AP Photographer Lou Krasky -- A Remembrance

CORRECTS that Lou joined AP in 1968, not 1986.

I'm sad to report today that longtime AP photographer Lou Krasky has died at 86.

Services are Tuesday noon at Shives Funeral Home on Trenholm.

https://www.shivesfuneralhome.com/m/obituaries/Louis-Krasky/MemorialEvents

Lou joined the Columbia, SC, bureau in 1968 and retired in 2004. For nine years as news editor I had the pleasure -- no, the honor -- of working with "Krasky" (a bit of affectionate shorthand from our shared NY City upbringing -- it seems sadly appropriate that this is where I am writing this today).

Lou knew everyone and was warmly greated by governors, senators, and pols of all stripes when he showed up. He also was a journalist in the truest sense with an eye for who was where and what was out of place. The result was that he saved all our bacon more than a few times by helping us grab a tough interview or sidling over and whispering, "Hey, you may want to ..."

He was a master at getting the tough shot and had a list of stringers and a rapport with them and member photographers that any photo agency would have killed for.

He defined the word "dependable." Whether it was coverage of a routine news conference or of Susan Smith; Shannon Faulkner, the first woman at the Citadel; the killing of Michael Jordan's father; the lowering of the Confederate flag at the Statehouse; or numerous hurricanes, Lou always had our backs. I knew I could concentrate on overall coverage and Lou would be transmitting or overseeing transmission of the exactly right photo at the exactly right time.

And, yes, he took pity on me by letting me golf with him.

As former AP colleague Jeffrey Collins said when he texted me the news, "They stopped making them like Lou."

Here is something I wrote when Lou retired in 2004.

https://commonsensej.blogspot.com/2004/10/krasky-has-left-building.html

Refocusing a lede

 In the rush on breaking news, we often get our syntactical feet tangled up. Happens to all of us.

Here's a lede that could use rework.

-- Have police been violating rights only following the investigation?

-- Is the Justice Department the most important thing?

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department has found Louisville police have engaged in a pattern of violating constitutional rights following an investigation prompted by the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor.

Perhaps this as one possibility?

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Louisville police have consistently violated constitutional rights, the U.S. Justice Department says after an investigation prompted by the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor.

AP style change - collide

Buried in some of the AP style change entries last week was a bit of common sense:

Two objects now don't have to be in motion to collide: The previous entry stated "two objects must be in motion before they can collide. A moving train cannot collide with a stopped train." Now, "We dropped the previous rule that two objects must be in motion before they can collide. The entry has been deleted."

Homepage is also now one word, in keeping with a lot of evolving online usage.

Our media paranoia runneth over

This was a note in today's Connecting, the daily email newsletter for AP retirees and others who are interested. For copyright, I won't post the photos, but have given the links. (This is the Connecting archive, where a PDF of the issue should eventually show up thanks to Paul Shane, the indefatigable editor.)  

Was this AP photo 'sanitized' by cartoonist?

Here is HPD SWAT member Daryl Hudeck as he carries Catherine Pham and her son Aiden to safety: https://www.apnews.com/e8ee6288b0f7466eaf4743ffee3fbc5a

Here is the Indianapolis Star's Gary Varvel's version of that photo (note, this is a collection page, so the cartoon may start moving toward the bottom after a few days). http://www.indystar.com/picture-gallery/opinion/columnists/varvel/2017/08/28/gary-varvels-hurricane-cartoons/105043796/ A

And This is what someone wrote in to Connecting:

OK, we've officially gone bonkers.

Yes, cartoonists are supposed to provoke strong reactions. But to accuse Varvel of "sanitizing" the photo with his editorial cartoon? Artists simplify for a reason -- to make a point. Should Varvel have put "SWAT" or "POLICE" on the cap? (That wasn't on the original that I can see, though it's hard to make out what is there.) Perhaps, but then can't it be argued that would marginalize EMS,  firefighters, and all the volunteer rescuers who have headed to the area to help?

Varvel's interpretation celebrates the idea that all of humanity, no matter or race, our occupation or our political persuasion, pulls together in times of such crisis.

He didn't put the person standing in the back in either? Should all the other rescuers be annoyed? He didn't put the submerged car in either - should the automakers be pissed? He didn't put the highway in. Should the road builders be ticked off? 

We have become paranoid -- looking for a bogeyman  and perceived grievances under every (media) rock.

This writer, and others, apparently, who share his views, have  tried to take what I consider a noble image, both the original and Varvel's, and  turn it into yet another point of divisiveness. Fortunately, I think Varvel's will prevail.

Flyer: AP finally bends to common usage

The pressure became too much to bear.

Time to update those style quizzes. From today's ACES meeting, AP finally bends to common usage:

"AP style now uses flyer with a Y for frequent flyer and advertising flyer. An exception is 'take a flier,' as in take a risk"

https://twitter.com/APStylebook/status/845343227435794433

The full AP entry:

Flyer is the preferred term for a person flying in an aircraft, and for handbills: He used his frequent flyer miles; they put up flyers announcing the show. Use flier in the phrase take a flier, meaning to take a big risk.  

