Digital Journal
Nota
El conjunto de estas pautas editoriales es una valiosa guía de formas y maneras con aceptación casi universal entre editores y público a la hora de escribir y publicar. De este amplio documento ofrezco a continuación el extracto de sus apartados de contenido gramatical con el mencionado carácter casi universal. Solo algunos usos se circunscriben específicamente a la lengua inglesa y, en todo caso, el conjunto del contenido es útil también por referirse a este idioma que cada vez extiende más su uso en la comunicación social y en el sistema educativo de países en todo el mundo.
Al pie de este extracto incluyo el índice general de la guía, que nos da una idea de su alcance.
Section 2: Using names of notable people
Most of our readers will be able to identify notable people mentioned in our stories, but still everyone must be identified with title and full name on first reference. We will write “U.S. President Barack Obama” “or “British Prime Minister Gordon Brown” on first reference, and “Obama” and “Brown” on the second. No need to write Mr. or Mrs. as honorifics preceding surnames.
Section 4: Grammar and Punctuation
• Always insert a single space after a period, comma or other punctuation mark. No double spaces.
• Use a long em dash ( — ) with a space before and after to indicate pauses, not just a bunch of hyphens. MS Word allows you to make a shortcut on your keyboard, the default being Ctrl + Alt + - (on the numeric keypad). If you’re still having trouble figuring this out, copy the em dash above and paste it in your article.
• Single and double quotes differ in British and American usage. Here, we will impose a rule for the sake of consistency: A ‘single-quote’ quotation is used in headlines. Single quotes are also used for quotes within quotes (i.e. “John Doe seemed frustrated when he said, ‘I give up,’ but I understand where he’s coming from,” Steve said. ) “Double quotes” are used inside the body of articles.
• Again, for the sake of consistency, we prefer the American usage of placing commas and periods within the quotation marks (British styles put punctuation marks outside quotation marks). For instance, we will write: She said she “wanted to make peace with her family,” adding how difficult it has been to reunite with her father.
• Commas often separate subjects, such as “The military spokesperson, Gerald Green, said…” But it’s preferable to shorten the sentence to, “Military spokesperson Gerald Green…” which makes the sentence read more quickly.
• Don't overuse commas. They don't need to be used often, especially if you're a writer opting for shorter sentences
• Don’t add periods, exclamation marks or slashes in headlines. Use questions marks sparingly.
• Lists are done in this way: cats, dogs and horses. You may use a comma before the final “and” or “or” if it introduces a new clause. “Cats, dogs, and he also mentioned civets.” Of course, we allow exceptions for the sake of cadence.
• Remember to use hyphens for compound modifiers, such as “one-year salary” or “hard-fought battle.” Without the hyphens, the phrase may not make sense.
• Book titles, theatre shows and music albums should be in italics, but ideally should link to their respective Web pages. Songs should be in quotes. Movie titles should (ideally) be linked to their IMDB.com pages or dedicated websites.
• Semicolons are acceptable, but make sure the two related sentences pertain to the same topic. If not, use a period instead.
• Companies are singular entitles, not plural. A company “has” done something, not “have” done something. For example:
Wrong: American Airlines, together with other airlines, have lost money this quarter.
Right: American Airlines, together with other airlines, has lost money this quarter.
• A company is an “it” not a “they.” For example:
Wrong: Nike has decided to raise their international profile.
Right: Nike has decided to raise its international profile.
• Try to avoid using the word “that.” For example, “Obama said that Biden was very helpful.” The word “that” is not needed. Instead, simply say “Obama said Biden was very helpful.” In almost every case “that” is a useless word.
• The trickiest grammar rule for writers is often the “which/that” conundrum. The basic rules are actually simple: use “that” when the clause is essential in explaining or defining the noun, such as “The car that Bateman drove to the film was a red Ferrari.” And use “which” for clauses introducing a new element in the sentence, such as “The car, which Bateman often lends to his son, is a red Ferrari.”
• Use the active voice instead of the passive, whenever possible. It makes writing sound more confident and it’s known to be a generally acceptable rule in writing.
Passive: The CEO of the graphic design firm was fired by the company’s board of directors.
Active: The company's board of directors fired the CEO yesterday.
Section 5: Spelling
• Technological terms can be tricky for some writers but here is DJ policy: We say cellphones and smartphones, real-time chatting (but in real time), website (but Web browser), email, Internet. We also prefer to use pre-roll ads, high-tech, cameraphone and peer-to-peer file-sharing.
