Fun with geography

Can you pass third grade? This is the interactive quiz we played with in class today. Warning: Addictive. But effective. Great way to prep for the Dow Jones exam.

Really, jackhammers?

Hey guys! I wasn't really sure of the terms of posting on rimrats yet, but my dad sent me this image this morning, and I really wanted to share it with you all.

Beyond the fact that this photo (and particularly the caption) are initially pretty funny, I thought it kind of brings up some important questions.

Should The Roanoke Times, or any newspaper, publish a photo that makes a person look this bad? I know from the photo class that I took that asking her to put out her cigarette would have taken away from the reality of the photo, but it seems that this just makes her look bad, and maybe even makes the paper look bad for failing to acknowledge it.

Not sure... but I thought it was interesting.

Welcome to a new semester

Greetings! A new group of talented rimrats joins the blog this morning as the fall semester begins at the Cronkite School. This term's 413 class is the first in many years to have a 9:40-11:30 schedule on both Mondays and Wednesdays (in the past, it was an hour longer on Wednesdays). We'll also be doing far more multimedia editing than ever before, exploring SEO and the use of keywords, importing content into Dreamweaver templates, creating audio slideshows, writing narrative cutlines, venturing into the basics of audio editing. It's exciting times for copy editors and there's no reason we shouldn't be out in front having fun. Let it begin.

Redesigned Pilot

The Virginian-Pilot, famed for its design and presentation chutzpah, has launched an overhaul that deeply affects both content and look. The video at left is interactive. Denis Finley, editor, explains the thinking behind the work. Pop-up pages offer a closer look at the section fronts. There are links to a FAQ and an article by lead designer Deborah Withey. NewsDesigner.com shows before and after fronts *and* inside pages and offers commentary. (One of the most interesting aspects of this redesign is that the inside pages were revamped to reflect newer technology.) If you're interested in seeing what the previous major redesign looked like when launched in 1993, check out Alan Jacobson's Brass Tacks explanation.

I posted one of the new fronts. Do you love that crab hed or what? (Click on the image to see it larger.)

AP Stylebook updates

New entries include: African Union; airstrike; BlackBerry; Boogie; carry-on; Chennai; farmers market; female; GPS; headlines; hip-hop; homebuyer, homeowner; intefadah; Islamic holy days; Katmandu; mentally retarded; merger (Business); Mumbai; Swift boat.

Changes and updates include: Baha’i; datelines (Baghdad); daylight saving time; editor-in-chief; European Union; Fatah; Mexico; planets; plurals (Broadcast); RSVP; telephone numbers; U.S. time zones map; track and field (Sports); volleyball (Sports); headlines (Filing the Wire); Hold for Release slugs (Filing the Wire).Deletions: husband, widower; Internet Search Tips; Laundromat; pupil, student; Serbia-Montenegro; U.S. Court of Military Appeals; Woman’s Christian Temperance Union.

Ambiguity and an echo

I don't know what the new search-engine-optimization gurus have to say about echos ("search resumes" in the hed, "searchers resumed" in the lede), but there's no doubt that the main hed can be read as a command to look at resumes ("search" as verb, "resumes" as noun). It only takes a second or so to make the mental adjustment and get the correct meaning, but that second is precious time and the conflict has made the reader WRONG! Not anything you want to do. "Searches resume" would be better if you were correcting on the fly.

Circulation reverses in Philly

When the Inquirer's new owners -- private investors -- took over, it was said the circulation would improve when pigs flew. Circulation HAS improved and the paper celebrated with a four-page special section and even projected light images of flying pigs on the front of the Inky's building.