Michael S. moves into tie with John McKay in extra credit contest

Michael S. was awarded one point today for finding the most errors in the Feb. 3 style exercise, putting him into a first-place tie with John McKay in the extra credit contest. Michael S.'s 28 was three higher than the next highest student.

John McKay opens up large lead in extra credit contest

April 27, 2009, update: This post has been updated to reflect more points for John McKay.

John McKay. scored 17 points during the past few days in the race for extra credit while Jessica M. also has picked up three points to gain on Michael S., who is in second place. Note, John McKay found 11 errors in one story, so even though the contest ends midnight Monday, someone still could make a big move.

Here's a breakdown of McKay's scoring:

+1 – He caught a typo in the study guide for the final.
+1 – He was the first in class to complete the "Cleaning Your Copy" exercise.
+2 – In an April 13 Andy Heller column, he caught the wrong style for the Masters golf tournament and C-SPAN (It was The Master's and C-Span).
+1 – In an April 15 sports story, he found an inconsitency on All-Region (It was all-region in one case).
+1 – In an April 15 celebrity news item, he pointed out that we should have included "the" as part of the name in bolding "the Decemberists." He is correct, but our style is to not bold "the" when it is not capitialized. Still, for pointing it out, he grabs a point.
+11 – In an April 15, he found multiple errors in a story about high school musicals. Here is what he said in his e-mail:

"A movie classic, the tale of 'Grease is a 1950s rock 'n' roll musical. Rydell High's spirited class of '59 -- gum chewing, hubcap stealing, hot rod loving boys with D.A.'s and their wise cracking girls in bobby sox and pedal pushers -- capture the look and sound of the 1950s in a rollicking musical.

'Grease' should have an end-quote.
I think it should say 'gum-chewing, hubcab-stealing, hot rod-loving boys' (modifiers) and there shouldn't be an apostrophe for D.A.'s, though I do not know what 'D.A.' refers to. Should also say 'bobby socks' and 'wise-cracking girls.'

'...the prom, the burger palace, and the drive in movie.'

I believe this should say drive-in movie, as that is a modifier.

'Songs recall the Buddy Holly hiccups, the Little Richard yodels and the Elvis Presley wiggles that made the music of the 50s a gas.'

Should be '50s.

'Grease's eight-year run made Broadway history and its recent long running revival put it among today's most popular musicals.'

Should say 'long-running revival.'

'The Holly High School spring musical 'Hello Dolly' will be performed April 23, 24, 25, with evening performances starting at 7:30 pm.'

Should say '7:30 p.m.' …"

Here's a breakdown of Jessica M.'s scoring:
+1: In an April 1 story, she pointed out the misspelling of reportedly.
+2: In an April 16 editorial, she pointed out the misspelling of "The" (It was "he"), and she found some goofy characters at the end of a sentence that should not have been there.

John McKay surges toward first with fixes in video lecture post

John McKay broke out of a tie for second in the extra credit contest and closed in on leader Michael S. by catching three errors in the post “Notes from video lecture.”

McKay caught two errors associated with software titles. Windows was not capitalized while I had misspelled Adobe Premiere. 

As an aside, here is the entry on software titles from the Associated Press Stylebook:

“Software titles: Capitalize but do not use quotation marks around such titles as WordPerfect or Windows, but use quotation marks for computer games: ‘Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?'”

McKay also caught a typographical error: 

“‘• It’s good to engage the subject in conversation beforehand to make the comfortable before shooting.’ Should say ‘make THEM comfortable … ’”

Good job, John, especially with the assertive message. Editors need to clearly state what is wrong. Maybe your catches will inspire a final flurry of competition for extra credit. Remember, I am giving a 5 percent boost for first place and something lower for other top places. So, even if you are not on the scoreboard, it would be worth your while to make a late-semester run. You can earn one point for every fact, style or grammar error that you correct on this blog or on The Flint Journal’s Web site. To score a point, be the first person to e-mail me at cmachnia@umflint.edu.

Deadlines in detail listed with final exam time, date, place

Midnight Monday (April 20):
• Audio-based assignment
• Video-based assignment

Midnight (Monday) April 27:
• Video-based extra credit opportunity
• Extra credit contest concludes
• Cleaning Your Copy style and grammar exercise

4:15 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. (Tuesday) April 28:
• Final exam in Room 4159 of the White Building (where we normally meet).

