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 provides baseline instruction in punctuation, grammar, usage, and AP style with clear-cut examples and self-quizzes, and includes sections on accuracy and fact-checking, brevity, clarity, and direct quotations.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 120 pages
Publication date: 15 December 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 journalistic spectrum, these practices transcend the digital age while still resonating within it.

The fifth edition of this esteemed publication undergoes a significant update, focusing on language skills and Associated Press style. While maintaining its commitment to offering language-skills self-tests with answer keys and comprehensive sections on spelling and copy-editing symbols, it also introduces new content on inclusive storytelling and implicit bias. These timely themes, which have emerged in the realm of digital age journalism, reflect the evolving social norms that shape how journalists are becoming increasingly aware of and actively addressing the implications of framing and language choices in their stories.

What sets Watch Your Words apart from other journalism reference works is its remarkable brevity. It serves as an accessible baseline instruction in punctuation, grammar, usage, and AP style, offering clear-cut examples and self-quizzes to reinforce learning. The book delves into sections on accuracy and fact-checking, brevity, clarity, and the effective use of direct quotations, accompanied by exercises and an editing guide. Where digital grammar-fix and spell-check programs may be useful, Watch Your Words provides a succinct yet deeper dive to assist journalists and other media professionals in mastering the fundamental yet essential wordsmithing tools of their trade.

In conclusion, Watch Your Words has established itself as a cornerstone of journalistic excellence, offering invaluable guidance and expertise to aspiring and seasoned journalists alike. Its timeless principles and practical insights remain relevant in the ever-evolving digital landscape, empowering writers to craft compelling and accurate narratives that resonate with their audiences. Whether you are a novice or a seasoned professional, this handbook is a must-have resource for anyone seeking to hone their writing skills and uphold the highest standards of journalism.

Dimension: 254 x 178 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781538176689
Edition number: Fifth Edition