Chapter 4
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Exercises
Editing 2.0 Exercises: Finding the little demons
Module 4.1
Questions
- What are your blind spots and common pitfalls? Create a short list of these lurking, waiting demons. For many it is comma usage; for others, it is affect/effect; for still others, it’s “its.”
- 2Are datelines more or less important online than in print? Why?
Activities
- Visit any website of size. Go through several of its pages looking only for missing page titles and alt tags for images. How many of these pages lack “last updated” or publish dates?
- Go through a handful of news websites. How do they handle corrections? Are these corrections easy to find? Does the site even mention corrections? Think through a policy for your campus newspaper’s website. How should the site amend or correct articles, and how should the site alert readers to the changes?
Quiz
Editors Bookshelf - Additional Reading Suggestions
Chapter 4: Focus on grammar: The mechanics of language
Shellenbarger, Sue. This embarrasses you and I*: Grammar gaffes invade the office in an age of informal email, texting and Twitter. Wall Street Journal, June 20, 2012.
O’Conner, Patricia T. and Stewart Kellarman. Most of what you think you know about grammar is wrong. Smithsonian magazine, February 2013.
O’Conner, Patricia T. and Stewart Kellarman. Grammarphobia, the duo’s blog on grammar, etymology, usage, and more.