OWLSTYLE
What the staff member needs to know
about the student newspaper at
CONTENTS:
How the Owl covers PGCC
Who works for the OWL?
How OWL stories are written
Asking questions for accuracy
Writing clearly
Layout styles and purposes
OWLSTYLE: a style guide for THE PGCC OWL
HOW THE OWL COVERS PGCC
The OWL is
the newspaper for
It is
important that all the facts that appear in the OWL be as close to correct as
reporters and editors can make them. It is also important that those facts be
the ones that people need. Perhaps most important of all, a newspaper shows the
relationships between facts.
It's
important that the stories in the OWL be written clearly. OWL staffers know
that it's necessary to include enough details about an event or idea so that
the reader gets a full picture. But we know, too, that there is such a thing as
too much detail. The happy medium keeps most of our readers happy most of the
time. OWL staffers have excellent vocabularies. But they also have enough
ego-strength to use the simple, clear word instead of the long, obscure one.
News
stories that appear in the OWL follow some general patterns that have been
tested and proven in the news business. These patterns satisfy readers and keep
them coming back.
A story may
be primarily "hard" news, with a highly informative lede paragraph
that grabs the reader right away with the most important point of the story. Or
it may be mainly "feature" style, starting out with a specific,
concrete example illustrating the general idea of the story. Either way, it is
tightly written and keeps the writer's opinion and personal perspective out of
the way.
Examples: (from the totally made-up story we will
see again below)
A hard-news lede
paragraph
The College
plans to sue the original contractors for Bladen Hall because asbestos has been
discovered in the ceilings of at least three classrooms in PGCC's oldest (1974)
classroom building.
A feature lede
paragraph
Tonia
McKinney didn't know, when that funny dust fell on her notebook during her
English class in Bladen Hall, that she was seeing the beginning of a
controversy that would get
The OWL
makes lots of space for opinion and commentary, because the voice of the
students (including its own writers) is critical to the success and development
of a dynamic community college. OWL staffers who want to express their opinions
do it there, not on the news pages. Often a news story will report
facts, including the opinions of people involved in the story. Some of
that material might also appear in an opinion piece in the OWL, either written
by the reporter who also wrote the news story, or by someone else.
News
stories in the OWL-- as opposed to opinion pieces-- concentrate, instead, on
the who, what when, where and why of the story. These "Five
W's" have been the foundation of good news stories since 19th-century
publishers found that the public needed (and would pay for) reliable facts.
Every story that appears in the OWL was assigned by the editors because it is
relevant to PGCC and the community it serves. And readers of the OWL deserve
the best, most factual and accurate, and most complete story we can give them.
It is
important for OWL staffers to realize the role the newspaper plays on the PGCC
campus. When it is accurate, relatively free of errors of fact or writing, and
covers stories that are relevant and interesting to students, faculty and staff
at PGCC, it is read and trusted. When it does not fulfill this responsibility,
it is the subject of amusement or disdain. Individual reporters have a
responsibility to work hard to avoid errors. Editors have the responsibility to
ask reporters to verify questionable or potentially troublesome facts or
statements, even if the reporter is tired and would like the story to be over
and done with.
WHO WORKS FOR THE OWL?
Producing a
campus newspaper takes more than writers, even though the "text" of
the OWL is what students, faculty and staff depend on for their information.
PGCC
students who have strong research interests may be researchers for the OWL,
even if their names never appear as the writer of a story. As indicated below
("How OWL stories are developed") a story first appears as a series
of questions to be answered. Researchers answer those questions-- sometimes by
looking at printed sources, sometimes by conducting interviews with those who
have expertise or are responsible for aspects of the story's topic.
For
instance, a story about a new or revised curriculum offering in a major might
consist of questions that are answered (at least some of them) in a report
written by a committee of faculty members in that major. The faculty may have
consulted some students in the major and even included their comments in the
report. If they didn't a researcher might seek out some students in that major
for their comments on the proposals. The writer or researcher might also
contact people who didn't have direct input into the report but now have the
responsibility for okaying action on the report, such as the Dean of the
division. That responsible person might have a different perspective on the
proposals in the report. The OWL staffers-- researchers and writers-- put
together a complete story from all those sources.
