Before we start doing stories, I think it's prudent to introduce everyone to these three fact-checking and proofreading lists I offer in my JRN 200 classes.
Instructions
After completing your story, use the down arrow on your keyboard to highlightand then complete each of these checks.
I. Facts
Check these first three items while your story is on the screen:
1. Run spell-check, review suggestions and correct any actual errors.
2. Click hyperlinks.
3. Call phone numbers.
Use a printout of the story for the remaining checks:
4. Put a ruler under each line as you read the text. Underline every fact, and then double-check each one, including:
a) Names and titles of people, places and companies - Also, does each second reference (Jones) have a first reference (Mary Jones)?
b) Numbers and calculations - Do the numbers add up? Is it millions or billions? Are the percentages correct?
c) Dates and ages - Watch references to “next month/last month” when the month is changing.
d) Quotes - Are quotes accurate and properly attributed? Have you fully captured what each person meant?
e) Superlatives - What’s your source that something is the biggest, oldest, etc.?
II. Grammar
5. Check each sentence for correct use of:
a) Subject-verb agreement - Also, are you consistent in your use of either the present or the past tense to tell the story?
b) Pronoun-noun agreement.
c) Plurals and possessives.
d) Punctuation.
III. Spelling
6. Read the story backwards, checking the spelling of each word. Use a dictionary.
IV. Fairness and context
7. Terms - Define or eliminate unfamiliar terms, such as acronyms and jargon.
8. Fairness - Have all stakeholders been contacted and given a chance to talk?
9. Missing - Does the story leave any important question unanswered?
10. Context - Does the reader have the context to understand the story?
V. Your own common errors (for example, if you have a habit of getting dates wrong, misspelling names, ect.)
11. ____________________________________________
12.____________________________________________
VI. Final checks
13. Read the story aloud.
14. Have someone else read it.
15. Accompanying elements - Run the previous checks on the story's headlines, captions, sidebars, photos, graphics, videos, interactive media and podcasts. Check for inconsistencies.
*****
CHECKLIST ON AVOIDING ACCURACY PROBLEMS
Reporting isn't just about habits; it's also about a mindset that nothing is assumed and everything needs to be cross-checked for accuracy. This is a modified version of an editor's checklist on how to help reporters avoid inaccuracy problems by having the right skeptical mindset. I think there are some tips worth following. Let's take a look:
Problem: Not detail-oriented. Plan to ask at least five extra questions not covered in your assignment that go into greater detail; keep asking clarifying questions.
Problem: Making assumptions. Reports should back up statements in story with evidence; reporters should take their time and not rush during interviews; reporters should self-edit religiously and ask themselves if they can back up what they are writing; reporters should ask sources follow-up questions; reporters should ask the obvious questions to make sure they're not assuming; reporters should ask, "How do you know that? and "how do I know that?" of themselves and sources.
Problem: Interviewing confusion. Reporters shouldn't be shy about asking sources to slow down or repeat something; reporters ask "can you elaborate?" or say, "I don't understand"; reporters can repeat the information back to the source in their own words and give the source the opportunity to correct them; reporters can go back over direct quotes with the source; reporters can make a recording of events or interviews that can be checked.
Problem: Relying on out-of-date information. Never type something before you've checked it; always ask sources for an updated title; do research ahead of time; check Web sites for the last time they were updated and if it's been more than one year, then the information might be old; check the date on press releases.
Problem: Time constraints. Plan ahead for a long day -- start doing research the night before or get up early to get all your reporting done on time; overestimate the time everything will take; start writing what you know while waiting for that last callback, it might also help you find out earlier what you don't know; don't multitask during the editing process; keep fact-checking.
Problem: Exaggerating/using more powerful words than your reporting shows. Use precise language; use self-discipline and resist the urge to overwrite or overstate the facts; always attribute it. If you can't attribute some part of your story, then perhaps your words are wrong; reporters should use balanced reporting and make sure that it's reflected in the writing of the story; reporters should put the facts in the proper context.
Problem: Relying on unreliable sources. Reporters can ask sources for another source or documents to back up what they tell you; reporters should vet sources' credibility during interviews. Does what they're saying make sense? Always ask, "How do you know that?"
*****
You can also download a free copy of The Handy-Dandy Everybody’s Guide to Proofreading over at my blog, Peaceful Planet.
Don’t let mistakes tarnish your work of art, whether it’s a research paper, a blog post, a query letter, or business communication. And remember, proofreading is not the same as writing and editing. It’s not about creativity; it’s a science that needs a system. Follow these tips and create your own system, and you’ll have your Eagle Eye on in no time.
Leah McClellan is a freelance writer, copyeditor, proofreader, gardener, vegetarian, and animal lover who dreams of world peace and writes about communication atPeaceful Planet.
Please take a look at the suggestions here, and either work them into a regular routine that best works for you or make sure your existing routine is up to snuff.
*****
ACCURACY CHECKLIST FOR JOURNALISTS
Created by the Reynolds School for Business Journalism
Distributed by the Poynter Institute for Journalism
Instructions
After completing your story, use the down arrow on your keyboard to highlightand then complete each of these checks.
