Questions answered
By Doug Fisher
As part of doing this column and other work with press associations,
from time to time editors will call or write seeking help
with this or that thorny issue of the moment or to settle
those kinds of newsrooms arguments that can only break out
over placement of a comma.
They are valuable reminders
of the front-line questions we sometimes have to deal with,
and so this month I thought I’d share a few of them
with you:
Q. What is the proper way
to print 2 1/2 years: Fudge it with 2.5 years? Write out
two and one-half years, or 2 and one-half years, or 2 one-half
years, or 2 1/2 years, or 2 and 1/2 years?
A. The generally used form
is 2 1/2 years. Numbers that normally would be written out
(it lasted two years) become all numerals in fraction form
(it lasted 2 1/2 years). Though the AP advises using decimals
when practical, the fraction form is preferred for things
like durations and ages.
Q. What is the proper way
to write out a time period (assuming that an event is entirely
in the morning or entirely in the afternoon)? Example: The
council will meet from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. or
The council will meet from 8 to 10 a.m.
A. You would be OK with either.
It’s a matter of house style. As long as there is
no likelihood of confusion, I suggest dropping the first
a.m. or p.m.
Q. Should we use a comma in
place of “and” in this headline: Police arrest
hit, run suspect?
A. The comma doesn’t
work there. Some readers could be confused and parse it
as two separate actions, arrest and run, with “hit”
the fleeting object of “arrest.” This is a case
where using the full form, hit-and-run, provide the clearest
hed. However, in cases of a tight count, the hyphen can
sometimes be used in place of the comma: Police arrest hit-run
suspect. This doesn’t work with everything, though;
rock-roll is kind of weird.
Q. Should I treat the word "also" as I would "only."
For example, is the "also" in this sentence placed
correctly? There are also balls, beanbags, hats and stick
horses.
A. You are correct. Also can
be used in many cases without the same placement problem
that “only” poses. With transitive verbs: He
also threw the ball is potentially different than he threw
also the ball, but the latter is so awkward it is a candidate
for a rewrite. Context usually makes this clear:
- He kicked the ball. Later on, he also threw it.
- He threw his bat, glove and spikes. He also threw the
ball. Context makes this clear with no need to resort to
an awkward he threw also the ball.
Q. The other day, I asked
a desk colleague to change a headline to active voice and
was told “active voice is overrated.” This person
acknowledges being taught active voice in school but intimates
there’s a new rule around. Is there any current journalism
theory out there that says active voice is passé?
A. Active voice is never overrated.
It's a misreading of the teaching, which is to use active
voice whenever possible, but understand why you are breaking
that to go passive. Not only does no journalism theory I’m
aware of say active voice is passé, with the Web
there is even more push for subject-verb-object active writing.
However, one can be pedantic about this. There certainly
can be a time for passive voice in a headline like “Stewart
found guilty.”
Stewart is the recognizable
name in the news and needs to lead the hed. We could write
"Jury finds Stewart guilty," but why bury the
name? And maybe we don’t have the space. It also depends
on emphasis. While we could write: The U.S. Supreme Court
on Friday outlawed smoking, smoking is the more powerful
lede element: Smoking was outlawed by the U.S. Supreme Court
on Friday.
Many times passive is preferred
in crime stories because the name or rank of those involved
is more recognizable: Mayor John Doe was charged Tuesday
with fraud ... is stronger than Police charged Mayor John
Doe on Tuesday with fraud. (And where do we put that day
of the week so that it doesn’t sound awkward?)
About 20 percent of the headlines
in even the best papers are passive. But that's a bow to
reality, not a recasting of the emphasis on active whenever
possible.