Another SC FOIA audit has too many failing grades

 It's nice to know that in South Carolina, the more things change, the more things stay the same, at least when it comes to state agencies' arrogance over the S.C. Freedom of Information Act.

When I supervised the first statewide FOIA audit at the AP almost 20 years ago, we found widespread violations (and even creepier stuff, such as police or sheriff's offices running license plate checks on those asking for basic information that is routinely supposed to be public, even without a request).

During the years, my reporting classes have routinely tested local police and sheriffs, with the same scofflaws, led by Columbia, at the bottom every time.

The SC Policy Council recently ran its own limited test. First, the conclusion because it is important and because I don't want it to get lost at the bottom:

There simply aren’t that many FOIA requests for agencies to deal with. One of the most popular arguments against tightening the state’s FOIA law goes something like this: If you require agencies to respond more substantively to requests, those agencies’ public information offices will do nothing but respond to fishing expeditions by people looking for scandal. Our study doesn’t support that conclusion. Only the Department of Transportation received a significant number of FOIA requests; other agencies received far fewer. As for DOT, a $2 billion agency with a robust public information office should be able to handle 400 or 500 requests in a year.

So here's what the Policy Council did:

On November 8, 2016, we asked for:

► the number of FOIA requests the agency has received in the past three fiscal years;

► the number of FOIA requests to which the agency the responded by producing documents over the past three fiscal years;

► the names/identities of those who have submitted FOIA requests to the agency in the past three fiscal years;

► an itemized list of each FOIA charge for the past three fiscal years; and

► an itemized list of each FOIA charge that was collected in the past three fiscal years and a detailed summary how the funds were spent.

The state agencies were these: Clemson University, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Department of Education, the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), the State Ports Authority (SPA), Santee Cooper, the South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA), the University of South Carolina (USC), the South Carolina House of Representatives, and the South Carolina Senate.

The results -- and keep in mind that South Carolina's law has a 15-day limit for the agency to acknowledge the request but no actual time limit on when the agency must produce the records (the grades are mine based on something similar we did with the AP audit):

•  Clemson: Said it got the request, never provided the records. Grade: D
• Commerce: Generally provided the information, but cited 52 cases of exemptions. However, Commerce does have a broad exemption for economic development deals in progress. So, even though I'm always somewhat skeptical because that exemption has been abused, give it a good-faith effort. And it did supply requesters' names, so it earned a B.
• Transportation: Provided most of the info, but refused to supply the names, citing the law's privacy exemption. Because that privacy claim is doubtful (more on that later), a C+.
• Education: Said it got the request, never provided the records. Grade: D
• MUSC: Said it got the request, never provided the records. Grade: D
• Ports Authority: Responded fully. Grade: A.
• Santee Cooper: Responded fully. Grade: A.
• Research Authority: Responded fully except for one request. Again, because it deals in areas where the economic development exemption could creep in, grade it A-.
• University South Carolina: Did not even respond. Grade: F.
• S.C. House: Responded fully within the law's constraints, except that five members pulled the "legislative memoranda, communications, etc." card from the deck and blocked their specific information. Does that exemption rankle? Yes, but it is on the books and at least the House leadership and staff tried. Grade: B.
• S.C. Senate: Pulled a blanket memorandum exemption and piled on with the potentially bogus personal privacy exemption. Grade: F

So if you're plotting out the grades in this class:
 A/A-: 3 .... B+/B: 2 ... C+/C: 1 ... D: 3 ... F: 2

A D is considered failing in your major, and government agencies' "major," as said clearly at the top of the FOIA and in court decisions, should be serving the public interest with disclosure. That 45% of the class has failed says a lot. On the other hand, there are also 45% A's and B's, which were rare in the original audit. So dum spiero spero.

But in this, the "So Sue Me (repeatedly, most likely) State," it has been difficult to get lawmakers, even those intent on improving the FOIA, to understand the extent to which the privacy exemption is being abused - and the extent to which the abuse is growing.

The Columbia Police Department is the champ in this area, blocking records that clearly should be open, even without a request. But there are plenty of other agencies and departments not far behind.

That link has a detailed discussion. But a quick recap:

• Private information in public records must be segregated and the rest released.
• S.C. courts have shown an inclination to narrowly construe any privacy exemption and certainly not extend it to matters of any public interest. (The attorney general's office looked at the court record and basically told a sheriff to stop trying to invent exemptions, including privacy.) A crime victim would seem to be, as unfortunate as this is, a person of limited public interest. So would a person, to my mind, making an FOIA request:

As the state Appeals Court put it in the Burton case: Our Supreme Court has defined the “right to privacy” as the right of an individual to be let alone and to live a life free from unwarranted publicity.  Sloan v. South Carolina Dep’t of Pub. Safety, 355 S.C. 321, 586 S.E.2d 108 (2003).  However, “‘one of the primary limitations placed on the right of privacy is that it does not prohibit the publication of matter which is of legitimate public or general interest.’”  Society of Prof’l Journalists v. Sexton, 283 S.C. 563, 566, 324 S.E.2d 313, 315 (1984) (quoting Meetze v. Associated Press, 230 S.C. 330, 95 S.E.2d 606 (1956)).  Indeed, the Court has held that, as a matter of law, “if a person, whether willingly or not, becomes an actor in an event of public or general interest, ‘then the publication of his connection with such an occurrence is not an invasion of his right to privacy.’”  Doe v. Berkeley Publishers, 329 S.C. 412, 414, 496 S.E.2d 636, 637 (1998) (quoting Meetze, 230 S.C. at 337, 95 S.E.2d at 609).

