The Importance of Editing

My editing class began today.



Here are a few helpful resources:



Exercises from the Copy Editor's Handbook for Newspapers



The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy



The Scriptorium - our class blog



Exercise Central for AP Style



ACES Online Quizzes



Your Dictionary



A Spelling Test



The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation



The Grouchy Grammarian



The HyperTextBook



I really think the key to good editing is focus more than anything else. I've always read a lot, and that gives me a good sense of what looks right or wrong, and my background in Linguistics helps to identify complex parts of speech. But unless I force myself to slow down and really look at each sentence, I still make sloppy mistakes.

How to Get Famous

Penelope Trunk outlines 6 steps to getting your blog mentioned in the news.

What are the feminist applications of CMC in Cyberspace?

Lacking some of the cues that are received in face-to-face conversation, and the formality and permanence of traditional writing, CMC (computer-mediated communication) carries the potential to create a space without prejudice. Some claim that the Internet is a social utopia (Fredrick and Nguyen).

This study by Fredrick and Nguyen sought to describe the ethos of two groups that communicate asynchronously online. Given that a user cannot be identified by gender, race, or class on the Internet, it is conceivable that an Internet society that is democratic and inclusive can exist.

These researchers studied two feminist Usenet newsgroups, analyzing messages to determine the ethos, or rhetorical behavior of the groups. Based on feminist theory, an egalitarian group would be inclusive and democratic, with free access to communicate without a reduction in status.

They discovered that this potential utopia does not yet exist.

Where questions appeared in the messages, they decided whether the question was sarcastic or meant to open up discussion. The sarcastic questions would be noninclusive, and thus detract from th ethos of the group, and the others were inclusive, and would promote democratic discussion of a topic.

In examples of disagreement, the researchers divided those which were argumentative and accusing from those which acknowledge another point of view and offered alternatives. Although they looked for examples of agreement and support, these were rare, and often changed through the thread into a noninclusive tone. There were also examples of both strong and attenuated assertions.

One of the groups studied was moderated, the other was not. In the unmoderated group, sexist comment appeared, in an ironic twist. Not only do these comments exclude, but they exclude women in particular, extremely offensive in a feminist group.

Krolokke approached the same idea using synchronous communication data. She observed CMC in groups that were geared toward race, gender and political topics.

Krolokke found examples of insulting speech as play, which she describes as pushing the barriers of appropriate language. Examples of gender play also appeared, where users switched back and forth between use of gendered language. Even though participants cannot see or hear each other, it is possible to attribute a gender based on language use and behavior.

I believe that the idea that the Internet can create and egalitarian space is misdirected. The Internet alone is neither good nor bad. It is a tool, it is what its users make of it.

Instead of being a potential land of milk and honey, social interaction on the Internet reflects social interaction in real life. Prejudiced people will always find someone to exclude, and the anonymity of the Internet may only encourage that behavior, instead of creating a classless virtual reality. It might be enforced if a group of communicators is moderated, but it is not true equality.

The really interesting part of Krolokke's study was her discussion of the concept of IRC (Internet Relay Chat). According to theories of communication, this sort of conversation should be impossible. Turn-taking is based on how fast a user can type, redundancy occurs at times when someone types slower than another speaker, it is impossible to tell when someone is typing a message in response to another.

Yet it works. Users of IRC find the mode of communication meaning and entertaining, encouraging them to play with language and identity.

This is where the suggestion for further research comes in. What are the implications of an invisible society that reflects the physical one? What effects will CMC have on native languages? On speech or writing offline? How can a feminist and egalitarian society be created without destroying the democratic qualities? How do gender, race and class affect Internet interactions? If we can attribute these distinctions when all we have is text, can these lines ever be dissolved? What are the possible affects of online interaction in the real world? How can theories of communication be redesigned to include the phenomenon of IRC?

Chatation Nation

I've spent the day working on a linguistics paper about how online chat breaks the conventions of linguistic theory.

Not only are spelling and grammatical conventions dashed to the pavement, but turn-based dialogue, politeness conventions, and standards are virtually (heh) non-existent.

This doesn't apply only to chat, but to any form of computer-mediated communication (CMC).

In a chat room, turns are based not on social convention but on how fast a participant can type something and hit "enter." This leads to redundancy when someone misses an important part of the conversation or was typing too slowly to match the speed of the other participants. Can you type as fast as you talk?

Online communication is currently dominated by those outside of academic fields. Regular, everyday Joes. Further, it is dominated by adolescents, who are often the first to pick up and play with new technology. Adolescent language is punctuated by constant change, in efforts to assert individuality and identity. Because they are the dominant users of online communication, standards for chat, e-mail etc. are practically non-existent. And no, you don't write an e-mail like it's a letter. Sorry, I'm just not gonna read that.

