/
Lisa Chung, http://www.lisaechung.blogspot.com/

Noon Lab, JOUR420, SP09
Keith Hollenkamp, http://apopcrisis.blogspot.com/
Patrick Wade, http://wittyandfun.blogspot.com/
Marie Wilson, http://mariewilson9.blogspot.com/
Brittney Foreman, http://editingbsblog.blogspot.com/
Erica Yuenger, http://ericayuenger2.blogspot.com/
Carly Rakes, http://letstalkediting.blogspot.com/
Rachel Stuart, http://rachstu87.blogspot.com/
Kayla King, http://editit420.blogspot.com/
Stephanie Murphy, http://stephaniej420.blogspot.com/
Katie Kritzberg, http://katienewseditingblog.blogspot.com/
Michael Carpenter, http://life-and-times-of-mike.blogspot.com/
Amanda Cornish, http://amandacornish.blogspot.com/
Kara Beach, http://kbeach2.blogspot.com/
Angelina Cole, http://angemangeolina.blogspot.com/
Jacob Hurwith, updated Feb. 16, hurwith2.blogspot.com
Tricia Ravelo, http://fortwonty.blogspot.com/

01.27.09
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You’d remember saying something like that, wouldn’t you?

Last night Larry King asked Gov. Rod Blagojevich over and over about the content of the tapes that were played by the federal prosecutor after the governor’s arrest in December. The transcript is on Lynn Sweet’s blog at the Sun-Times. After what the rest of us believe to be remarks made by the governor about the “golden” Senate seat, King asked the governor five different ways, in succession, if that is what he said. The governor evaded the question five different ways. Finally, King moved on. Even King can’t get some people to talk.

11.04.08
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brought to you by Chinese news agency

I follow the news from Zambia a bit. The nation in southern Africa doesn’t get a great deal of press. But the people there did just elect a president. Given the coverage of Zimbabwe, the neighbor to the south, and Congo, the neighbor to the north, you’d think, perhaps, that the peaceful transfer of power in Zambia might get a little of the world’s attention. 

It did.
I read about the new president of Zambia as covered by Xinhua News Agency in China. That was the story linked by Google News. 
10.29.08
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Reading student blogs

When students post live to blogs, what responsibility do I have to correct their mistakes? I require the blog posts, but I allow students to limit their reach to just the class if they desire. Some leave their blogs for all the world to see, complete with writing mishaps of the kind I am teaching them to avoid in class. The best editors don’t correct people in front of the entire world. 

09.15.08
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Breaking News On Line

Last spring as I taught Introduction to Journalism, I decided to put the New York Times on the big screen because Eliot Spitzer was expected to resign as governor. As we waited, we watch Spitzer’s car wind through the streets of New York. I was reminded of O.J. Simpson’s Bronco on the freeways of California. Spitzer did finally appear and make his announcement before the bell rang. Now the Online News Association has chosen that coverage for an award:

Breaking News, Large Sites: NYTimes.com, Eliot Spitzer’s resignation “The winner ‘hit it out of the park.’ The winner could have held the story but chose
not to. They broke the story on the Web and used the Web to keep it going. They
used the tools. For almost an entire news cycle nobody else had anything. It was
a remarkable story remarkably handled.” http://nytimes.com/indexes/2008/03/10/

09.04.08
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Headlines for Print, Newspapers, Online, Web

The Web opens some doors for creativity in journalism. But it closes others. Take headlines, for example. On a printed page a headline has to be accurate, same as for the Web. But a print headline also has the context of pictures and related stories, so it can use word play to get a point across and entice the reader to stick around. But on the Web, a headline has to be specific to the Who, What, Where, or it may never be discovered by a search engine. It anticipates the synonyms people might use in searching. Spelling matters more than ever because computers look for exact matches and don’t match the brain for fuzzy logic. I could say more, but other bloggers have beaten me to it.

My headline on this post doesn’t even have a verb, but in print I’d write the following with a deck:

Web needs headlines you can find
In print, they’re right under your nose
08.29.08
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one reason I love teaching: student blogs

Students teach me things all of the time. Like today. While reviewing newly created blogs, I discovered at least one student had created a blog for JOUR420 but hadn’t written a post yet. Her features in the side rail caught my eye, though, and I learned from her BBC link that Palin was to be McCain’s choice for a running mate. I learned something, and the student didn’t even have to post anything! Here are the student blogs created so far.
http://ninedaysfromtuesday.blogspot.com/ Erika Strebel
http://kaejournalism420editing.blogspot.com/ Karlie Elliott
http://thefabulousworldofwords.blogspot.com/ Colleen Loggins
http://claireditingclass.blogspot.com/ Clair McInnis
http://nicolenejati.blogspot.com/ Nicole Nejati
http://shopper603.blogspot.com/ Laura Hettiger
http://journ420newsediting.blogspot.com/ Katie O’Connell
http://mresmusings.blogspot.com/ Eric Heisig
http://editediteditedit.blogspot.com/ Trisha Ruiz
http://skantor2.blogspot.com/ Susan Kantor
http://www.margueriteday.blogspot.com/ Marguerite Day
http://abetcha.blogspot.com/ Elizabeth Lardizabal
http://nutmeg0331.blogspot.com/ Meghan Montemurro
http://mustreadgood.blogspot.com/ Stephanie Poquette
http://eschmidteditingblog.blogspot.com/ Elyse Schmidt
http://jon-ski.blogspot.com/ Jonathan Abdnor