Additional reminder: Please bring any class-issued audio recorder used for the audio-based assignment to the final if you still have one at that time.

Jessica M. becomes first student to catch on Flint Journal runners’ blog, moves into first place in extra credit contest

Today, Jessica M. noted a usage error in my blog entry today, marking the first time someone from class caught an error on the Web site (She also moves into first place in the extra credit race).

So, what was incorrect? I wrote, "There are a couple of negative to consider …." It should have been — and is now — "negatives." Watching for errors such as that one is key in copy editing. I wrote my blog late this morning, and I had only about 25 minutes to self-edit. This is yet another example of the reality is that everybody can use a copy editor.

Your hard work is done (mostly) - now it's my turn … and the winner is …

With today's final compete, I hope to get it — and any other outstanding assignments — graded and back to you as soon as possible. Expect e-mails with grading updates. The final will not be until after Thursday afternoon. This is because I plan to include the answers with your grade and one student who couldn't take the test today is taking the final that day.

My deadline for grades is 10 a.m. Monday, so if you have any questions about any grades as I start to send them — on the final or whatever — please don't be shy. Contact me either via e-mail or telephone (My numbers are on the syllabus).

And, as I said before the final today, it was an honor to teach everyone this semester, and I hope that everyone now knows a heck of a lot more about news editing.

One more thing: As I announced during the final, John McKay has won the extra credit contest, and in a late charge, Jessica M. took second place with Michael S. finishing third. A post explaining the final fixes will follow, but it will be prioritized behind other grading. Everyone should note that I say "nearly final" because there are some possible extra credit points that still could be awarded that I haven't investigated yet, but even if they are granted, it wouldn't change the top 3.

Jordan C. latest to earn point in extra credit contest

Jordan C. caught the most errors — 15 — in today's in-class editing exercise, snagging him a point in our extra credit contest. Today's session included some good discussion on the types of mistakes editors should seek, ranging from consistency in titles to potentially libelous quotes.

John McKay grabs two points in the extra credit contest for finding errors in two Michigan Live stories

John McKay has leaped into a tie for second place with Jessica M. in the race for extra credit.

The first error he caught was in a story about a Holly teen who is accused of taking video of the girls' locker room at Holly High School. The story included a sentence referencing the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office, which was followed by both a "who" and a "which" to introduce a dependent clause. Since it's an office, the correct word is "which." Probably what happened was the reporter or editor was rewriting the sentence from originally referring to the prosecutor as an individual. It's that type of mistake in rewriting that I often make, and a good one to be aware of. Always re-read your work.

The second error showed how a headline incorrectly listed the wrong first name for the subject of a story ("Anthony" instead of "Andrew"). All reporters and editors should take the time to double-check all proper nouns in the story. Messing up simple stuff like that undermines a publication's credibility.

Lastly, McKay sought a third point that I haven't decided on yet, and I'm leaning against awarding a point. He questioned the headline: "Days numbered for turkey terrorists." He echoed the concern a commenter had on the story, stating this was an inappropriate use for the word "terrorists." Deciding on taste is another important judgment editors have to make. In this case, I personally think it's acceptable, and that the concern is an over-reaction. But maybe my judgment of community standards is off. What does the rest of the class think about the use of the word? If there's enough people who agree with McKay, he gets the point. Weigh in by commenting or during our class discussion tomorrow.

'Cleaning Your Copy' deadline

I have sent this out in a classwide e-mail, but I'm posting it here as another reminder:

“Hi all, Way back on Jan. 13, I assigned the free "Cleaning Your Copy" course at News University, and I gave no firm deadline for completion. Well, today is the day I'm setting one. This exercise should help everyone prepare for the final by getting you back in text-editing mode, so I'd like everyone to finish this as soon as possible but no later than midnight April 27. After you complete the course, you have an option of having NewsU sending me an e-mail of a course report. But there’s no need to wait that long (I also plan to provide time in class to work on this). Also remember, there's a reward in the extra credit contest to the first person to complete the course. Please let me know if you have any questions.

- Chris”  

P.S. This assignment is the last in-class exercise for the semester. Like several other in-class exercises, it's worth 100 points, but unlike the others half will be considered extra credit. I have decided to do this to give people a last-chance opportunity to improve their in-class exercise grade. But remember, if you don’t complete this assignment, it will be zero points. If you're wondering how your in-class exercise grade currently stacks up, I will be sending everyone an e-mail update very soon (It's 20 percent of the class grade).

