Apart from six-legged things, peanuts and ugly porn stars, I also hate bad journalism with a vengence. I’d say that my bar is set pretty low because I understand COMPLETELY what it feels like to be young, starting out and trying to find your own style.I don’t think it’s too much to ask for them to Google unfamiliar terms or to at least attempt to cover up their ignorance with general statements that has to hold true. I also hate people who don’t spellcheck especially if they know that they can’t spell to save the world.
So, if you found this post because you’re googling for terms like ‘How to ace journalism’ or ‘How to be a better journalist’ or ‘How to write good articles’ or ‘How to spell Mississippi’, you’re at the right place. You’re now going to find out how to be better than at least 5 writers.
1) Right-click on squiggly red lines. Use a dictionary if you’re so old-skool you use Notepad.
2) Use short sentences. Because I read the papers and I don’t like reading sentences that are half a page long with redundant words that I don’t even understand because I don’t have a Harvard education. Even worse if the words are used wrongly.
3) For cryin’ out loud, if you’re listing a company or brand name, GET THE SPELLING RIGHT. ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE TOLD BY THE PERSON HOW TO SPELL IT.
4) Referencing a joke in the previous paragraph does not work if the joke is unfunny or unobvious. Most times, both.
5) Do not plagarize, of ALL THINGS, other local publications. Because the original is probably crap to begin with. Because the original probably has discrepancies which you’re reproducing. Because there’s a good chance the writer might find your stuff a little too familiar.
Journalism students have me to thank for their future bright career.
Clearly I agree with you on most of what you say, but I need to object to the insistence on short sentences. Sure, using words incorrectly or creating unnecessarily complex sentences should be avoided. However, some sentences are long because they are attempting to present a cohesive but complex idea. Journalism, in the good old days of centralized dominating corporate structures, was able to turn a preference for a certain type of style into the appearance of a universal rule of “good writing”. In the age of citizen journalism, increasing decentralization caused by an increase in independent journalists, and the growing diversity these developments go hand in hand with “good journalism” can no longer be defined based upon the authoritative dictates of the stylistic preferences of journalism schools or companies. It is not a bad thing to be forced to think by what you read, even when this thinking comes at the cost of having to reread a sentence every now and then. Journalism goes well beyond the simply presentation of “facts”. There are some great interviews with top journalists about the future of journalism and the challenges the field faces at http://www.ourblook.com/component/option,com_sectionex/Itemid,200076/id,8/view,category/#catid69 which I have found useful on these subjects.
Unfortunately, not all journalists are good writers. What I was really referring to are bad writers who try too hard to impress by using big words they don’t understand and by writing in the most unwieldy manner possible.
The New Paper (http://tnp.sg/news/0,6310,,00.html?) has pretty bad writing. It’s a daily read for me because most of the time, it’s so unintentionally funny.