Grumpy Editor

AP style prefers tea party usage rather than Tea Party

A no-no on the latest Associated Press list of proper political terms, phrases and definitions designed for journalists is not to use Tea Party but to lowercase it to tea party in referring to “the populist movement,” yet it’s okay to capitalize Tea Party Express because it is a formally-named group, observes Grumpy Editor. 

The U.S. Elections Style Guide, compiled by AP, is geared to assist in coverage of the 2012 national elections. 

It spotlights correct terminology while mentioning some clichés to avoid. 

Use of Obamacare, for example, is frowned on.  AP points out Obamacare is the “informal term for the Affordable Care Act...often used by Republicans, so avoid it unless quoting someone.” 

First lady, AP explains, is not an official title, so it should be spelled lowercase, unless starting a sentence. 

Among other AP guidance: 

Election Day is capitalized, while election night goes lowercase.  

Political affiliation, indicating the party of a candidate or an officeholder, “is essential in any election or issue story.” 

Don’t describe a political race as close “unless polls show it is and you reference polls.”

And no need to be cute with the phrase “pressing the flesh.” 

AP says “shaking hands is preferred.” 

 

See more here.

 

 

 

Record-setting July temperature gets varied treatments

Whew!  Sure, it was hot in July as new U.S. records were set in some of the lower 48 states, but some newspapers --- via their reporters’ writings --- made it appear as a major sizzling advance, finds Grumpy Editor. 

Reports on hot July appeared every day so far this month. 

The Wall Street Journal yesterday, for example, placed a two-column reference to an inside story near the top of the front page.  It teased:  “July was the hottest month on record in the contiguous U.S., blazing past 1936…” 

Average temperature for the lower 48 reached 77.6 degrees in July, edging the previous record of 77.4 degrees set in July 1936, at the height of the Dust Bowl, based on figures from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

That’s a tiny increase of 0.2 tenths of a degree. 

The Washington Post, among some other publications, however, reported Wednesday that the new record was 0.2 degrees (note the s) hotter than the previous record set in July, 1936. 

Copy editors missed the s.  By noting temperature that way, rather than 0.2 tenths of a degree, the Post made it appear 10 times hotter for July, 2012, compared with 76 years ago. 

Weather writers often do this with rainfall, too, citing a storm brought 0.24 inches of rain rather than 0.24 of an inch. 

Some reporters worked in July temperatures “reached triple digits” in Arizona and Nevada.

Well, that’s normal.  No sea breezes in that region.

For those who stress global warming, the July average temperature in the lower 48 also reached 77 degrees in 1902 when Theodore Roosevelt was president, long before industrialization of America and decades before “greenhouse gases” entered weather discussions. 

Strangely, the Weather Channel’s Website did not mention the degrees in a “hottest month on record” report comparing July, 2012 with July, 1936.  However, it liked the line, “July, 2012 was the hottest of more than 1,400 months that we've gone through since 1895.” 

Pass the lemonade.

 

Artsy Olympic events photos make front pages in U.S.

With hordes of still photographers having a field day at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, some --- in efforts to stand out from the crowd --- were too artsy prior to and at opening ceremonies, notes Grumpy Editor after surveying the art output over the weekend. 

Examples of two Associated Press photographers’ efforts zeroing in on Olympic subjects with strikingly strange results that, amazingly, captured eyes of some editors who ran with them: 

A blurred AP shot of a gymnast from China running in a training session.  What was odd was the fuzzy result wiped out the participant’s legs and arms, making the scene sort of spooky. 

Another AP cameraman captured a New Zealand woman gearing up for equestrian events by running with her horse.  The photo showed only her legs and shoes alongside the horse’s hoofs.  Although identified (along with her horse’s name) in the caption, she was cropped off at the thighs. 

Friday night’s opening ceremonies, capped by fireworks over London’s Olympic Stadium, gained the most attention on front pages over the weekend. 

One artistic AP photo, showing the aerial display, looked like a colorful inverted glass bowl over a green splotch, with nothing distinguishable.  Nevertheless, it was spread over the upper half of the front page of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. 

While staff photographers were on scene from the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, New York Times and Houston Post, among others, AP’s Morry Gash focused his camera the traditional way in capturing the five Olympic rings glowing over the stadium. 

Gash’s normal shot was used on front pages of a number of U.S. dailies, including The (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) Tribune, Bradenton (Florida) Herald, The (Munster, Ind.) Times, Gloucester County (N.J.) Times, The Boston Globe, The (Lorain, Ohio) Morning Journal, Knoxville’s News Sentinel, Sacramento Bee and the Chicago suburbs’ Daily Herald. 

Washington Post’s photographer also snapped a similar front-page shot. 