Austin B., Michael S. win first points in extra credit contest

Austin B. and Michael S. scored the highest in Thursday's in-class exercise, becoming the first students to garner points in the contest for extra credit. Bailey had the best score in the cell phone story. Michael S. was No. 1 in the story about the mayor.

In addition to the errors I inserted into these stories, several students found other mistakes, which added to their scores, but they also inserted new ones, which subtracted points. Remember, when making changes, the goal is to "do no harm." Here were a few of the mistakes:

• In the mayor's story, some changed "ten percent" to "10%." It's "10 percent," according to Associated Press style.
• In the mayor's story, some changed "work force" to "workforce." While "workforce" is in the dictionary we use, "work force" is AP style.
• In the mayor's story, some removed capitalization from "City Council" and "City Hall." They keep their capitalization under AP style when they refer to a specific body or place.
• In the cell phone story, some changed "whom" to "who." This is a tricky rule to learn, but in this story "whom" is correct because it's tied to the object of the sentence, not the subject. Who and whom are pronouns. For a good online explanation, click here.

There also were some good catches. They included:

• Not capitalizing "obscenity" in the headline of the mayor's story.
• Raising questions about grammar in quotes in the mayor's story. While these are fixed on a case-by-case basis, a good copy editor will flag each and weigh whether to add parentheses to aid in understanding for the reader.
• Breaking up the quote, "Why talk about it? Just do it," in the mayor's story.
• Removing the word "itself" from before "election day" in the cell phone story.
• Questioning the use of contractions in both stories. AP style advises to minimize their use, except in more informal contexts and quotes.

Jennifer Profitt corrects misspelling in Flint Journal story

Jennifer Profitt earned her first point in the extra credit contest Saturday, pointing out a misspelling in a Flint Journal story about campus life at the University of Michigan-Flint. The story misspelled "worried" as "worred." Good catch.

John McKay takes lead in race for extra credit

John McKay has found multiple errors in print and online to move past Michael S. for the moment to move into first place. He has submitted so many I am still verifying some, so the details and his exact total will be updated later. What is clear though is that there are plenty of mistakes to be found if people take the time.

Jennifer Profitt tallies point in finding incorrect final exam start time in syllabus

Jennifer Profitt earned a point in the extra credit contest this afternoon in class for correcting the final exam start time. In the syllabus, it says 4 p.m., but it's actually 4:15 p.m., according to the University of Michigan-Flint calendar. If I recall, my source for the 4 p.m. time was a printed copy of the winter class schedule, so I am not sure if I was just wrong or if the time was subsequently updated. No matter, Profitt has put us on the right track.

Jessica M. earns point with highest score on in-class exercise, ties John McKay for second place

Jessica M. tied John McKay for second place in the extra credit contest today by making the most fixes to a March 5 in-class exercise.

She corrected 12 errors in a story about the 2009 state budget, three higher than the next best score. Scoring was finalized today after one makeup exercise was completed last week. The point gives her six, which is four behind the leader, Michael S.

John McKay nets another point

John McKay found a typographical error in a mass e-mail I sent to the class, earning him another point in the extra credit contest (I misspelled the word promise in a message about the video-based assignment). He rightly reminded me that I said any mistakes I make in assignment sheets or e-mail is fair game. So, good hunting!

Movement on extra credit scoreboard - Jessica M. and Michael S. tally points

Jessica M. and Michael S. both have earned points by raising questions about items on The Flint Journal's Web site.

Jessica M. received three points by raising multiple issues in recent entries. They were:

• In a photo cutline, she found a typo of "beek" instead of "been" in a March 3 story about the Manhattan Place condos in Flint. This is a good catch and relevant to last week's reading because sometimes it's easier for cutlines to contain errors because not as many people look at them before they are published either online or in print.
• Along similar lines, Jessica M. found a typo in a headline in a Feb. 25 story about a man dying after he was hit by a train.
• In the same story, she also questioned the use of the word "instantly" when describing the man's death. I think this a point-worthy question to raise. However, I would justify The Journal's use of it because it's coming from the police, who are using it to explain a key fact in the story.

Michael S. found three style and grammar errors in a March 5 story about General Motors laying off 185 employees at the Grand Blanc Weld Tool Center. They were:

• Work force was spelled as one word.
• The following sentence failed to include a comma after "air," which was needed because there was an independent clause following the conjunction: "UAW Local 1292 Shop Chairman Matt Teachenor said the specifics of the layoff remain up in the air, but he hopes the layoffs don't last."
• The word "worker" near the end of the story needed to be "workers" to agree with the rest of the sentence.