The
researcher might wind up writing the story, or might turn the information over
to a writer. The material might wind up in a news story, or an
opinion/commentary article, or (if it's a "hot" topic) both.
It doesn't
stop there. Showing what is going on, visually, is the job of artists
and photographers. Photographers provide the "you are there" feeling
that makes news seem like a report from the scene. And artists can provide a
point of view visually-- in cartoons or in expressive versions of everyday
things. All these things make the OWL a total portrait of PGCC that is more
than words.
There is
also "art" involved in designing and laying out the pages of the OWL.
Making sure that the parts of the package all work together is a high-level
design skill.
Researchers,
writers, artists and designers all do their thing for the OWL under the eyes of
the editors. Editors have these basic assignments:
*To
"budget" each issue of the OWL. The first "budget" is the
list of story ideas that come up at the first staff meeting after the last
issue goes to press-- usually Wednesday. Editors have story ideas and other
staffers contribute theirs, and folks go away from the meeting (or should) knowing
what part they have in covering the stories on that "budget." The
budget gets refined as deadline draws closer. Some stories don't turn out (or
turn out to have an entirely different "slant" than the staff first
thought). Other, new stories pop up and join the ranks. The editors make some
final educated guesses about the amount of space to set aside for the stories
in the budget, and earmark the top ones for the front page. Then the paper goes
to press. Any similarity between the first "budget" and the actual
stories that get in the paper may be purely coincidental.
*To
organize the stories, and the paper, in a meaningful way. This means that the
front page is almost always regular news stories, not commentary or
opinion. The newspaper is packaged, with each page having its own label--
"Commentary" or "Sports" or "Arts &
Entertainment"--and the paper's main franchise is news, which is front
page material. Editors try to keep the readers interested without keeping them
guessing about where to look for their "most wanted" information.
*To make
sure the stories are accurate, fair, complete and well-written, with a
structure that invites the reader to dip into the information the OWL has to
offer. Editors may ask writers or researchers to make "just a few more
phone calls" to ensure that everything in the story is as accurate
as possible, that all people and organizations dealt with in the story are
treated fairly and that the story has all the facts it needs to satisfy
readers' questions completely. The stories are never perfect, but the OWL
staff, including the editors, tries to make them as good as they can be.
HOW OWL STORIES ARE DEVELOPED
The idea
for a story can come from anywhere. Many OWL staffers suggest stories to the
editors. There are several simple tests that determine whether the story goes
from idea to print:
#Does this relate specifically-- perhaps even
exclusively-- to PGCC students, staff and faculty?
#Is there something new about the story? Does this new
aspect affect PGCC people, especially in their pocketbooks or the quality
and/or availability of their education here?
#Is the story interesting? Will readers agree that
it was worth the effort? Does it pass the "so what" test?
If
a story passes these tests, the editor(s) and writer(s)
together should sit down and ask: who is the best source of information for
this story? And them, just as important, what questions should be asked to
make sure we get all the information we need? This may be the hardest part
of journalism. Once you have got the right questions, and ask the right people
or look in the right places (such as documents) the rest is relatively simple.
Let's take
an OWL story that you will never see in the OWL-- because it is completely made
up-- and see how it gets to the page.
At a staff
meeting a reporter/writer says she heard that one of the classrooms in Bladen
Hall was being converted for use as a computer lab, but the amount of asbestos
in the ceiling was slowing down the job. Everyone at the meeting immediately
reacts: is the asbestos dangerous? If it is, do students in the next rooms know
they are at risk? The editor gives the writer the story assignment and after
the meeting the editor and writer come up with a list of questions.
1. Is the room really being converted as a computer lab?
When did the job start? How much will it cost?
2. Is it necessary to tear out the ceiling to do this?
3. Is the asbestos dangerous?
4. Is the overall job getting behind schedule because of
the asbestos cleanup? Has it added to the cost of the project?
5. What are the methods of "safe cleanup" for
old construction asbestos and are they being used? When did they start?
6. Did the administration know that the asbestos would
require cleanup or was this a surprise?
7. Are any students in other parts of Bladen Hall in any
danger and why have they not been notified that there is an asbestos cleanup
going on?
8. When do you think the job will now be finished? How far
behind schedule would that be?
