Headline Writing Bonus

1. Juvenile campers claim responsibility for forest fire

Two juvenile campers confessed to being responsible for a forest fire.  It lasted three days and was the worst fire in more than a decade in Ticonderoga County.

2. Penalty for owners of biting pets rejected

A proposed penalty of a misdemeanor sentence for owners whose pets bite was rejected.  It was suggested the leash laws were strong enough and incarcerating owners would not stop pets from biting people.

Reign of Error

I was surprised so many errors were found in such major newspapers.  It's the copy editor's responsibility to catch errors but at the same time, the reporter should be just as professional with editing.  That is what separates real journalists from everyday bloggers and citizens with no journalistic experience.

New York Times Correction Policy

Though the New York Times' privacy policy and terms of service are available online, I was not able to find the corrections policy.  However, I did find plenty of contact information for submitting corrections or asking questions.  The corrections section is found on page A2 of the actual paper.

http://www.nytimes.com/ref/pageoneplus/corrections.html

Macro vs Micro

Both macro and micro editing hold importance in the process of making an accurate, newsworthy story.  With micro editing, you focus on the small details such as grammar and spelling.  With macro editing, you look at the big picture by checking facts and determining if the story is ethical.

I naturally focus on grammar and spelling first and typically have to remind myself to check the facts.  I prefer micro editing.  Which do you prefer?

NYC mosque debate

It seems to me that the debate about the mosque being built near ground zero should have stayed confined to NYC.  Making it a national issue seems to have made things more difficult for Muslim Americans.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100829/ap_on_re_us/us_nyc_mosque_fallout

No Barclays for Furyk

It is very unfortunate and harsh that Furyk is disqualified for being a few minutes late for his pro-am tee time.  At the a same time, it's not unknown that golf is a strict sport.  I would have done more than rely on an unplugged cell phone to wake me up for a major event.  It happens to the best of us, but there's no arguing with the rules - unless the rules change.

Editing

Editing a paper written for a history or english class was slightly more complicated than I thought it would be.  I was tempted to edit it as a news story because that is what I'm used to.  Luckily, there were very few errors anyway that would be different from errors in a news story.  It was very well written.

So Far in 2010...

Here are a few of the top stories from 2010 so far.


1. Earthquakes in Haiti (January)
2. Health care reform bill is passed (March)
3. BP oil spill (April)
4. Immigration law in Arizona (April)
5. Senator Robert C. Byrd passes away (June)
6. Spain win the 2010 FIFA World Cup (July)
7. Mosque at ground zero controversy (August)
8. Eggs recalled due to outbreak of salmonella (August)
9. Chile mine traps 33 men (August)
10. Colorado wildfire (September)
11. Piers Morgan replacing Larry King (September)
12. The rescue of the miners in Chile begins (October)