Journalism Errors: Double Check The Spelling of Names and Other Facts

When Emilie Davis, a intelligence activitypaper journalism professor at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public communications at Syracuse University, picks up her puddletag at an event, she ofttimes stares down at the more common spelling of her name, Emily. She is used to people misspelling her name, so she commonly leaves it the way its written to not make it a big deal. As Steve Davis, Emilie Daviss husband, explained his wifes silent frustration when people misspell her name, he said, it never hurts to just double check.Steve Davis, also a newspaper journalism professor, as well as chair of the newspaper department at the Newhouse School, is very familiar with spelling mistakes and factual errors when it comes to news writing. Before coming to Newhouse, Davis had been the executive editor for the Public Opinion, the Chambersburg, Pa., community newspaper, and both national editor and majuscule editor at USA Today.Its a miracle how few mistakes there are when you consid er the hundreds and thousands of articles published every day, Davis said. But even though he knows about all the hard work put toward error-free articles, he has still come to understand how unforgiving people can be when a journalist does make a mistake. When a persons name is spelled wrong an article, the reaction can be deadly, Davis said. In a business where maven essential present his work to people who will examine it, and after one mistake deem it crap, Davis said, it takes bravery to do that every day. This harsh reality of the news writing industry provoked the thought process behind the Newhouse Schools spelling/grammatical/factual error grading policy in news writing and editing classes.In the first half of the introductory news ... ...licy that reveals itself during the second half of the semester. Students no longer receive an F for one error, but rather one letter-grade less than they would have received for an article with no mistakes.Students who hav e gotten two or three Fs on articles have still ended up getting an A in the course, Davis said, since the second half of the semester counts more than the first. Its all about learning, Davis said. If they show improvement, often the Fs from the beginning will get thrown out.Sometimes the professors come together and say, Should we change the policy? Davis said. But in the end, they always equip its for the best.Since they wont be changing the policy any time soon, Davis gives out a warning to students using someones name in an article. Dont take nametags for granted, Davis said. Remember, it never hurts to just double check.