Working blue on the copy desk

A college paper (not mine, thankfully) recently ran a writer's byline, and the affiliation line beneath it said: "Bad Motherf-----." Only it didn't use dashes.

Our paper did once do a top-of-page-1 promo for a story about the horse-slaughtering plant in DeKalb. The designer needed a generic photo of a horse, so he grabbed one from AP and used it. Unfortunately, that horse was Barbaro, the Kentucky Derby winner who had shattered his leg and had just been euthanized.

At one paper I worked for, on the day musician Lawrence Welk died, a designer did a space-filler cutline that said: "Welk cutline here. Welkie welkie welkie cutline cutline cutline here here here." And of course it ran.

What's the worst / funniest thing that's ever made it into your paper unintentionally?

Grammar? Style? Punctuation? LOL

These are notes and links from Jim Killam's session, "Grammar? Style? Punctuation? LOL." The session will be part of NIU's New Ideas in English conference, on Monday, Feb. 28, 2011.

Journalists may enjoy some of these links, too.


Jim's Powerpoint file 

Links


NBC news report

Guy reading bad grammar in online comments

Newsroom 101 exercises – grammar, style, punctuation, usage


The 20 most common grammar errors


"What Happens in Vagueness Stays in Vagueness"


Dave Barry's "Ask Mister Language Person"


Protocol for a Free & Responsible Student News Media


Grammar lessons from "Louie, Louie"


“Decyphering Teens” video


Video interview: “The Dumbest Generation” author Mark Bauerlein


Shorter interview w. same author

NIU and the value of remembrance

Three years after the NIU shootings, I heard some sentiment today that it’s time for the university, and the Northern Star, to scale back on these yearly remembrances and move forward.


Agreed. But I think sometimes in our desire to put an awful event behind us, we forget about the value of remembering, and teaching future generations.

Several thousand students, faculty, staff and community members gathered for a brief memorial ceremony this afternoon outside Cole Hall. With the building finally undergoing renovations and a facelift after sitting empty for three years since the shootings, President John Peters remarked that the construction signals “a sense of renewal and a resolve to move forward.”

Before the procession, I heard groups of students talking quietly about where they were when the shootings happened, and what they experienced. Other, younger students stood respectfully and quietly. For a supposedly narcissistic generation that cares little about history, these were good moments.

At the Northern Star today, a framed photo of shooting victim Dan Parmenter and a bouquet of flowers graced a table near the advertising department, where Dan worked. It was an ordinary day, but the reminder was front and center. Uncomfortable, but right.

Before the ceremony outside Cole, a student who was wounded in the shootings stopped by the Star to say hello. He had ended up being a Star reporter last year, right before he graduated, and always impressed me as someone who had made peace with the whole experience. He works in another state now but wanted to be here today for the ceremony. To him, there’s value in taking time to remember what happened. Not to wallow in it, but to acknowledge its significance. That strikes me as a healthy approach.

Several other Northern Star students, past and present, were in that Cole classroom when the shootings happened. They’ve spoken, both publicly and privately, about how surviving that day gave renewed meaning to how they want to live their lives.

It’s not about reliving the terrible, vivid memories so many of us have. It’s simply about taking a few moments, once a year, to remember. Yet, I can understand why some student journalists who have been here for four years experienced a relapse in recent days of what experts call “event fatigue.” For them, these stories require a lot more than a few moments.

“I cannot wait to not write about this any more,” one reporter told me this afternoon.

We both understood that sentiment. The reality is, though, that she probably will, in one form or another. Feb. 14, 2008, does not define any of us at NIU, but it is forever a part of us all.

And it’s OK to be OK with that.

Nominate someone for Illinois Journalist of the Year

NIU seeks nominations for the 2011 Illinois Journalist of the Year. You can nominate someone online HERE.

The award is presented annually by the Department of Communication of Northern Illinois University to a person who has made a significant contribution to the mass media or, through them, to the public they serve, either as a result of a single accomplishment during the past year, or through a sustained effort over a longer period of time.

