Trouble Shooting for Newswriting

1
Trouble Shooting for Newswriting

• Usage of Words
• Punctuation
• Conciseness

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Usage of Words (1)

• Some Commonly misused words
• Who/whom
• The relative and interrogative pronoun who
  changes its form to whom in the objective case.
  The who/whom choice is one of the more confusing
  ones in grammar, but it easier to make if you
  analyze the sentence properly.
• Who(m) did the grand jury name in its indictment?
• To whom did you wish to speak?

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Usage of Words (2)

• Some Commonly misused words
• That/which
• That is used to restrict meaning and which is
  used to elaborate on it.
• Construction bonds that are issued by local
  governments generally carry tax-free interest.
  (restrictive clause.)
• Construction bonds, which can be a dependable tax
  shelter, carry different interest rates according
  to the credit standing of the local government.
  (non-restrictive gives explanation.)

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Usage of Words (3)

• Some Commonly misused words
• since/because
• These words are not synonymous. Since is best
  used when it denotes a period of time, whether
  continuous or broken. Because gives a reason or
  cause. used to restrict meaning and which is
  used to elaborate on it.
• It has been many years since we had a lanced
  budget. (denoting time.)
• We havent had a balanced budget because the
  government cant control its spending. (giving a
  cause.)

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Usage of Words (4)

• Some Commonly misused words
• so
• The word so is a very weak conjunction when it
  means with the result that. It isnt strong
  enough to coordinate two independent clauses in
  one sentence. So, the following sentence is not
  correct.
• He was involved in a car accident, so he could
  not come to class.
• You can change the above to
• He was involved in a car accident so he could
  not come to class. Or
• He could not come to class because he had been
  involved in a car accident.

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Usage of Words (5)

• Some Commonly misused words
• Because of/due to
• You should always use because of when matching
  cause to effect. It is used when the writer can
  ask why in a sentence.
• The stock market fell because of panic selling.
• Due to should never be used in anything but a
  linking verb construction. Due is an adjective
  its preposition to relates to the condition of a
  subject.
• The stock market drop was due to panic selling by
  nervous speculators.

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Usage of Words (6)

• Some Commonly misused words
• But/however
• But is most frequently a conjunction, connecting
  words, phrases, and clauses. However is a
  conjunctive adverb, which cannot coordinate
  clauses.
• The SAR government recently adopted several
  measures to boost consumers confidence, but the
  property market still remained sluggish.
  (coordinating two sentences.)
• The SAR government recently tried hard to boost
  consumers confidence but still failed to salvage
  the sluggish property market. (linking two
  phrases.)

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Usage of Words (7)

• Some Commonly misused words
• But/however
• The SAR government recently adopted several
  measures to boost consumers confidence.
  However, the property market still remained
  sluggish. (used in a separate sentence.)
• The SAR government recently adopted several
  measures to boost consumers confidence
  however, the property market still remained
  sluggish. (used in a sentence with two clauses.)

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Usage of Words (8)

• Some Commonly misused words
• Compared to/compare with
• These are about as interchangeable as American
  and European electric voltage. When you liken
  one thing to another, you must use compared to
• People in Hong Kong often compared Chief
  Executive Tung to an old fool.
• When place items side by side to examine their
  similarities and differences, you must use
  compared with
• The current interest rate in Hong Kong is 8.0
  percent, compared with the rate in 1996 of 12.5
  percent.

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Usage of Words (9)

• Some Commonly misused words
• Complement/compliment
• They both can be nouns or verbs. Complement is
  defined as that which completes something,
  supplements it or brings it to perfection. That
  is quite different from compliment, which means
  an expression of praise or admiration. So, a
  hat may complement a suit, but you would
  compliment the wearer on his or her hat.

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Usage of Words (10)

• Some Commonly misused words
• Data and other foreign plurals
• Many English words have their roots in Latin
  some are derived from Greek. Data, media and
  alumni are commonly used Latin plurals. If you
  mean a single piece of information, use datum.
  Magazines are one medium radio and TV are
  broadcast media. The Greek words criteria and
  phenomena are plural. Their singulars are
  criterion and phenomenon.

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Usage of Words (11)

• Some Commonly misused words
• Historic/historical
• These are not synonymous terms. Historic means
  that something has achieved a place in history,
  as in
• The handover of Hong Kong to China was a historic
  event.
• Historical means of or relating to history, as
  in
• The Wongdaising Temple is a historical site in
  Hong Kong.

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Punctuation (1)

• Comma Misuse
• Do not use a comma to separate two independent
  clauses that are not joined by a coordinating
  conjunction.
• The inflation rate dipped to 3 percent, the
  unemployment rate stayed constant.
• It should be
• The inflation rate dipped to 3 percent (,but)
  the unemployment rate stayed constant.

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Punctuation (2)

• Comma Misuse
• Do not use a comma to introduce a subordinate
  clause.
• The use of a comma before the conjunction because
  is one of the biggest offenders. Because
  introduces a dependent clause. It is not a
  coordinating conjunction it does not join two
  clauses of equal rank.
• The mayor decided to visit the protest site
  because she needed a firsthand report.
• Note that if the subordinate clause is being used
  to introduce the sentence, a comma is required
• Because she needed a firsthand report, the mayor
  decided to visit the protest site

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Punctuation (3)

• Comma Misuse
• The use of comma with coordinating conjunctions
  such as and, or, but.
• When these words link two nouns, verbs or
  phrases, do not use a comma. When they link two
  complete independent clauses, use a comma.
• I worked hard but still failed the exam.
• I was at home, and my wife was on the street.
• I had to stop working, or my wife would kill me.

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Punctuation (4)

• Semicolon
• Use semicolons to separate internally punctuated
  independent clauses joined by a coordinating
  conjunction
• The Falunggong practitioners, who number more
  than 40,000, threatened to march through downtown
  Central but their application for a parade
  permit was not granted.

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Punctuation (4)

• Semicolon
• Use semicolons to set off parts of a series that
  also contain commas
• Arrested by the Chinese government in its recent
  campaign against Chinese-American scholars were
  Gao Zhan, 42, an researcher at American
  University Li Shaomin, 44, an associate
  professor at City University of Hong Kong and Xu
  Zerong, 45, a researcher specializing in China's
  relations with Southeast Asia.

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Punctuation (5)

• Colon
• Use colons to introduce a quotation with more
  than one complete sentences.
• Blair said "We went to the Chinese and said,
  'your aircraft are not intercepting in a
  professional manner. There's a situation here.'
  It's not a normal practice to play bumper cars in
  the air.
• The spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry
  said, China made a formal protest to the United
  States over the incident.

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Punctuation (6)

• Ellipsis
• Remember these rules about punctuation with the
  ellipsis
• Another period is needed with the ellipsis, if it
  is the end of the statement.
• This is a difficult time for all of us.
• Other punctuation marks, if needed come after the
  quoted material but before the ellipsis.
• How would you feel?
• We cant stand for this!

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Conciseness (1)

• Newswriting is an art of writing accurately and
  concisely and interestingly. There are several
  ways of achieving conciseness. One of them is to
  use one strong and accurate word instead of a
  phrase or a string of modifiers.
• For example

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Conciseness (2)
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Conciseness (1)

• Another way of achieving conciseness is to use
  the active voice as much as possible.
• A mugger robbed her on the street.
• Not
• She was robbed by a mugger on the street (unless
  there is a strong need to use she as the
  subject of the sentence).