I. Facts
Check these first three items while your story is on the screen:
1. Run spell-check, review suggestions and correct any actual errors.
2. Click hyperlinks.
3. Call phone numbers.
Use a printout of the story for the remaining checks:
4. Put a ruler under each line as you read the text. Underline every fact, and then double-check each one, including:
a) Names and titles of people, places and companies - Also, does each second reference (Jones) have a first reference (Mary Jones)?
b) Numbers and calculations - Do the numbers add up? Is it millions or billions? Are the percentages correct?
c) Dates and ages - Watch references to “next month/last month” when the month is changing.
d) Quotes - Are quotes accurate and properly attributed? Have you fully captured what each person meant?
e) Superlatives - What’s your source that something is the biggest, oldest, etc.?
II. Grammar
5. Check each sentence for correct use of:
a) Subject-verb agreement - Also, are you consistent in your use of either the present or the past tense to tell the story?
b) Pronoun-noun agreement.
c) Plurals and possessives.
d) Punctuation.
III. Spelling
6. Read the story backwards, checking the spelling of each word. Use a dictionary.
IV. Fairness and context
7. Terms - Define or eliminate unfamiliar terms, such as acronyms and jargon.
8. Fairness - Have all stakeholders been contacted and given a chance to talk?
9. Missing - Does the story leave any important question unanswered?
10. Context - Does the reader have the context to understand the story?
V. Your own common errors (for example, if you have a habit of getting dates wrong, misspelling names, ect.)
11. ____________________________________________
12.____________________________________________
VI. Final checks
13. Read the story aloud.
14. Have someone else read it.
15. Accompanying elements - Run the previous checks on the story's headlines, captions, sidebars, photos, graphics, videos, interactive media and podcasts. Check for inconsistencies.
*****
CHECKLIST ON AVOIDING ACCURACY PROBLEMS
Reporting isn't just about habits; it's also about a mindset that nothing is assumed and everything needs to be cross-checked for accuracy. This is a modified version of an editor's checklist on how to help reporters avoid inaccuracy problems by having the right skeptical mindset. I think there are some tips worth following. Let's take a look:
Problem: Not detail-oriented. Plan to ask at least five extra questions not covered in your assignment that go into greater detail; keep asking clarifying questions.
Problem: Making assumptions. Reports should back up statements in story with evidence; reporters should take their time and not rush during interviews; reporters should self-edit religiously and ask themselves if they can back up what they are writing; reporters should ask sources follow-up questions; reporters should ask the obvious questions to make sure they're not assuming; reporters should ask, "How do you know that? and "how do I know that?" of themselves and sources.
Problem: Interviewing confusion. Reporters shouldn't be shy about asking sources to slow down or repeat something; reporters ask "can you elaborate?" or say, "I don't understand"; reporters can repeat the information back to the source in their own words and give the source the opportunity to correct them; reporters can go back over direct quotes with the source; reporters can make a recording of events or interviews that can be checked.
Problem: Relying on out-of-date information. Never type something before you've checked it; always ask sources for an updated title; do research ahead of time; check Web sites for the last time they were updated and if it's been more than one year, then the information might be old; check the date on press releases.
Problem: Time constraints. Plan ahead for a long day -- start doing research the night before or get up early to get all your reporting done on time; overestimate the time everything will take; start writing what you know while waiting for that last callback, it might also help you find out earlier what you don't know; don't multitask during the editing process; keep fact-checking.
Problem: Exaggerating/using more powerful words than your reporting shows. Use precise language; use self-discipline and resist the urge to overwrite or overstate the facts; always attribute it. If you can't attribute some part of your story, then perhaps your words are wrong; reporters should use balanced reporting and make sure that it's reflected in the writing of the story; reporters should put the facts in the proper context.
Problem: Relying on unreliable sources. Reporters can ask sources for another source or documents to back up what they tell you; reporters should vet sources' credibility during interviews. Does what they're saying make sense? Always ask, "How do you know that?"
*****
Get Your Eagle Eye On: 10 Tips for Proofreading Your Own Work
A guest post by Leah McClellan of Peaceful Planet
The best blog post I read this morning—of many—is good. Very good, actually. It flows. It’s fresh. It has a rhythm that drew me in and made me want to read every word. The ideas are thought-provoking.
But how much more enjoyable would it have been if I didn’t have to reread certain sections to make sure I was getting the gist of things? How much better would the post be if I didn’t hesitate at it’s instead of its and there instead of they’re? How much intended meaning and power was lost over a lack of subject-verb agreement or commas that might have been better placed?
Tripping, stumbling, and hesitating over misspelled words or ill-placed punctuation is like watching a TV show with a shaky cable signal or trying to talk while a cell phone connection is breaking up—the reader is jostled right out of the story the writer is telling.
If the errors are too big or too many, I’m outta there.
This writer intentionally broke a lot of rules in his 1100-word article, and he broke them well. Sentence fragments clustered together as ideas to ponder, a long list of items without commas that symbolizes repetitive drivel, the same word repeated over and over in a few short sentences to pound in a point. Good stuff and well done, for the most part.