• Who is making FOIA requests is a matter public interest, both to see if a handful of requesters are flooding the system and as another check on power and influence. Institutions (companies, foundations, etc.) generally don't spend their time and money making FOIA requests unless they are researching a matter of deep interest to them, which also usually means it or will become a matter of public interest.

 I know bad cases make bad law -- I'm always afraid of that. And nothing is a slam dunk when it comes to privacy, especially in these days of national security hacking and wiretap revelations.

But I sure wish some player with enough resources to wait out what could be a protracted court case can find a named plaintiff and take on one of these "failing" agencies or the Columbia cops. Until then, periodic FOIA audits are likely to be South Carolina's own "Groundhog Day."

This AP story on Pokemon got a little ahead of itself

It's kind of an axiom of news writing that the first example you use in a story should back up the lede.

This AP story on Pokemon Go trips over that test ... unless the woman quoted owns the museum.

It's easily addressed. Just extend the lede with a second graf, something perhaps like:  And some people, like xxxx, are so miffed by some of the players' conduct that they're trying to harness the power of online crowds to back up those requests.

Let it be stated -- stop using that word

In the flurry of coverage over the blowup in the investigation of corruption at South Carolina's Statehouse, an ugly little verb of attribution -- stated -- seems to be cropping up like spring flowers. (Just one example.)

Why ugly? I'll let Jack Cappon, one of the finest AP features editors ever (and a pretty damn good writer too), explain from his book on writing (which, BTW, should be on your desk). The bold emphasis is mine:

Asserted, stated, declared are often indiscriminately used for said. All are stronger and much more formal. ... Stated shouldn't be used at all; it is the instant mark of a wooden writer. (It fits if you're quoting from a deposition, but still looks dusty.)

 It also has connotations of increased veracity.

So let's put stated in its proper place -- on the top shelf, out of reach, to be looked at occasionally as we grab the easy-to-reach said. That way, we don't have to risk injuring our writing by reaching too high for it.

Some interesting AP style changes

Some AP style updates came out today, and while they aren't likely to create the furor that allowing "over" for "more than" did, there are a few interesting things:

Here are the changes and a few of my thoughts:

media Generally takes a plural verb, especially when the reference is to individual outlets: Media are lining up for and against the proposal. Sometimes used with a singular verb when referring to media as a monolithic group: Media is the biggest force in a presidential campaign. (adds reference to use as a singular noun)
This will drive some of my colleagues nuts. What can I say? Welcome to a long-needed recognition of modern usage (and if you want to double up on that Advil dose, remember, data is also allowed as a singular in some uses).

mezcal Clear liquor from Mexico made from a variety of agave plants. (new entry)
Two liquor entries in one update (see whisky below). Is this an acknowledgement that AP style will sometimes drive you to drink?

horchata Spanish and Mexican drink made by steeping nuts, seeds and grains, and served cool. (new entry)

nearshore waters (new entry to show nearshore is one word)

notorious, notoriety Some understand these terms to refer simply to fame; others see them as negative terms, implying being well-known because of evil actions. Be sure the context for these words is clear, or use terms like famous, prominent, infamous, disreputable, etc. (new entry)
This is AP oh-so-carefully edging toward the reality of modern usage. However, just as the enormity/enormousness distinction has been pretty much erased in modern conversational usage, it's always good for professional writers to observe the niceties.

 online petitions Be cautious about quoting the number of signers on such petitions. Some sites make it easy for the person creating the petition or others to run up the number of purported signers by clicking or returning to the page multiple times. (new entry)
Sage advice. File this under the general guidance: Take most things you find online with a grain of salt, a derivative of the almost legendary (yeah, so smite me, I used that word): If your mother says she loves you, check it out.

spokesman, spokeswoman, spokesperson Use spokesperson if it is the preference of an individual or an organization. (adds spokesperson to entry)
Inevitable, really. So now we get to the weasel "preference" language. Just one more thing in the heat of battle that reporters will forget to ask and later rationalize. Just say "spokesperson," for all its ungainliness, is acceptable in all uses, let it go and leave it up to local style.

voicemail (now one word)
Welcome to 2016.

 whisky, whiskey Class of liquor distilled from grains. Includes bourbon, rye and Irish whiskey. Use spelling whisky only in conjunction with Scotch whisky, Canadian whisky and Japanese whisky. (adds Japanese whisky to those spelled whisky)
Have to amend one of my favorite quiz question. But really, if you say you want to be part of a profession with a history like ours, shouldn't you know the niceties?