• We also use: MP3, 80GB hard drive, 333 MHz, 32-bit processor, U.S. government, 9/11, 3-D, 176 x 144-pixel display, CD-R, 4.4x zoom.
• It’s percent, and percentage. Never %, unless in the headline or in cutlines.
• Unless it’s an extremely common acronym, introduce the full term at first and put the acronym in brackets, e.g., Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA), National Rifle Association (NRA).
• Capitalize the spelling for all names and businesses, including YouTube, Google Maps, General Motors, Barack Obama, LeBron James, etc. But write iPhone because that’s a trademarked spelling.
• Capitalize trade names such as Band-Aid, Spandex, Kleenex, Jeep or use generic terms, such as “tissue” instead of “Kleenex.”
• Don’t capitalize proper nouns such as jazz, fair trade, basketball, government, province, state, tsunami, producer, murder, etc.
• Remember to always use our Spell Check button after you completed your draft.
Section 6: Numbers
• Write out “one” through “nine.” Write out 10 and above. You may say “one-tenth” if it works for you. Thousands are written as 1,000.
• Dates are written: Jan. 16, 2006, but you should say “in late January.” Don’t write January 16th – there is no value in adding the “th.”
• Note: It’s eighties, 1980s (but not ‘80s).
• For money, write $50,000, not fifty thousand dollars. Don’t include decimal places if the value is 0 (as in $50,000.00)
• Time is written this way: 2 p.m. Don’t spell it 2pm, or two p.m. Write midnight and noon, not 12 p.m. or 12 a.m. You can add time zones such as 2 p.m. ET or 5 p.m. GMT
Section 7: Style
• Use italics sparingly. Avoid ALL CAPS, double exclamation marks!!, random bold or underline text or other forms of overzealous punctuation.
• Contractions are fine only if they sound natural, but don’t overdo it.
• Avoid hollow corporate-speak and technical jargon, unless it is somehow integral to your piece. Strive for clarity. And avoid clichés like the plague.
• Sometimes you are writing to promote or bring awareness to a product, service or company (Google, for example). This is a necessary part of the business. You can be critical, as long as you’re fair. At the same time, try not to sound too breathless, forceful or overly enthusiastic. Write conversationally and casually.
• To avoid formatting problems, write your article in the Digitaljournal.com draft body. Don’t copy and paste your text from a word processor to Digital Journal.
Section 8: Words to Avoid
Sometimes, we come across words and phrases that are bloated, unclear, overdone – word you don’t need in your text. Below are some bloated words we suggest Digital Journalists never use:
• Currently [“now” is preferred]
• At an early date [“soon”]
• Facilitate [“make possible”]
• Non-productive expenditures [“waste”]
• Parameters [“characteristics”]
• Societal [“social”]
• Comedic [“comic”]
• Utilized [“used”]
• With regard to [“about”]
• Prior to [“before”]
• All over the country [“across the country”]
• Close scrutiny [redundant]
• Jewish rabbi [redundant]
• Past history [redundant]
• 8 p.m. in the evening [redundant]
• Gathered together [redundant]
• Whilst, amidst, unbeknownst etc. [needlessly quaint; use “while” and “amid” and “unknown”]
• Epicentre/epicenter [do not use in all cases except for atomic blasts and earthquakes; it means the spot on the surface of the earth directly above the underground source of an earthquake or directly below the spot where an airborne atomic blast has been detonated. It does not mean “more central than centre.”]
• In terms of
• It may be observed that
• Moreover
• It should be said
.../... Read all on Digital Journal
General index
Section 1: Location matters in reporting
Section 2: Using names of notable people
Section 3:Canadian, American & British English
Section 4: Grammar and Punctuation
Section 5: Spelling
Section 6: Using numbers
Section 7: Style Guidelines
Section 8: Words to Avoid
Section 9: Libel & Defamation
_ Section 9.1: How to report a crime story
Section 10: Editorial Guidelines
_ Section 10.1: Structuring your article
_ Section 10.2: Back up those facts
_ Section 10.3: Articles unfit for DJ
_ Section 10.4: Image and photo guidelines
_ Section 10.5: Interviews
_ Section 10.6: Categories
_ Section 10.7: Localize your news
_ Section 10.8: Use multiple sources
_ Section 10.9: Be a Citizen Editor
