The first rule of journalism? Never assume. (Image: Steph Spyro)
There’s usually somebody else taking a hypothetical red pen to the final draft of my news story before it graces the eyes of our readers.
They’re a trusty sub-editor who spots rogue misspellings and dare I say even a factual error or two once in a while.
Reporters and sub-editors have had a symbiotic relationship as old as the profession itself. We go together like jam and cream.
When I saw Tory leadership hopeful Robert Jenrick had released his own daily edition of the “Jenrick Post” at the Conservative Party Conference, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to try my hand at something else for a change.
I fell at the first hurdle by failing to find a red pen but my black ball point did the job fine.
There are a lot of headlines which end in colons. (Image: Steph Spyro)
Let’s kick things off with Monday’s edition of the newspaper. There seems to be a discrepancy with whether to use a single quotation mark or double one in the pull quotes at the top of the front page. There’s a reason publications have a style guide, folks!
That’s usually a chunky document detailing the outlet’s rules for things like whether to use per cent, percent, % or pc. I know, who knew there were so many variations! Someone, likely a long time before I first waltzed into the Express newsroom, would have taken the decision of which one every reporter will use so that when our readers go through stories, it could be as if written by the same person. In case you’re interested, we at the Express opt for double quotation marks in our stories and a single for headlines.
In Mr Jenrick’s case, it seems they haven’t yet buckled down the basics. But it was only their second edition, so we could forgive them.
I’m afraid to say this didn’t improve in the one that followed either. So, that’s a strike from me and my pen.
Sticking with edition three from Tuesday, I take issue with the fact the news article refers to the ECHR without spelling out what that stands for. The first rule of journalism? Never assume. Well, my first rule of news writing is to keep the introductory line of each story to 25 words but you get what I mean.
ECHR, I’m very happy to confirm, stands for the European Convention on Human Rights. But you wouldn’t know that by reading the Jenrick Post. My advice to the Tory faithful? Stick to the Express where all acronyms will be duly spelled out.
Turn the page and there are a lot of headlines which end in colons. Where did they get that idea from? I’m not sure but my trusty black pen ends up circling them all. Mr Jenrick wants mass migration to end? I’m calling for an end to his use of colons in headlines.
Can we add that to his pledges to the nation?
My final ink attack takes aim at the Sudoku puzzle. It did a sterling job of keeping some of my colleagues occupied during the quieter moments of the conference.
But there was uproar when it was discovered that there were two 6s in one row. Outrageous!
The news article refers to the ECHR without spelling out what it stands for. (Image: Steph Spyro)
In the Sudoku puzzle, there were two 6s in one row. (Image: Steph Spyro)
If this reporter thing doesn’t work out, I think I may just have a future as a sub-editor.
As for Mr Jenrick’s team? Although their efforts are to be commended, I’d stick to politics.