McClatchy earnings shows limits of automated stories

There's been a lot of ballyhoo about AP's use of computer algorithms to generate hundreds of earnings stories.

Among AP's reasons was that it could provide much wider coverage. Reporters would still handle the major stuff, the wire service said.

At some point, however, the question of quality vs. quantity was going to raise its head. And here's an example of where the automated system fall short. Here's the AP's auto-generated story on McClatchy's recent earnings.

Pretty bare bones stuff. But this isn't a plain-vanilla situation. In fact, there's some serious insight here. This is one of the old-line pure-play media companies and in many ways is a barometer of how midmarket newspapers are likely to fare. And there are, after all, about 62 million shares outstanding, with Yahoo Finance saying that as of the end of March, 119 institutions held shares. That means more than a few people have these shares in their retirement and other accounts (and may not realize it).

Here's another version that, I think, is more reporter generated:

Those second, third and fourth grafs contain some important context. It's not just that the company eked out a profit. It's that the stock's price has plunged about 60 percent since February as it became apparent those earnings -- any earnings -- were generated largely through throwing the ballast overboard on a very leaky ship. So if you read the AP story, you come away with "they made money -- a small bit, but still a profit." Read the other one from American City Business Journals and you'd come away with more understanding and, perhaps, many more questions.

There are, I think, going to be a lot of these kinds of stories in the midrange of companies not really big or sexy enough to draw the AP's resources, yet large or important enough in their own way that they deserve more contextual treatment. So, even more so, investor beware and understand the limitations of what AP is doing

In memoriam: John Shurr, journalist and AP bureau chief

I had the opportunity to work with three great AP bureau chiefs who had my back in my 18 years with the wire service, the last being John Shurr, with whom I spent nine years in Columbia.

So I was saddened to hear of John's passing tonight.

It, unfortunately, was not a surprise; those of us who knew John knew he was in declining health, quite possibly from the Agent Orange he was exposed to during the Vietnam War.

John and I dealt with the craziness of Susan Smith, the madness of the James Jordan death investigation, women at The Citadel, numerous hurricanes, video poker, lowering the Confederate flag, the Republican wave that took over state government ...

Fun times, those.

And through it all, I knew I could always go to John for advice and support. It helped that we both had been in charge, at separate times, of the AP's Rhode Island office. In recent years, he and I would often exchange emails chortling at the continued parade of buffoonery by R.I. politicians and lamenting the slow, painful decline of the Providence Journal, at one time one of America's best local papers -- but sometimes overlooked as it was in the umbra of the major-major metros of the East Coast.

He's best known in South Carolina for his efforts on behalf of freedom of information, an indefatigable defender of the right of the public to know what its government is doing. And I would hope that in his honor, the Legislature this year would finally pass many of the needed changes to South Carolina's FOI law that include a quicker review process, more reasonable costs and a clear and certain window in which time records must be produced. (And, of course, there is the need to overturn the state Supreme Court's troubling decisions on meeting agendas and autopsy reports.)

And as a result of his dedication, in the late 1990s the AP coordinated the first statewide FOI audit in South Carolina that found, as we put it at the time, agencies would get no better than a D if graded on the public schools' grading scale. We found all sorts of obfuscation and harassment, including police demanding IDs from and running the license plates of those requesting records. Sadly, things have only gotten worse.

That was John's public face.

But in the bureau, he was about as good a CoB (AP lingo for chief of bureau) that you could get. He was no more than 15 feet away in his glass-walled office, complete with the picture of his sailboat, his pride and joy, tossed onshore by Hurricane Hugo. (John got a replacement -- "another hole in the water into which you throw money" -- and he tried several times to get me to crew with him. But I always managed to avoid that -- his reputation as Captain Bligh was not entirely undeserved {grin}.)

 But John always gave you enough room to do your job.

Oh, there was no mistake he was paying attention, as evidenced by those occasional "got a minute" calls from the inner sanctum. But you could always count on the fact that when you needed the resources, John would blow out the budget and ask permission (or forgiveness) from AP's headquarters later.

Then there were the years when the AP bureau was like Switzerland, caught in the middle of the Columbia-Spartanburg-Greenville-Charleston newspaper war. There were some strong personalities involved, and afterward he and I would often joke about the S.C. Press Association meeting where the editors started challenging each other -- one had a tight grip on a chair he looked as if he were about to throw -- and John and I just knew, in horror, we were going to have to break up a fight. John, in his way, was able to calm everyone down.

And when the folks in New York thought they knew their jobs better than you, John never hesitated to remind them that -- under the old AP -- a CoB ultimately held the stronger hand and to back down.

That went so far as the AP's managing editor. A former ME who shall remain unidentified here (but every ex-APer knows) used to write a weekly review, a sort of after-action report, called "Dialogue." It was pretty much a one-way conversation, however. It praised "good" work and took bureaus to task when the ME or the general desk felt they had fallen short (often, as my fellow news editors observed, without asking for explanations).