So what? These hanky-panky computer-using punks are going to ruin language conventions, and possibly even the language itself.

Let's not blame it on the kids. No one owns the Internet, and thus no one can impose standards. The medium is too new to have developed standards of communication. These take time, and we just haven't had any of it yet.

CMC is a new communication media unto itself. It's not writing. It's not speech. It's so new it doesn't even have a name.

Our languages are on a frontier. Conventional methods of communication just don't work online, where we have the options of including links and multimedia, and butchering grammar.

Whatcha gonna do about it?

Get the dog's name

My Reporting instructor is constantly preaching the importance of details to a story. A general explanation is necessary of course, but it's the little details that make a good article into a good piece of writing.

And so he quotes, "Get the dog's name."

I recently got some business cards made (mostly for networking purposes, I'm lazy and I hate writing out 3 different ways to get in touch with me a few times a day) and I had "What is your dog's name?" printed on them.
Granted, few will get it, but a business card is of no use to anyone unless it is remembered, even as "that card with the weird question..."

It also reminds me to get the details along with the nitty gritty. Most of the articles I've written this semester weren't any good until I got a random detail.

* the name of the man who sorted bread at a food shelter
* a teacher's description of the perfect day
* the definition of "career flexibility"

These details added a depth to each story, a link between the subject and the reader, beyond simple transmission of information. This is the link that makes the reader keep on reading.

By the way, what IS your dog's name?

I feel...

I'm working on an article for class, and my subject is Creative Commons licenses. I've done the basic research (creativecommons.org, flicker, etc.) and I've done several interviews, but if anyone has anything to toss into the ring, please do.

Although I'm focusing on CC license use in Gainesville, any comments would be appreciated. Why CC? Pros? Cons? Personal CC stories?

Gratzi.

Make my little life worthwhile

The assignment I'm currently struggling with is to write a magazine-style article and then edit it for the web.

I'm coding the website in Dreamweaver, and have the layout and design pretty much done after 20+ hours of coding. I didn't understand CSS at all until I tried using it in Dreamweaver. Now my only problem is getting it to work correctly in both Firefox and Internet Explorer.

The writing is more difficult. I understand the concept of "chunking," and writing for the Internet, but the assignment asks a little more: non-linear writing.

If a viewer can enter and exit a website at any point, how do I make sure that the point is made?
How can you tell a story without the "once upon a time....happily ever after" format?
Suggestions, anyone?

Saving Newspapers

Last night, one of the topics discussed at the UF Newsies meeting was the future of journalism and newspapers. The obvious concern is that I'll have worked my butt off through college and not be able to get a job when I graduate.

So, what will save the newspaper business? The fogies will always prefer the printed page. But my generation has gotten used to the constant eye-fatigue that comes from reading long documents off a computer screen. We like the pretty pictures and moving images and click-y things. The ability to interact with an environment while sprawled in the comfort of my leather desk chair, where just the slight movement of my index finger can transport me...OK, personally, I miss books.

A new feature that the Newsies will have to accommodate to is multimedia. The editor is actually in my Communications for the Internet class, so she and I toss words like "package," "format," and "multi-media" over the heads of some of the others.

I have to write three articles over Winter Break, to have as stock at the beginning of the semester. These will be accompanied by photos, video and audio where applicable. I could even make a Google Map for one of them.

So the transition from print to Internet doesn't seem like a problem in terms of accommodating stories to a new medium. The problem appears to be in making money off of it. I'm a writer, an observer, a reporter, a dreamer. A business woman I'm not. But I might have to learn to be that, too.

What are you doing thats new and exciting? What ideas do you have for the business of journalism?

To Keep on Writing

After this semester, I'll have finished most of the hardcore writing classes for my journalism major.
After this semester, I won't be writing on a weekly basis anymore.

As soon as those two thoughts slid through the grey matter between my ears, I panicked. I sat down in the middle of the sidewalk in front of the journalism building and tried not to think about the sleepless nights, the incessant butterflies, the paranoia (does that comma need to be there?!), and the feeling of supreme satisfaction at the churning sound of the printer spitting out a decent bit of wordsmithing.

And so I made a decision. I joined the UF Newsies. It appears that it was a decision well-made. The small group produces campus-oriented articles, and as of January will be hooking up with the Gainesville Sun, where I'll get to implement my newly hard-earned AP Style while maintaining my own voice.

After this semester, the writing don't stop.

P.S. I swear the A-grafs were unintentional.