PROBLEM: In one story, we said the psychologist's first name was Allan, with 2 L's. In fact, his name was Alan, with just one L. Fact fatals result in an automatic 1.0 grade.
SOLUTION: Before writing, carefully go over the information to make sure you understand all the facts as they are. After writing, double-check against your notes every noun (person, place or thing), identifying labels (like addresses, titles and such), numbers, dates and the entirety of all quotes to make sure what you wrote was what you intended to write.
*****
PROBLEM: In one story, in a quote we said, "I met this guys ... ," plural, when in fact the quote was, "I met this guy ... ," singular.
SOLUTION: Again, check the entirety of every quote to make sure what is inside of quote marks is exactly what was said. Spell check would not have caught this error since guys is spelled correctly; it's just not the word you intended to use.
One more time: spell check is a supplement to, but not a substitute for, proofing your work with your own eyes.
*****
PROBLEM: In another story, we said the number of young runaways nationwide was 405,700. In fact, it was 450,700.
SOLUTION: Again, double-check the numbers (and names and titles and addresses and dates and places and things) you wrote against your notes to make sure what you wrote was what you intended to write!
*****
PROBLEM: We used this quote ...
"So, uh, I met this guy who was moving to New York. He didn't want to take me, said I was too young, but I, uh, got him to change his mind."
... but we removed the uhs from the quote. Anything inside of quote marks has to be exactly what was continuously said, and removing anything is a fatal.
SOLUTION: Use quote fragments or paraphrase to avoid poor or awkward grammar; please see related blog post in this thread for examples and more details.
*****
Here's the crazy thing: everyone who fataled on this exercise has been doing very well in this class, and one story was great with a lede I absolutely loved. It killed me to fatal these folks, but let me remind you of my first rule of journalism:
Journalism isn't about writing; it's about getting it right.
SOLUTION: Before writing, carefully go over the information to make sure you understand all the facts as they are. After writing, double-check against your notes every noun (person, place or thing), identifying labels (like addresses, titles and such), numbers, dates and the entirety of all quotes to make sure what you wrote was what you intended to write.
*****
PROBLEM: In one story, in a quote we said, "I met this guys ... ," plural, when in fact the quote was, "I met this guy ... ," singular.
SOLUTION: Again, check the entirety of every quote to make sure what is inside of quote marks is exactly what was said. Spell check would not have caught this error since guys is spelled correctly; it's just not the word you intended to use.
One more time: spell check is a supplement to, but not a substitute for, proofing your work with your own eyes.
*****
PROBLEM: In another story, we said the number of young runaways nationwide was 405,700. In fact, it was 450,700.
SOLUTION: Again, double-check the numbers (and names and titles and addresses and dates and places and things) you wrote against your notes to make sure what you wrote was what you intended to write!
*****
PROBLEM: We used this quote ...
"So, uh, I met this guy who was moving to New York. He didn't want to take me, said I was too young, but I, uh, got him to change his mind."
... but we removed the uhs from the quote. Anything inside of quote marks has to be exactly what was continuously said, and removing anything is a fatal.
SOLUTION: Use quote fragments or paraphrase to avoid poor or awkward grammar; please see related blog post in this thread for examples and more details.
*****
Here's the crazy thing: everyone who fataled on this exercise has been doing very well in this class, and one story was great with a lede I absolutely loved. It killed me to fatal these folks, but let me remind you of my first rule of journalism:
Journalism isn't about writing; it's about getting it right.
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