After one winter ice storm, we got blasted. Long story short, our "story" was on the coast, where we knew high winds were blowing salt spray inland, shorting out numerous electrical transformers and leaving thousands dark. We had ice and some snow in the Upstate, but not as many people were affected - the storm that was panicking New York, which was expecting a direct hit, gave us only a glance. We were shorthanded, and I decided it would be foolhardy to call someone in on overtime and make them drive into those conditions. So we concentrated efforts on the coast and used the phones to gather some great material from the Upstate, so good that New York used two of the quotes in its national story. But we got nailed for not enough effort.

I wrote a lengthy challenge. But John summed it up with a short, pointed note to the ME: "Please cancel my subscription to Diatribe."

That was the kind of person, boss and colleague John was. He will be sorely missed. Karen's and my thoughts and condolences go out to his wife, Debbie. And I'm proud to have worked with a journalist's journalist.

AP: Over? More than? No distinction anymore ...

Finally!

AP Style tip: New to the Stylebook: over, as well as more than, is acceptable to indicate greater numerical value. #ACES2014
— AP Stylebook (@APStylebook) March 20, 2014

And for all those having heart attacks on Twitter about it, get over it. It hasn't been an issue on most news desks or for most publications for several years. Feel free to make the distinction if you want -- I do -- just don't mindlessly impose it on others.

Winter in S.C.: Snow, earthquake - cue the locusts.

Two winter storms and now an earthquake remind me of 1986 in Dayton, Ohio, when I was AP correspondent there.

For several days a chemical-filled train that had derailed burned in nearby Miamisburg, throwing a cloud of smoke filled with who-knew-what (authorities certainly weren't sure) over the area and leading to one of the largest U.S. evacuations related to a train accident.

I had the job of covering it - more than 72 hours straight. I'd managed to get inside the police lines and to the warehouse about a quarter mile away that they had set up as a command post. The surrounding area had turned into a ghost town.

That same week, in golf, the Women's Open was being played at the NCR Country Club. It was touch and go as they kept a wary eye on the cloud. It was also brutally hot.

And then came monsoons. All in all, a fine week.

So there I was (having finally gotten a few hours' sleep) in the AP cubicle in the old Dayton Daily News building pounding out the requisite Sunday recap/thumbsucker, having just read a lede about the golf tourney in (I think it was) the Boston Globe that went something (as best as I can remember it): "We've had the fire. We've had the flood. Now all we need is the earthquake."

Sure enough, as I'm sitting there, a mag 3 or so temblor hits.

I swore, if I ever met that writer, I would throttle him.

Why I love ACES meetings

I've been absent for two years from the annual gatherings of the American Copy Editors Society. I missed them. I'd forgotten how much till I was able to make it again this year to the gathering in St. Louis.

It's about meeting old friends - and some of them former co-workers - like John McIntyre, Bill Cloud, Wayne Countryman, Joyce Laskowski, Vicki Krueger, David Sullivan, Rich Holden (great to have him back from bypass surgery), Merrill Perlman, Doug Ward, Nicole Stockdale, Fred Vultee ... and too many others to mention.

And finally getting to meet others who have been kindred spirits over the digital divide, like Ruth Thaler-Carter (and having a great lunch).

It's about great sessions, like the annual AP lovefest and seeing my old friend and former colleague Darrell Christian. Or how to make copy readable without making it stupid.

There's listening to a former editor of Hustler - yeah, we concentrated on the text errors as he flashed various examples on the screen (trust me, the other stuff was very tastefully redacted).

There's sharing stories with others in the trenches, especially the academic trenches, about teaching editing and writing and dealing with plagiarism and fabrication. I always come away with new ideas as well as the realization we all are seeing the same thing: students who are great hunter-gatherers if the information prey is on the surface in front of them but who have trouble connecting the dots (or, continuing the bad metaphor, aren't great farmers in making things grow). It's compounded by watching more students increasingly struggle to read things quickly and critically. (I do miss the lunches that we "profs" used to have at these meetings and hope we can resume them.)

There's the great conversation about Southern politics with the guy next to me at dinner.

Followed by a great talk by Peter Sokolowski, editor at large for Merriam-Webster. Yes, people do read the dictionary, and the online stats show it. Some fascinating things. For instance, what are the most looked-up words? Affect and effect. So don't feel bad, dear student. As I've said many times, look it up (grin).

(And the reminder from Bill Walsh that sentence fragments like those in the previous graf are fine if used sparingly and artfully.)

There is great food. And there are great views.

And there's the reminder that I need to push some of our students more to apply for ACES scholarships. (Yeah, you who are going to that North Carolina city for an editing internship - I'm talkin' about you. My bad for not pushing it more. Expect to get pushed for next year when I get back. Next year's application is already online.)

And most of all there is satisfaction and pride.