Any journalist employed by an Illinois mass medium, or an Illinois resident associated with a national medium serving the people of Illinois, is eligible to receive the award.

A panel of judges consisting of the chair of the Department of Communication, members of its faculty, and student presidents of appropriate journalism organizations at NIU will consider all nominations and choose the award winner.

Nomination deadline is Feb. 28, 2011. The award will be presented at NIU’s 2011 Journalism Banquet in April.  A scholarship also will be presented in the recipient’s name to a deserving journalism student.

Past winners:

Mike Royko, 1972, Chicago Daily News

Clayton Kirkpatrick, 1973, Chicago Tribune
Walter Jacobson, 1974, WBBM-TV, Chicago
Ralph Otwell, 1975, Chicago Sun-Times
Karl Monroe, 1976, Collinsville Herald
Lois Wille, 1977, Chicago Daily News
Roger Hedges, 1978, Gannett News Service
Pamela Zekman, 1979, Chicago Sun-Times
Bill Kurtis, 1980, WBBM-TV, Chicago
John Whiteside, 1981, Joliet Herald-News
Anne Cusack, 1982, Chicago Tribune
John H. Johnson, 1983, Johnson Publishing
Gary Watson, 1984, Rockford Register Star
Marx Gibson, 1985, Kankakee Daily Journal
William O'Connell, 1986, Peoria Journal Star
John Callaway, 1987, WTTW, Chicago
Carol Marin, 1988, WMAQ-TV, Chicago
Dan Miller, 1989, Crain Communications
Reynold Hertel, 1990, Joliet Herald-News
Clarence Page, 1991, Chicago Tribune
Colleen Dishon, 1992, Chicago Tribune
Paul Hogan, 1993, WMAQ-TV, Chicago
John Hultman, 1994, WBBM-AM, Chicago
Bob Greene, 1995, Chicago Tribune
Jack Higgins, 1996, Chicago Sun-Times
William Shaw, 1997, The Telegraph, Dixon
Phil Ponce, 1998, Chicago Tonight, Channel 11
Linda Grist Cunningham, 1999, Rockford Register Star
Doug Ray, 2000, Daily Herald
Ken Armstrong and Steve Mills, 2001, Chicago Tribune
John Drury, 2002, WLS-TV, Chicago
Chuck Goudie, 2003, WLS-TV, Chicago
Tim Novak and Steve Warmbir, 2004, Chicago Sun-Times
Jonathan K. Whitney, 2005, Carroll County Review
John Foreman, 2006, The News Gazette, Champaign
Olga Gize Carlisle, 2007, The Journal Standard, Freeport
Scott Strazzante, 2008, Chicago Tribune
Bob Frisk, 2009, Daily Herald
Jodi S. Cohen, 2010, Chicago Tribune

Scholarships for graduating high-school seniors

Please remind high-school journalism advisers in your area about NINA's annual scholarship competition for graduating seniors. We have a mailing going out this week, but application materials are available online now at http://www.ninaonline.org/.

Smartpen for reporters

Has anybody experimented yet with this product -- the Livescribe Echo Smartpen? Much as I'd love to have an iPad, this gadget seems like it could be an even more useful -- and basic -- tool for reporters. Used in tandem with a special notebook filled with dotted paper, the pen records everything you write. Here's the best part: You can tap the pen on any word in your notes, and the recorder plays back the audio from the point that you wrote that word.

I've talked with a couple of writers who use these and they swear by them.

A Wired.com reviewer writes:

"And for college students and journalists in particular, the Pencast option is quite simply a Godsend. Simply hit the record icon on the included paper and start taking notes as you usually would. Once you’ve finished the lecture/meeting/interview, you can not only replay the entire recording, but also instantly move from one section to another by simply tapping on a specific note. The pen will automatically play back the audio from that precise moment. This has the obvious benefit of helping you navigate long, meandering lectures, but it also frees you up to write random or tangential thoughts without the fear of missing important information."

