Monthly Archives: May 2016

Memorial Day in the U.S. goes back to 1868, when it was always observed on May 30th, as a day to decorate the graves of the Civil War dead with flowers. Until 1967, it was called Decoration Day, although references to Memorial Day can be found as far back as 1882. In 1967 Congress changed the official name to Memorial Day, and the year after that, with passage of the Monday Holiday Bill, Memorial Day is observed on the last Monday of May.

As you write scripts for Memorial Day, remember that it’s a day to honor dead veterans – those who lost their lives fighting for America. Veterans Day in November honors all veterans, but Memorial Day is for dead veterans. The flag is raised to full staff at sunrise, then lowered to half-staff until noon, when it is returned to full staff. Remember that it’s “staff”, not “mast”, unless the flagpole is aboard a ship.

Also, since the day honors the dead, civic observations including a march are appropriately called Memorial Day Processions, not parades.

There has been a trend to conflate Memorial Day with Veterans Day, but organizations like the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars say that’s inappropriate, pointing out that Memorial Day is reserved to honor those who lost their lives in service to their nation.

Posted by Tim Morrissey

Smaller in the sense that most of the rule-makers about whether or not we capitalize certain words have decided that the internet no longer deserves the status of having a capital “I”. It’s a generic word, says the New York Times.

Posted by Tim Morrissey

There is a special section of the WBA Newsroom site for journalism and broadcasting students to display their work and get feedback from broadcast news professionals. Please take a moment, select a story – maybe one from a student at your alma mater – and let them know what you think about it. The Student Storytellers section is here. 

Posted by Tim Morrissey

For many working broadcast journalists, their phone has become a mobile studio, particularly in radio news. Here are a few tips from a CBS Radio reporter.

Posted by Tim Morrissey

Skilled news writers avoid cop-talk and other jargon, know that police incident reports must be re-written because they are laden with language no one but cops and lawyers use, and strive to write in short, clear, declarative sentences. (Unlike this long, run-on sentence!)

Here’s a nice, short column from a professional broadcast news writer that talks about a few of the horrid clichés that often find their way into broadcast news writing.

And, there are special sections of the WBA Newsroom site devoted to helping you avoid using jargon in your writing. Radio is here and TV is here.

As always, you comments and favorite news writing clichés are welcome. Tweet us @WBANewsroom!

Posted by Tim Morrissey

Vice’s Shane Smith minces no words when predicting what’s ahead for media in the coming year. Read it here.

Posted by Tim Morrissey

You don’t have to understand how algorithms work to grasp what this article is saying.

Posted by Tim Morrissey

This is one of the many stories on the web about the legendary CBS newsman.

Posted by Tim Morrissey