• Satisfaction that the reality Nicole and I predicted has come true from when we did those blogging and SEO for editors sessions back in Los Angeles and Miami and Cleveland (and when I went solo in Denver), and people were crowding the room but also were looking at us like we had three eyes and were lighting torches and sharpening their pitchforks. I don't mean smug satisfaction -- we admittedly were out on the high wire and, like everyone else at that time, were making it up as we went. And I remember being almost jumped at the general session in Denver when I got up and suggested ACES needed to start broadening from its newspaper-centric view.
• Pride that ACES has matured, expanded and embraced the digital age and the wide range of editing arts full bore. Yes, some of it was born of necessity, mixed with a bit of panic as ACES saw its ranks thin as newsrooms went through wholesale cuts, centralization (or elimination) of editing, etc. But the measure of a person or organization is not necessarily the motivation, but how they (yes, they -- it's not wrong to use it there) respond. And by that measure, ACES has truly risen to the challenge and found its stride and its strength. And while it still remains too hidden (including, Sokolowski acknowledged, to him), and while editors still too often are seen as nit-pickers and grammar grunts, neither of which has ever been true of those who truly practice the craft, knowing that ACES continues to strengthen is great -- because I plan on attending these for a few more years at least.

Congrats on another great meeting.

Best line seen at the meeting on a T-shirt (paraphrased from memory): How does a copy editor comfort a struggling writer? Just walk over and whisper "they're, there, their."

On to Las Vegas.

AP v. Meltwater - I'm not betting for AP on the appeal

AP won a "big" victory against news aggregator Meltwater yesterday.

But I'm not betting against Meltwater on appeal when it comes to the judge's ruling that showing the lead from a story is not fair use.

While the ruling specifically couches it in the frame that Meltwater is not like a search engine, driving traffic to other sites, I expect the EFF and other groups to really pile on in the appeals court to gut the AP's "heart of the work" argument. I just have this sneaking suspicion the appeals court will agree.

What's clear, however, is that the next few years will see sustained battle in the courts - both legal and of public opinion - over the new equilibrium to be established in the digital age. Google already is battling on the European front.

The courts are usually about a decade behind technology in having the law catch up. We're about due.

(For some detailed commentary on all this, see Mike Masnick on TechDirt, who finds numerous flaws in the ruling, and Jeff John Roberts on Paid Content.)

Another 'oops moment' in the era of automated posting

Earlier this week came the breathless news that UCLA had upset Oregon in football.

One problem: The season doesn't start till tomorrow night.

Another watershed moment in automated filing without editors.

The AP later pulled the story:

The Associated Press has withdrawn its story slugged UCLA-Oregon. The story was prepared as a test story during a training session and was moved inadvertently to the wire. It was not meant for publication.

Serves them right for trying to do training. Didn't they get the memo about training in journalism - it's so 1990s.

Tip o' the hat to Frankie Mansfield for the montage

2011 AP stylebooks a hot item?

Amazon is listing a new edition of last year's AP stylebook for $134.78 and used from $112.29.

Who knew these would become high-priced collector's editions, eh?

I'm thinking #pricefail here.

I especially love this above the display:

When you buy this book now for $112.29 and sell it back later for a $0.26 Amazon.com Gift Card, it could cost you as little as $112.03.

And don't forget that free (!) two-day shipping for students.

(I can probably cut you a deal on one of these for, say, just $105 {grinnnnnnnn}.)



A tip o' the hat to Karen Flowers for the outpoint.

AP's Jim Davenport gets well-deserved recognition

Being a statehouse reporter these days can be a lonely job with all the cutbacks, especially if you are an AP reporter to whom newspapers and broadcasters look even more to cover their flanks.

One of the best, the AP's Jim Davenport, has been struggling with cancer but still pressing ahead with his job of keeping the folks under the dome in Columbia honest. I had the pleasure of recommending Jim's hiring more than a dozen years ago and the distinct pleasure of working with him as he covered my news editor's flank with consistently stellar and solid reporting.

This week, Jim got a well-deserved honor, a resolution from the S.C. Senate recognizing his work:

A SENATE RESOLUTION

TO RECOGNIZE AND COMMEND JIM DAVENPORT, ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTER, FOR HIS DISTINGUISHED SERVICE TO THE CITIZENS OF SOUTH CAROLINA.
Whereas, it is with great pleasure that the members of the South Carolina Senate recognize those who give of themselves for the betterment of this great state's citizenry; and
Whereas, Jim Davenport is among the most respected of such public benefactors, having devoted the past thirteen years to serving as political reporter for the Associated Press in the Palmetto State and, in so doing, helping to educate South Carolina's people on issues that vitally concern their well-being; and
Whereas, in preparation for his life's work, Mr. Davenport graduated from Summerville High School and the University of South Carolina. Prior to his years with the Associated Press, he served as a reporter with The State newspaper in Columbia; and
Whereas, over the course of his career, he has become known as one of the most talented, influential, and admired journalists in South Carolina. He is widely respected at the State House for his thoroughness, accuracy, fairness, and cool-headedness, along with his trademark tenacity, no matter how tight the deadline, no matter how big the story; and
Whereas, Jim Davenport has set the standard in State House and South Carolina political coverage for current journalists and generations of those to come. His intellect and knowledge of state government have made him a valuable force for indispensable public information in the political arena; and
Whereas, he has not gone unappreciated. In recognition of his consistent excellence in reporting, he was named 2009 Associated Press Staffer of the Year for South Carolina; and
Whereas, in addition to being an outstanding reporter, Jim Davenport is also a good friend. A devoted family man, as well, he enjoys the committed support of his wife, Debra, and daughter, Mary Catherine; and
Whereas, grateful for his dedication, the Senate is pleased to pause in its deliberations to honor Jim Davenport for his many years of valuable service to the people of South Carolina, and the members wish him much success and fulfillment in all his future endeavors. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the Senate:
That the members of the South Carolina Senate, by this resolution, recognize and commend Jim Davenport, Associated Press reporter, for his distinguished service to the citizens of South Carolina.
Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be provided to Jim Davenport.