The Houston Chronicle’s lensman at opening ceremonies zeroed in on 20 U.S. athletes, including one from Cypress, Texas --- all sporting the U.S. participants (now widely cited) made-in-China jackets, shirts and berets. 

Being a bit different, the New York Times photographer clicked on a squadron (nine to be exact) of Mary Poppinses, holding black umbrellas, descending into Olympic Stadium.  The front-page art appeared over the headline: 

A Five-Ring Opening Circus, Weirdly and Unabashedly British.

 

Hocus-pocus: ‘Atlantic Bank’ in Delaware disappears

A Chinese businessman’s claim of buying Atlantic Bank in Delaware --- where there was no such financial institution --- points out that business news out of China has to be verified before hitting print or going airborne, reminds Grumpy Editor. 

With China’s rising economic power, such announcements don’t raise too many eyebrows these days. 

However, with Chinese acquisitions mounting in North America, major media should be devoting a chunk of time on fact checking --- as they should with other announcements. 

Chinese businessman Lin Chunping grabbed attention in January when he announced the purchase of “Atlantic Bank” in Delaware for $60 million.

Lin told media the 85-year-old U.S. bank went bankrupt in 2008 as a result of the global financial crisis and that he planned to rename it the (mouthful) USA New HSBC Federation Consortium Inc. 

Media in China called his business experience "legendary."

His hometown, Wenzhou in east China’s Zhejiang province, gave him a prestigious municipal-level political appointment.

Later, it was found that there was no Atlantic Bank in Delaware.

Lin, 41, a rice trader, was arrested earlier this month but for an unrelated fraud. 

With that action, he was forced to give up his appointment to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a top advisory body.

And Atlantic Bank in Delaware remains a dream that some say underscores the fakery --- from iPhones to fancy bags --- coming out of China.

 

Awesome, amazing, virtual among top overused words

Certain words and phrases are overused or just plain irritating, yet make their way into print or broadcast media, grumbles Grumpy Editor who notes a list of the top 12 offenders over the past decade appeared yesterday at ragan.com. 

Sharon Greenthal, who posted the list, recalled, “The 1960s had ‘groovy.’ The ‘70s introduced the tired word ‘bummer.’  In the ‘80s, ‘bitchin’ turned everyone into a surfer dude, and after the ‘90s, no one wanted to hear the word ‘bling’ anymore.”

Then she listed the dozen most irritating words and phrases today: 

It is what it is 

Man cave 

Amazing 

Baby bump 

Awesome 

Whatever 

Literally

Think outside the box 

It’s all good 

Process 

Just a thought 

Virtual

What words and phrases can you add to the list?

 

Teeth-yanking Polish dentist story turns out to be hoax

The print/broadcast headline-grabbing story making the rounds earlier this month about a jilted Polish dentist yanking all the teeth from her 45-year-old ex-boyfriend turns out to be a hoax, notes Grumpy Editor. 

The fabricated report, complete with quotes attributed to names of those involved, apparently originated with London’s Daily Mail. 

Strangely, the Daily Mail writer behind the story is fuzzy on the origination of the details --- and the story has been yanked from the newspaper's Website. 

But, figuring it was a legitimate item, the unusual event was odd enough that print/broadcast editors thought it had enough bite to give it major treatment. 

So it made headlines with MSNBC, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, New York Post, ABC News, Fox News, Yahoo! News and many other news outlets in the U.S. and around the world. 

Polish police are not investigating the incident --- because they say there is no such case. 

A Polish medical association reports there is no such dentist’s name as reported in the story. 

Thus, Polish news outlets did not report the teeth-pulling story. 

Bottom line:  since the story has no teeth, it’s more of a case of someone pulling the leg of a news writer. 

 

Calif., N.Y. papers join ‘community newsroom’ trend

Two daily newspapers, on opposite ends of the country, announce they are going the community newsroom route as editors see it as a way to engage and involve locals, observes Grumpy Editor. 

The Pasadena (Calif.) Star-News is doing it “to be more transparent,” says Frank Girardot, editor.  In Kingston, N.Y., The Daily Freeman, led by Ivan Lajara, features editor, will soon launch a new community newsroom project designed to engage local readers.

Veteran editors, however, wonder how allowing the public into newsrooms is going to improve coverage --- and circulation --- in growing competitive times rather than adding some sharp journalists, including tough investigate reporters and strong political beat-savvy writers to staffs.

In a folksy message to readers, the Star-News editor points out his newspaper, first “to break this ground” in California, “is a part of your community --- just like your neighborhood grocery store, your favorite coffee shop or the place where you and your family worship.”

Girardot, adds, “We'll do it by creating a community space (by August) where readers and residents can drop in to pitch stories, ask questions or make use of public blogging stations with free wi-fi access.”

