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THE STYLE GUIDE

General tips
Do not describe news as good, bad, shocking or horrendous. Tell the story and let the listener decide. Do try to get a strong active verb in the first sentence. You want to make an impact and keep people listening. Do not start a news report with a question. The audience wants to be informed, not take part in a quiz. Do not begin a story with As expected. If your item was predictable and you have nothing new to say, why should the listener or viewer pay attention? Be positive. Make assertions wherever possible, and try to avoid negatives. It is more direct to say The plan failed than The plan was not successful. Despite the above, we are mainly dealing with advice, not rules. The most interesting writing often involves creating something unexpected, and rules tend to get in the way. But daily journalism has its discipline and that is the subject of this guide.

area officials versus officials in


Please do NOT write "A Maryland man...." , "A Montgomery County, Maryland woman...", :"Virginia officials...", "DC authorities..." or ANY iteration of the same. Please do write "A man from Maryland ..." , "A woman in Montgomery County, Maryland...", :"In Virginia, officials...", "Authorities in DC ..." or ANY iteration of the same.

happened and occurred


Please say "happened" not "occurred" when you write phrases such as "the event happened at City Hall" or "the accident happened overnight". Please say "about" rather than "in regards to" when you write phrases such as "he made a statement about" or "the mayor's comments were about the latest scandal".

incorrect usage or phrases


"in order to" should be "to" "since it's dark" should be "because it's dark"

impact versus affect


Impact...is a noun Affect...is a verb Impact..... the striking of one thing against another; forceful contact; collision: The impact of the colliding cars broke the windshield. Affect....to act on; produce an effect or change in: Cold weather affected the crops.

is and are
When you write "One out of every", the verb that follows is singular...as in "is"...NOT plural as in "are". Though many people, including NPR, etc, continue to make the same mistake, let's not be one of them. When in doubt, remove everything (prepositions, objects of prepositions, parenthetical expressions, etc.) except the noun and the verb.

You will be left with the basics, as in, "One is".

leads
Leads should be written FIRST We're still seeing too many lead-ins for spot news reports such as this one: "Maryland government leaders are setting up a new coalition to start the process of beginning to address the growing phenonmenon of happy people moving into their various communities. Jim Asendio takes a look at the creation of this new partnership " How about.... "Some elected officials in Maryland want to steer happy people away from their communities. Jim Asendio reports..." Fewer words in the lead-in means more time for the reporter AND a sentence that listeners can understand.

quote
Do not use the word "quote" in any news report you broadcast on WAMU 88 5. Remove the word "quote" from any wire copy you read on the air on WAMU 88 5. "Quote" no longer exists in the WAMU 88 5 newsroom vocabulary.

reporting on reports
Whenever you are writing a story about a new report.....Please do not start off by saying...."A new report...." or "A just released report" or "In its latest report." Be creative. How about......"The National Widget Society says...." or "Researchers at the Federal Feral Agency have found..." or ...you get the point. Anyone who writes "A new report..." or any iteration of same will be forced to read the report and be tested on it.

singular/plural
When you write "None of......", the verb that follows is singular, not plural. For example.....The correct form is "None of their injuries was life-threatening".

youths and young people


Please use the term "young people" when writing about them. When we write "youth" or "youths", we sound like the police blotter.

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