Here's wishing the best for Jim as he battles his illness. I'm proud to call Jim a fellow journalist, but even more proud to call him a friend.

Goodbye George Esper, a good friend

When one is knee-deep in trying to get the semester's newsroom up and running, it is easy to let the rest of the world go by until something jerks you like a cold shower on the back of the neck.

And so it was when I finally got a second to glance at things early this morning only to find my friend and former AP colleague George Esper had died.

The tributes have been many, and there's little I can add except to remember how I came to know George when he was in Boston and I ran the AP's Providence, R.I., office  There wasn't a time we saw each other in Boston that he didn't invite me into his office to chat, to lend some advice, to hear some gripe and shake a knowing head.

I remember one time I asked him to speak to Rhode Island's SPJ chapter on a Saturday afternoon. He not only drove down but did so early, suggested we get lunch, and spent more than an hour recalling current and past stories that had us both laughing and knowingly shaking our heads.

I had a chance to talk again with George, gee, maybe a year ago now, maybe longer - time becomes a gauzy thing sometimes.

I knew he was in West Virginia at WVU, and it was one of those calls I kept saying I have to make - and one of those that always seems to get too easily shunted aside by other events - things that when we look back on them are truly trivial. George graciously took time to chat for half an hour. I'm glad I made that call. It was so good to hear his voice, one I will never forget and will always be sad to know is now silenced.

From the editing trenches: Dissecting a fire story

There was a terribly tragic fire in Stamford, Conn., on Christmas. The day later, the following story appeared in my paper.

I can't tell whether it was an original AP dispatch or was reworked on the local desk. I've found similar, but not identical, versions online that take care of some of the problems noted below.

But the story provides a good case study of editing problems, especially with structure. So I present the original below annotated with my notes (I use these for my classes), and then a re-edited version. Feel free to comment:

    STAMFORD, Conn. — Fire tore through a house in a tony neighborhood along the Connecticut shoreline on Christmas morning, killing five people, including three children, but sparing two whom firefighters managed to rescue.
The typical wire-service lede that puts the actor before the result. And why is it that fires always "tore" or "ripped" or "swept"? Will people be talking about how "a fire tore through a house" or that five people, including three children, died in a fire on Christmas? And why use the general "tony neighborhood" description (is it even needed and is "tony" a common word) when Connecticut shoreline, combined with the home of an ad exec, probably signals all you need? And why make readers wait to find out who was rescued or whose house it was?

    Neighbors awakened to the sound of screaming and rushed outside to help, but they could only watch in horror as flames devoured the grand home in the pre-dawn darkness and the shocked, injured survivors were led away from the house.
Cut this at "pre-dawn darkness."

    The large Victorian home was purchased last year by 47-year-old Madonna Badger, an advertising executive in the fashion industry.
Really? This is the next most interesting thing in the story? How about what Badger was screaming? (If need be, we can add the purchase information after that and include the neighborhood.) And when we finally do use this, we can write it directly, not in passive form.

    Stamford Police Sgt. Paul Guzda said Badger's three daughters – a 10-year-old and 7-year-old twins – were killed. He said her parents, who were visiting for the holiday, also died. Police officers drove Badger's husband, Matthew Badger, from New York City to Stamford on Sunday morning.
The first two sentences are OK, though they can be tightened – and why back in with the attribution? The last sentence, however, raises lots of questions and distracts so early in the story. It would be better to explain who the other person was who was led from the house, then mention the husband.

    The fire was reported shortly before 5 a.m. Firefighters were able to rescue the two adults from the house in Shippan Point, a neighborhood that juts into Long Island Sound, Acting Fire Chief Antonio Conte said.
The best information here was that the fire was reported shortly before 5 a.m. The neighborhood information can be consolidated with the purchase information. And notice that the story still does not actually say Badger was one of those rescued. I'm not sure why the neighborhood information has to be attributed, since assessor's records are referenced later, but to be conservative, let's leave it.

    Neighbors describe Badger screaming repeatedly, “My whole life is in there.”
Move this up, and get the quote to the front. Also, the last "Badger" mentioned in this story is Matthew. That can cause a momentary hiccup in the reader's understanding. It's solved if we move this sentence before the appearance of the husband.

    Firefighters knew there were other people in the home but could not get to them because the heat was too intense, Conte said. “It’s never easy. That’s for sure,” he said. “I’ve been on this job 38 years … not an easy day.”
The first part of that quote does little work given the second part.