Take a look at the available apps, too, including dictionaries and translators. Here's the video on the company's site.

The pen comes in 4 GB and 8 GB capacities, and lists on Amazon for between $157 and $174. Best Buy, Target and a few other stories also sell them. The notebooks come in various sizes. Basically, a four-pack of 100-sheet, spiral notebooks runs about $20.

If you've used one of these for journalism, let us know what you think of it. Is it worth the price?

Another loss for Illinois citizens

Legislature fails to protect transparency and the rights of taxpayers

By Jay Dickerson
Galena Gazette

Like knowing your tax dollars are being spent wisely? You’re in the wrong state.

Performance evaluations of all public employees in Illinois are now exempt from public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) after both the House and the Senate voted to override Gov. Quinn’s amendatory veto of House Bill 5154. Quinn’s amendatory veto narrowed the exemption to law enforcement personnel.

The Senate voted Dec. 1 to override the governor’s veto, making all evaluations of public employees exempt. The House also voted in favor of the override, on Nov. 16.

The Illinois Press Association still believes that the evaluations of all public employees whose salaries are funded entirely by taxpayer dollars should be accessible to the public. Before the override veto, the FOIA stated, “The disclosure of information that bears on the public duties of public employees and officials shall not be considered an invasion of personal privacy.”

“The law couldn’t be any clearer,” said Josh Sharp, director of government relations for the IPA. “Nothing bears more clearly on the public duties of public employees than their performance.”

In arguing that all evaluations of public employees should be kept from the light of public scrutiny, the Illinois Municipal League wrote: “Performance reviews are simply not documents that are designed to be distributed to a broad audience … these reviews are rife with personal and private information that could be harmful to individuals if disclosed.”

The Illinois Municipal League also wrote that the Freedom of Information Act “reduces the use of performance evaluations as a tool for the efficient management of communities. Communities need the ability to communicate honestly and openly with their employees concerning job performance. This need outweighs the need for the public to review routine employment matters.”

I disagree. So should you.

I believe that government should be transparent. And so should you.

Claiming something is a personnel issue gives far too wide of an exemption that may be misused. You don’t need to look any further than Jo Daviess County for an example.

In Jo Daviess County, several years ago, there was an issue with a county employee in an administrative position. At the time, a number of county employees who worked underneath this administrator shared their concerns with the Gazette. They alleged this administrator was misusing his position, and making it difficult for other employees to serve the public. He was fostering an environment of distrust. People were concerned about their continued employment.

After learning of the troubles with this employee, the county board did act. The county board gave the administrator a list of goals to accomplish, and ways to improve. When The Gazette tried to receive the goals through the Freedom of Information Act, the Gazette was denied: the Gazette was told the list of goals was personnel-related, and therefore, exempt to public scrutiny.

A list of goals for a public servant to accomplish, but the public is not allowed to know what those goals are? It doesn’t seem right. Taxpayers should be offended that goal-setting is considered a personnel issue.

This was more than just a “routine employment matter,” as the Illinois Municipal League might argue. This was about openness, and transparency. This was about a public servant misusing his position.

Only weeks later, this individual was fired by the county board, but not before each county department head spoke to the county board in a closed session. The Gazette also learned that this administrator had a history difficulties at his previous job in Wisconsin as well, culminating in a physical altercation with an alderman. And Wisconsin does not have the same personnel exemption that Illinois does.

Incidentally, a physical altercation with an alderman also should not be exempt from public scrutiny.

I believe taxpayers have the right to know how their tax dollars are being spent. I believe you have the right to know how people paid with those same tax dollars are doing their job–at the very least, if they are meeting their goals.

We live in a state of entitlement, where some public servants feel their actions are above public scrutiny.

We live in a state that has seen four governors in the past 35 years see prison time.

We live in a state where we need transparency, now more than ever.

We don’t need another level of secrecy.

The public needs to know that an employee paid with tax dollars is doing his or her job effectively. This override took away that right from every taxpayer in the state.