Some grammar and punctuation rules can—and should—be broken, when you know what the rules are and how to break them effectively. But the lack of solid proofreading in this piece is like cake without icing, pottery without glaze, or a fine piece of wood in need of a polish. The writer didn’t step back and get his Eagle Eye on.
“Come on,” you chortle. “It’s hard to proofread your own work. And who notices anyway?”
Believe it or not, lots of people notice unless they’re just scanning. And it’s quite possible that many of those scanners might linger on every word you write if typos and bloopers and unintentionally-broken punctuation or grammar rules weren’t making them stumble and wonder and lose their focus.
Typos and errors break up the “voice” that readers are trying to hear as they read your written words.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re a freelancer, a blogger, a student, or anyone who writes for any reason. Most of us don’t have proofreaders or a skilled family member or friend to help us out on a regular basis. And if you’re submitting work to an agent or publisher or a big blog for consideration, why let typos and mistakes clutter and cloud the brilliant work you want them to read?
Any time you write something, you want readers to enjoy and appreciate your masterpiece. It’s your baby, an extension of yourself. Take good care of it.
Writing and editing is art. Proofreading is science.
So says Rushang Shah, President of Gramlee.com, an online editing service with editors behind the scenes constantly proofreading and copyediting. Rushang says that “all proofreading and copyediting involves the human element, and that’s why computers cannot replace a proofreader.”
Proofreading your own work can be challenging, it’s true. You already know the story, you already have a picture in your mind of what to expect and, as a result, you tend to skim over words and groups of words. Plus, you know your own voice and, even if there are errors in your writing, you don’t “hear” them or see them because you’re in a hurry, and your mind fills in the blanks as you skim over things. You might be daydreaming—even if you’re reading out loud.
If you have a system, though, proofreading can be like doing a quality check on an assembly line. It’s just busy work, really, and not very creative at all. But it’s so important.
Here are some tips to help you get your Eagle Eye on and proofread your own work like a pro.
1. Don’t proofread until you’re completely finished with the actual writing and editing. If you make major changes while proofreading, even if it’s just within sentences, you’re still in an artistic, creative mode, not a science mode.
2. Make sure you have no distractions or potential interruptions. Shut down email and social media, hide the cell phone, shut off the TV, radio, or music, and close the door. Print your document if you need to get away from the computer altogether.
3. Forget the content or story. Analyze sentence by sentence; don’t read in your usual way. Focus on spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Work backwards, if that helps, or say the words and sentences out loud. Concentrate.
4. Make several passes for different types of errors. Try checking spelling and end punctuation on one pass, grammar and internal punctuation on another, and links or format on yet another pass. Develop a system.
5. Take notes. If you notice a format issue while checking spelling or if you need to look something up, make a quick note and come back to it so you don’t lose your focus.
6. If you do make a last-minute change to a few words, be sure to check the entire sentence or even paragraph over again. Many errors are the result of changes made without adjusting other, related words.
7. Check facts, dates, quotes, tables, references, text boxes, and anything repetitive or outside of the main text separately. Focus on one element or several related aspects of your writing at a time.
8. Monitor yourself. If you find yourself drifting off and thinking about something else, go back over that section again. Try slapping your hand or tapping a foot in a rhythm as you examine each word and sentence out loud.
9. Get familiar with your frequent mistakes. Even the most expreienced writer mixes up their, they’re, and there or too, two, and to. When I’m tried or writing fast, I right what I here in my mind and just get careless. Not a big deal. That’s what proofreading is for. You caught those errors, didn’t you?
10. Check format last. Every document has format, even an email, whether it’s paragraph spacing, text wrap, indentations, spaces above and below a bullet list or between subheadings and text, and so on. Leave this for the end because contents may shift during handling.
You already know better than to rely on spell-check, so I won’t belabor the point except to say that “wear form he untied stats” doesn’t bother spell-check but it might get an American in trouble at a customs checkpoint.
What if you don’t quite know what you’re looking for while proofreading?
Do you know basic comma rules, how to use a semi-colon, or when to use who orwhom? You might have an excellent sense of what things should look like or sound like, especially if you’re an avid reader, but if you don’t know basic grammar and punctuation rules, proofreading might be guesswork, at best, with doubtful results, at worst. Why not make your life easier and your writing better? Take some time to learn basic rules from some online resources I consult when I need help:
You can also download a free copy of The Handy-Dandy Everybody’s Guide to Proofreading over at my blog, Peaceful Planet.
Don’t let mistakes tarnish your work of art, whether it’s a research paper, a blog post, a query letter, or business communication. And remember, proofreading is not the same as writing and editing. It’s not about creativity; it’s a science that needs a system. Follow these tips and create your own system, and you’ll have your Eagle Eye on in no time.
Leah McClellan is a freelance writer, copyeditor, proofreader, gardener, vegetarian, and animal lover who dreams of world peace and writes about communication atPeaceful Planet.
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