The writer
interviews the vice president for finance and administration and gets these
answers: The room will be a computer lab, mostly for general use like the 3rd
floor of Ackokeek Hall. The original job was budgeted for $180,000 and began in
October 1993, and the ceiling began to come down soon after that date, with the
purpose of upgrading the wiring for the significant drain of computers. The
administration, he says, was surprised at the asbestos insulation in the
ceiling because Bladen Hall was not supposed to have any asbestos in it. The asbestos cleanup began in December and is
still under way. The asbestos cleanup is going to add about $35,000 to the cost
of the project, which was supposed to be finished in time for summer session
but will now not be ready until the fall semester. Students are not at risk
unless they enter that room and the room is kept locked, including during
cleanup efforts.
The
writer's first draft of the story looks like this:
Vice President for Finance and
Administration Jones says asbestos is
not a danger to students in Bladen. The Room 1456 problem will be solved by the
end of summer at a cost of $180,000 and computers will be available to all as
in Ackokeek.
For
another $3500 PGCC will cover up for its surprise about the asbestos in the
ceiling of 1456, where the doors are kept locked for safety since December.
Electrical power in the ceiling will be pre pared for the new computers.
The editor
reads the story, and has some recommendations and some more questions.
1. If the administration was surprised to find asbestos in
the ceiling, does that mean it wasn't supposed to be there in the first place?
When was it built? Who is to blame? Is "cover up" the right phrase
for this story?
2. If the room is not ready for summer, will that affect
any scheduled classes?
3. Has the administration found asbestos in any other
rooms in Bladen? Is that a danger?
4. Why do computers take so much extra electric capacity?
They don't seem to draw that much current?
The
writer's final draft, written after several more calls back to the vice
president, and several more preliminary drafts, is much different.
The
College plans to sue the original contractors for Bladen Hall because asbestos
has been discovered in the ceilings of at least three classrooms in PGCC's
oldest (1974) classroom building.
Students
are not in danger, said administrator Jonesy J. Jones, because the asbestos is
not being "disturbed" in any classroom except 1456, which is closed
for renovations.
The
room was being converted to computer lab space in a project that began in
October 1993, but asbestos was discovered in December as the ceiling was
removed to upgrade the wiring. An asbestos removal operation was begun in
January by Fiber-Gone Contractors, Inc., adding $35,000 to the $180,000
budgeted for the conversion.
Jones,
who is vice president for finance and administration, said that PGCC counsel
was putting together a legal action against Biff Batt Builders, the contractor
for the original building, because the contract specifications forbid the use
of asbestos for insulation even in 1974.
Though
the company has gone through bankruptcy two times since the construction, Jones
said, the College hopes to establish grounds for recovering at least the cost
of asbestos removal whereever the company installed it.
A
spokeswoman for Biff Batt Builders would not comment on the allegations, saying
the company's attorneys had told her nothing could be said until a court date
was set.
Two
summer session classes in Computer Assisted Instruction will be cancelled
because the computer lab, expected to be in operation by June, will now not
open until the fall semester.
The
two rooms on either side of Bladen 1456-- 1454 and 1458-- also have asbestos in
their ceilings, said Jones, who is vice president for finance and
administration. But he said no students attending classes in those rooms are in
danger of exposure because the asbestos is not being disturbed.
Eventually
all three rooms will be part of a larger computer lab complex. Jones said the
asbestos will be removed this summer in a separate operation, while they are
not being used as classrooms.
The writer
and editor have worked together to produce a story that appears to be accurate,
complete and fair and contains information that is of interest to most of
the students, faculty and staff of the College. The information is organized in
a way that gets the most important points across first. Then the supporting
information is arranged in an orderly way so that the story makes sense.
One of the
jobs of an editor is to be the representative of the reader, and try to ask
questions that readers would want answered while the story is being
developed so that the reader will be satisfied after reading the story as
it appears in print. Newspapers are periodicals, and there is always a
"next issue" in which information that got left out of a story can be
added. But if the reporter tries to think like the reader-- "what would I
want to know about this topic?"-- and the editor backs the reporter up by
asking the same questions, then the next issue can be saved for new stories
instead of rehashing old ones.