    Conte said fire officials don’t yet know the cause of the blaze and likely won’t get clues for a few days until fire marshals can enter the structure.
    By Sunday evening, the roof of the blackened house had largely collapsed.
Those two grafs are keepers but can be combined into one graf.

    A neighbor, Sam Cingari Jr., said he was awakened by the sound of screaming and saw that the house was engulfed by flames.
    “We heard this screaming at 5 in the morning,” he said. “The whole house was ablaze and I mean ablaze.”
Good material that can be moved up. But the quote essentially restates the graf before it. Fix this.

    Cingari said he did not know his neighbors, who he said bought the house last year and were renovating it.
Can be kept.

    The 3,349-square foot, five-bedroom home sold for $1.7 million in December 2010, according to the Stamford assessment office’s website.
Worth keeping, but relocate the information.

    Charles Mangano, who lives nearby, said his wife woke him up and alerted him to the fire. He ran outside to see if he could help.
    “I heard someone yell ‘Help, help, help me!’ and I started sprinting up my driveway,” Mangano told The Advocate of Stamford. There were already numerous firetrucks on the scene.
    “I just came out as a neighbor,” Mangano said. “There’s really nothing I could do.”
    He told the newspaper he saw a barefoot man wearing boxers and a woman being taken out of the house. “The woman said, ‘My whole life is in there,’” Mangano said.
Earlier, she was "screaming." Now she's just saying it? Eliminate the dissonance by eliminating this for now, but query the AP. The quote about not being able to do anything makes a much better ending to the story and, since it just reinforces what came before, it can be cut, if necessary.

    Badger, an ad executive in the fashion industry, is the founder of Badger & Winters Group. Badger was responsible for high-profile ad campaigns when she worked at Calvin Klein in the 1990s.
Keep, but reposition and tighten.

    Guzda said the male acquaintance was a contractor who was doing work on the home. A supervisor at Stamford Hospital said Badger was treated and discharged.
This info should be up much higher. And what was the man's condition? Also, use "released" instead of the terribly officious "discharged." And once we move up that the second person was a contractor, we can more seamlessly work in the idea that Badger bought the home last year

    “It is a terrible, terrible day,” Mayor Michael Pavia told reporters. “There probably has not been a worse Christmas day in the city of Stamford.”
Stamford is about 25 miles northeast of New York City.
Move this up higher (one might argue that the mayor's quote is somewhat obvious – there unlikely has been a worse Christmas – but it still resonates and adds to the fire chief's). And the location, which inelegantly hangs at the end, can be worked more seamlessly into the sentence about driving Matthew Badger from New York City to Stamford.

Here is my redone vrersion:

    STAMFORD, Conn. – Three children of a fashion-industry advertising executive and her parents died on Christmas morning when fire burned through the family's house on the Connecticut shoreline. The executive, Madonna Badger, and another person were rescued by firefighters.
    Neighbors awakened to the sound of screaming and rushed outside to help, but they could only watch in horror as flames devoured the grand home in the pre-dawn darkness.
    “My whole life is in there,” neighbors said Badger screamed repeatedly.
    Badger's three daughters – a 10-year-old and 7-year-old twins – were killed as were her parents, who were visiting for the holiday, Stamford Police Sgt. Paul Guzda said.
    The other person rescued was a contractor doing work on the home, Guzda said. A supervisor at Stamford Hospital said Badger, 47, was treated and released. [Need man's condition or sentence that it was not immediately available. Also should say his name was not available.]
    The fire was reported shortly before 5 a.m. A neighbor, Sam Cingari Jr., said he was awakened by screaming. “The whole house was ablaze and I mean ablaze,” he said.
    Cingari said he did not know his neighbors, who he said bought the house last year and were renovating it.
    Firefighters knew there were other people inside but could not get to them because the heat was too intense, Acting Fire Chief Antonio Conte said.
    “I’ve been on this job 38 years … not an easy day,” he said.
    Fire officials don’t yet know the fire's cause and are not likely to get clues for a few days until fire marshals can enter the structure, Conte said. By Sunday evening, the roof of the blackened house had largely collapsed.
    Mayor Michael Pavia called it “a terrible, terrible day.”
    “There probably has not been a worse Christmas day in the city of Stamford,” he said.
    Police officers drove Badger's husband, Matthew Badger, from New York City to Stamford, about 25 miles northeast, on Sunday morning.
    Madonna Badger founded Badger & Winters Group and was responsible for high-profile ad campaigns when she worked at Calvin Klein in the 1990s.
    She bought the 3,349-square foot, five-bedroom Victorian home for $1.7 million in December 2010, according to the Stamford assessment office’s website. It is in Shippan Point, a neighborhood that juts into Long Island Sound, Conte said.
    Charles Mangano, who lives nearby, said his wife woke him up and alerted him to the fire. He ran outside to see if he could help.
   “I heard someone yell ‘Help, help, help me!’ and I started sprinting up my driveway,” Mangano told The Advocate of Stamford. There were already numerous fire trucks on the scene.
    “I just came out as a neighbor,” Mangano said. “There’s really nothing I could do.”