Meanwhile, The Freeman beams it will offer public classes to the community and open its conference room on selected days, providing wi-fi and computers for public use, along with tutorials on using the newsroom’s archives and microfilm readers.

This movement should make copy editors --- especially those with gray hair --- eyeing their months to go before retirement. 

 

L.A. Times defies military with GIs, dead bombers photos

Grumpy Editor notes after the Defense Department asked the Los Angeles Times NOT to run the images, the newspaper goes ahead and publishes two photos showing American troops, members of the 82^nd Airborne Division, posing with the remains of suicide bombers in Afghanistan in February, 2010.

Then in a follow-up story last Wednesday, the L.A. Times --- without blushing --- explains: “The Pentagon, the White House and top commanders and diplomats in Afghanistan have condemned the action by the soldiers and have launched investigations.”

Condemning action by the soldiers?

Some folks say publishing the pictures is another anti-military step by major media to trash U.S. troops --- even to incite violence against U.S. military personnel.

One can imagine how the L.A. Times, with some current staffers, would have handled advance hush-hush preparations, including activities of the same 82^nd Airborne Division --- with absolutely no leaks by media to warn the enemy --- for D-Day in World War II.

The L.A. Times says it “acquired 18 gruesome images” showing Army soldiers with dead suicide bombers and decided to run two shots.

L.A. Times reporter David Zucchino declares he “verified the authenticity of the photos through interviews with the soldier who provided the photos, with Pentagon officials and with commanders from the unit.”

That was followed by L.A. Times editor Davan Maharaj stating: “After careful consideration, we decided that publishing a small but representative selection of the photos would fulfill our obligation to readers to report vigorously and impartially on all aspects of the American mission in Afghanistan, including the allegation that the images reflect a breakdown in unit discipline that was endangering U.S. troops.”

Some subscribers may raise eyebrows with the phrase “our obligation to readers to report vigorously and impartially.” 

 

Lengthy Medicare paragraph features a load of ( )s

If you think some newspaper paragraphs run too long, just try to follow what’s going on with this Medicare provision, as pointed out in the Wall Street Journal, urges Grumpy Editor. 

As unearthed by WSJ writer Joe Palazzolo in Friday’s WSJ:

"In the case of a plan for which there are average per capita monthly savings described in section 1395w–24 (b)(3)(C) or 1395w–24 (b)(4)(C) of this title, as the case may be, the amount specified in this subparagraph is the amount of the monthly rebate computed under section 1395w–24 (b)(1)(C)(i) of this title for that plan and year (as reduced by the amount of any credit provided under section 1395w–24 (b)(1)(C)(iv) [2] of this title)."

Clear enough?

Nothing simple with many government texts.

Makes one think the writers get paid by the word --- or symbol.

Palazzolo also points out the Dodd-Frank financial law runs 2,300 pages while President Barrack Obama’s health-care law fills more than 900 pages.

Perhaps, in efforts to keep word volume shorter, more former tabloid newspaper staffers --- brought up to “write tight” --- should be called on to assist with authoring legislation.

 

Check these PR words, phrases that make editors grunt

For some public relations folks who like to use fluffy words in news releases that are sure to make editors grunt, a former newspaper business editor reminds them of some terms to avoid, notes Grumpy Editor. 

The words and phrases to shun list comes from Tom Gable, founder and head of San Diego-based Gable PR and former business editor of the San Diego Tribune. (The Tribune merged with the San Diego Union to become the San Diego Union-Tribune until a name change last month to U-T San Diego.) 

Gable also is the author of The PR Client Service Manual that helps public relations agencies or in-house PR staffs plan, organize and manage for results. 

In a byliner on public relations tactics in the February issue of a Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) publication, Gable cites these offenders sure to irritate editors: 

Best-of-breed, customer-centric, cutting edge, end-to-end, epic, excited, first mover, flexible, innovate, leader, leading edge, leading provider, leverage, market leading, mission critical, new and improved, new paradigm, next generation, outside the box, robust, scalable, seamless, solutions, state-of-the-art, synergy, thrilled, turnkey, unique, value-added, well-positioned and world class. 

As an example of output from what he calls a “lazy writer,” Gable gives this example: 

“XYZ Corp., the leading provider of best-of-breed, seamless solutions in the lug nut industry, announced the introduction of a new and improved version of its next generation hexagonal wrench today.

“We are excited to be the first mover in the introduction of this unique, cutting edge, customer-centric tool in this robust global market,” said Alonzo McSchwartz, CEO. “We are thrilled about our epic achievement and the out-of-the box thinking from our world class engineering team that led to this new paradigm in high-tech closure management solutions.”

Such material is sure to make the wastebasket, not the front page.