NOTE some specific things about the story that were improved
by the time it got into print:
*The
original first paragraph took it for granted the reader knew about the asbestos
and the "Room 1456 Problem". Most readers would have shaken their
heads and gone on to something else-- probably not the OWL.
*The first
paragraph referred to Jones, not Jonesy J. Jones. News style requires a full
name on "first reference" (the first appearance of the name in
print), and Jones thereafter. And Jones is moved down in the story, because he
is the source of the material but he is not the story-- the asbestos, the room,
the botched contract and the lawsuit are.
*The cost
factors are described completely-- and accurately-- in the finished story.
Money is always important. If the College loses the suit and has to lay out
$105,000 (3 x $35,000) or more unexpectedly to make Bladen Hall environmentally
safe, the money has to come from somewhere.
*The story
has been made more accurate and clearer-- the cleanup costs $35,000 (not
$3,500, not $180,000), and fairer (it does not use the hot-button word
"cover up", which would probably give everyone in Kent Hall fits).
The OWL mission may include giving fits to persons in Kent Hall, but not
because of inaccurate facts or poorly chosen words.
ASKING QUESTIONS FOR ACCURACY
As you can
see from the previous example, revising a news story from beginning information
to final version involves the careful asking of questions. The reporter's job
is to determine what questions need to be answered and who can answer them
correctly or authoritatively. Correct answers to questions come from
people whose business it is to know about the subject. For that reason, some
good answers on asbestos removal might come from someone in the maintenance
department at PGCC. Authoritative answers (which may or may not be
correct) will come from officials who are in charge of the subject.
It is
always important to get the official word on any subject from those college
officials whose jobs include being the ones who give "the official
word". Their jobs include making the college and their fellow officials
look good, so you may not get the full truth. No matter. The official word
should be sought, plus any other information that helps provide the most
correct information possible to the reader.
If the
correct information and the official word do not exactly agree, it is not the
reporter's job to choose between one or the other-- at least not in a news
story. If there is something to be said about this contradiction, it should be
said in a commentary, and the reporter might ask the editor if she or he can do
one on the subject.
To
summarize: a story is a series of answers to questions. The reporter and editor
will shape the story by determining what questions a reader would have about
the subject and then doing their best to get those answers. The reporter will
question a variety of people who know about the subject or who should have a
say about it because of their positions of responsibility.
You
can't go wrong if you allow PGCC officials their say on a subject, even if
the story winds up making them look less than perfect. Don't forget that the OWL
will probably have to continue dealing with this official long after you have
left the campus. Be persistent but respectful. Don't burn bridges for other
reporters who come after you.
WRITING CLEARLY
Although
newspaper style appears very different from that you use in composition
courses, it is actually not so different. The lede paragraph of a hard news
story may contain more details than you are used to including in the
introduction to an essay, crammed into less space and fewer sentences. But once
the lede is written, news style is rather like explanatory and descriptive
essay-writing. The writer of a news story-- which is shorter than the average
essay, ordinarily-- tries more frequently to remind the reader what the story
is basically all about, by referring back to the theme or "main idea"
frequently as she or he adds details and specifics.
LAYOUT STYLES
The current
layout style at the OWL is strongly related to the capabilities of desktop
publishing. Because the publishing system can provide rectangular, multi-column
blocks of type, the OWL uses what is called the "modular" style. Each
story element on a page is laid as as much as possible as a rectangle. Rules
and screens are used to tie together the different parts of a story (such as
main story and "sidebar", or story and art work.
The
OWL frequently uses strongly marked page headings-- currently, reverse strips
(black with white letters) with such headings as "news",
"opinion," "sports" and so forth reversed in.
Headline
styles are "upstyle" or "downstyle". This is a leadership
style point decision. "Upstyle" means that every word is capitalized
("up") except for prepositions and definite articles of four or fewer
words. The first letter of each deck (line) is capitalized.
"Downstyle" means that only the first letter of each deck
(line) of type in the headline is capitalized, except for proper names that
would be capitalized in a normal sentence.
Upstyle:
President Is Asked for Records
On the Way He Uses College Funds
Downstyle:
President is asked for records
on the way he uses College funds.
Expanded quotes:
When some art work is needed for relief of a too-gray
page, a few words or a long sentence can be copied from the story and set in
larger type, to be boxed, bordered or screened and placed in the midst of the
column of type.
