Watch Your Words: Journalistic Writing and Editing for the Digital Age

Watch Your Words is a concise and accessible handbook for mastering journalistic writing best practices, with updated content on language skills, AP style, inclusive storytelling, and implicit bias. It offers baseline instruction in punctuation, grammar, usage, and AP style with clear-cut examples and self-quizzes, as well as sections on accuracy and fact-checking, brevity, clarity, and direct quotations.

Format: Hardback
Length: 122 pages
Publication date: 30 November 2023
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

For over two decades, Watch Your Words has been a vital resource for journalists, providing a concise and accessible handbook that encompasses the best practices of journalistic writing. Drawing upon the expertise of professionals across the diverse spectrum of journalism, this invaluable guide offers timeless insights that transcend the digital age while remaining deeply relevant within it.

The fifth edition of this esteemed publication undergoes a significant update, enhancing its core content on language skills and Associated Press style. It continues to offer language-skills self-tests, accompanied by comprehensive answer keys and informative sections on spelling and copy-editing symbols. Moreover, the fifth edition introduces fresh and timely content on inclusive storytelling and mitigating implicit bias, reflecting the evolving social dynamics that shape modern journalism.

What sets Watch Your Words apart from other journalism reference works is its remarkable brevity. It serves as an accessible foundation for punctuation, grammar, usage, and AP style, offering clear-cut examples, self-quizzes, and practical exercises. The book also delves into the importance of accuracy, fact-checking, brevity, clarity, and the judicious use of direct quotations, providing valuable guidance through practical exercises and an editing guide. While digital grammar-fix and spell-check programs can be helpful, Watch Your Words offers a deeper exploration to assist journalists and media professionals in mastering the fundamental yet essential wordsmithing tools that are indispensable to their craft.

In conclusion, Watch Your Words has established itself as a cornerstone of journalistic excellence, offering a comprehensive and practical guide that empowers journalists and media professionals to excel in their craft. With its timeless insights, updated content, and user-friendly format, this invaluable resource continues to be a must-have for anyone seeking to elevate their writing skills and uphold the highest standards of journalism.

Weight: 435g
Dimension: 261 x 183 x 13 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781538176351
Edition number: Fifth Edition