He also pointed out an odd character that appeared in the text. This is some sort of system bug that the site experiences, but that's not an excuse, so there's a point.

These new totals keep Michael S. in the lead, with Jessica M. moving up into a solid third right behind John McKay.

Instructor's mother-in-law beats JRN 375 students in catching the dreaded comma splice

I believe some of the best/entertaining/compelling/insightful/funny journalism can be when a reporter is willing make a point through real-life examples. It also can be risky in terms of writing and in terms of how sources might react. I believe both are true in this post, in which I am providing useful grammar insight from my mother-in-law, a retired English teacher and librarian:

"----- Original Message -----
From: Ann
To: chris machniak
Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 8:58 PM
Subject: Sentence Punctuation Error

Chris,

While reading your class blog today, I came across a very common grammatical error in punctuating two independent clauses while using the conjunctive adverb 'however':

'I think this a point-worthy question to raise, however, I would justify The Journal's use of it because it's coming from the police, who are using it to explain a key fact in the story.'

By using a comma and not a semicolon after the first clause and before the conjunctive adverb 'however', the writer creates what is called a 'comma splice.' The following Web site might help clarify what I mean:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_commacomp.html

I hope this helps you see what I am trying to point out.

ANN."

She, of course, is correct, although I would not recommend fixing the error with a semicolon. The newspaper writing style would favor breaking the clauses up into two sentences or using a coordinating conjunction. When using the conjunction, a comma would be required after the first independent clause and before the conjunction.

I feel obligated to give her an honorary extra credit point. I hope no one objects.

Jessica M. finds mistake on Flint Journal Web site, earns extra credit point

Jessica M. found two unnecessary words in a Flint Journal story about a man who police say was shot while attempting to buy marijuana. Jessica M. found the words — "were made" — floating at the end of the story, an apparent typographical error. Here's what it looked like:

Man shot while attempting to buy marijuana, Flint police say

By David Harris | The Flint Journal
Sunday January 25, 2009, 4:45 PM

FLINT, Michigan -- A Flint man was shot at least once about 9:30 p.m. Saturday on Canniff Street, near Fleming Road.

The man is in fair and stable condition at an area hospital, according to Flint police.

Police said the man was trying to buy marijuana at a Canniff Street home when he was held at gunpoint by four males and robbed.

Shots were fired, and the victim was hit. He was unable to walk on his own, and a friend took him to Flint Fire Station No. 6, 716 W. Pierson Road.

The man was then taken to the hospital. No other information was available today.
were made.

Note, the words "were made" are no longer in the story because they have since been removed thanks to Mora.

When submitting the catch, she said she wasn't sure if points would be awarded for my mistakes or for anything that can be found. As of Thursday, it was only my mistakes, but I'm going reward her initiative in pointing out this error. Whether we formally expand the contest to the entire Flint Journal Web site will be addressed in class tomorrow.

John McKay bursts into the lead

After a quiet start, John McKay netted five additional extra credit points today to seize the lead from Michael S.

McKay found three new errors, two of which were in the previous post on this blog and another was on Michigan Live (Click here to see the specifics he noted in comments). In addition, McKay captured a point for questioning a turkey terrorist headline on MLive after a class consensus determined it was at least something worth raising.

McKay tallied his last point by performing the best in Thursday's in-class exercise that focused on Associated Press style.

I hope McKay's sudden rise to the top shows others that it is possible to make a move quickly. Remember, learning how to notice mistakes will help you as an editor of yourself and others.

Links established to News University, Dow Jones

As discussed in class today, I've now included links to News University, the site detailing Dow Jones Newspaper Fund college internships and a site that includes the Dow Jones editing tests.

News University offers a free course on improving style and grammar called "Cleaning Your Copy" that every student must complete. If you weren't in class today, please register on the site. The goal of this exercise is to offer additional help with common mistakes writers make. I'd like everyone to go slow and not feel rushed. With that in mind, no firm deadline to complete the exercises has been set, especially since another assignment is pending, but one will be established soon.

That said, a point in the contest for extra credit will be awarded to the first person to finish. Again, please don't rush, but I'm offering the incentive in hopes you will tackle these exercises sooner rather than later.