RESOURCES:
Three respected experts on newspaper layout: Edmund G.
Arnold (Designing the Total Newspaper); Daryl Moen (Modern Newspaper
Design) or Mario Garcia of the American Press Institute.
OWLSTYLE: A STYLE BOOK
FOR THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER
AT PRINCE GEORGE'S COMMUNITY COLLEGE
The
following is material that deals specifically with Prince George's Community
College, its places and people. For all other questions of newspaper style,
consult the Associated Press Style Book. Some of the style provisions in
this manual can go either way; for instance, some newspapers use "courtesy
titles" like Mr. and Ms. and others do not. These are decision points for
the editors.
LEDE PARAGRAPHS contain the 5 W's-- Who, What, When, Where
and Why.
Who is most
important if the person did something: got an award, got arrested, scored the
winning basket, died.
What
is most important if it is exciting and/or unusual: Dean wins national award,
dean bites dog (which dean? to be named later).
When
is generally more important the more recently it happened, or if it establishes
some other what as in "what did the president know and when did he
know it?"
Where
is low-priority for the OWL because it is always assumed that it is at PGCC. If
it is the "where" that makes the story unusual, then it becomes more
important: instructor drinks beer in classroom.
Why is the question
that doesn't usually get answered until the story is finished, though it may be
answered in the lede if it is (apparently) simple: semester extended because of
icy February weather. But it could turn out to be not that simple: was semester
extended because College has vague policy for weather closings?
FIRST REFERENCE: means the first time in the story
that a proper name (person, place or thing) is used. For people, make sure
their first names including middle initial are given completely the first time
they appear in the story. If they have a title or job, or something else about
them is relevant to the story, try to add that at the same time or as soon
as possible if the full reference would make the sentence too long and
clumsy.
Largo High students on campus are not
a problem, according to Jonesy J. Jones, Prince George's Community College vice
president for campus security.
BUT
Administrator Jonesy J. Jones said
that the College would sue a construction company for poor work resulting in
asbestos pollution in Bladen Hall.
Jones, who is PGCC vice president for
campus security, added that.....
FIRST REFERENCE for places or things, as complete a
description as is necessary for understanding.
The English Department at the College
plans a new course, Written Correspondence, to be available as soon as Fall
1995.
NOT: The
English Department of the Division of Arts and Humanities at the College plans
a new course...
BUT: The English department has
petitioned Dean Robert Barshay of the Division of Arts and Humanities for
permission to start a new course....
NOTE: the
entries in this section assume that OWLstyle is that the newspaper always
refers to Prince George's Community College as "the College," on the
premise that it is unmistakably what the PGCC OWL would call it. This would
apply on first or any other reference and is a style adopted by some college
newspapers but not others. It is one of those "style decisions" that
leadership should make.
SECOND REFERENCE:
1. courtesy titles
The OWL's current style is not to use "courtesy
titles", so all persons are referred to by last names on second reference unless
it would be confusing. Jones J. Jones becomes Jones, as does Josephine J.
Jones. But if Jonesy and Josephine are in the same story, they retain their
first and second names throughout the story. If courtesy titles were used,
Jonesy would be Mr. Jones; Josephine would be Mrs. or Ms. Jones (see below).
The
decision on whether or not to use courtesy titles is one that could and
probably should be consciously made by the leadership directorate at the
beginning of every academic year-- and stuck to. If the decision to use
courtesy titles is made, a subdecision is whether to refer to all women as Ms. or
to use the courtesy title Ms. or Mrs. depending on the woman's marital status, or
to use Mrs. or Ms. (or even Miss) according to the preference of the person
referred to. The last choice means reporters had always better remember to ask.
2. Abbreviations
*
*All courses in the catalogue if referred to by number
(for instance, "EGL 102b" but "an upper-level English
course."
Do not abbreviate names of buildings, departments or
divisions of the College unless (in the case of buildings) they are in a list
rather than sentence form.
COLLEGE REFERENCES: The best sources for style in college
references are the current PGCC campus telephone directory and the current
Student Handbook. When they differ on the names and titles of campus faculty
and staff, rely on the telephone directory and call the person for
confirmation.