Writing tips

Even the most precise writers are occasionally tripped up by punctuation. That’s particularly true nowadays, when newsrooms are lean and reporters are often expected to copy-edit their own

Fewer copy editors in the newsroom—in fact, fewer editors in general—means that reporters must increasingly perform that function themselves. Before submitting a story or hitting

In the last year, “fake news” became synonymous with the Trump campaign, election and administration. But the phrase is hardly new: According to Merriam-Webster, it’s

In the fast-paced digital newsroom it’s easy to forget one of the most critical basics  in our profession: fact-checking. The irony is that fact-checking in

Finicky punctuation rules can evade us all. Here’s how to master the em-dash, exclamation point and question mark. Em-dashes Who doesn’t like dashes as emphasis

Your 500-word assignment has ballooned to 750 words, and there’s no way to shorten it without destroying your carefully crafted prose. If that sounds familiar, you’re not

It’s tempting, I’ll admit it – churning out the business profile. The itch surfaces on the occasional slow week, or the desire to diversify content and

Sources really love their jargon—in spite of efforts among enterprising business reporters to persuade them otherwise—marketers and experts frequently refuse to speak plain English. This

When I first learned we devote the first business communication class to punctuation and grammar at the UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA program where I teach, I