The ( - ) Hyphen Strikes Back

Mr. Hyphen Face

Let's talk hyphens. You know, that little punctuation symbol of connectivity. We use

it often when connecting a collection of words to make one noun, such as sister-in-law. I wrote about hyphens here, where I talk about the evolution of some compound words.

It is most used in error when it is unknowingly left, and the rules are kind of squishy.

Here are some examples of where they are important:

1. Susan decided to resign her employment contract. (We'll miss you, Susan)
Susan decided to re-sign her employment contract. (It great to have you, Susan)

2. Jacob recovered the chair. (It was stolen and he got it back)
Jacob re-covered the chair. (Now it the chair looks nice)

3. I saw a man eating shark. (Yum! I love seafood)
I saw a man-eating shark. (Yikes! Get out of the water!)

4. The battalion was made up of six foot soldiers. (A half-dozen soldiers)
The battalion was made up of six-foot soldiers. (Tall guys)

5. We found ourselves in a dirty movie theater. (Popcorn was everywhere)
We found ourselves in a dirty-movie theater. (X-rated movie)

My thanks to the Society of Professional Journalist for bringing these little buggers to my attention in their news feed. You should follow SPJ on Facebook.

A co-worker once wanted me to correct and use "coworker," but I wouldn't budge because coworker looks funny, like you are saying "cow orker." It turned out my instincts were right, according to AP Style. However, I do disagree on a couple of AP Style rules, as you will find elsewhere in this blog.

You can reach Christopher at amosnews@yahoo.com

Remembering 9/11

Things I remember from the morning of September 11, 2001.

When President Ronald Reagan was shot March of 1981, I was a floor director at a NBC television affiliate in Texas and I remember running to the studio repeatedly, throwing on lights and cuing the anchor to interrupt programming every time we had a morsel of information. The first broadcasts varied, the president had been shot, no he had not been shot but someone else was, the president has really been shot. The newsroom and studio were chaotic again two months later when Pope John Paul II was shot.

School children gather to pray under a flag pole the morning of 9-11.

I remember when President Kennedy was killed. I was in first grade and our school walked to River Oaks Boulevard in Fort Worth, Texas to see the president and Mrs. Kennedy's motorcade drive by. An hour later we were kneeling by our desks fearfully crying and praying.

9/11 was like that for me without the crying, but certainly with the praying. 

I do not watch TV in the morning but woke early that morning and for some reason turned on the TV. I hurriedly called my editor while dressing and before rushing out the door to my newspaper office I watched the second plane hit live.

We are a community newspaper and only report how national events effect our area. I learned all schools and government buildings were on guarded lock down so I grabbed my camera and ran to a private school across from our office. 

There was an assembly outside at the flag pole and after speaking with faculty, took a photos of children praying under the flag pole and rushed back to met our deadline. I had box on the lower front page added to encourage readers to report gas gouging to a federal telephone number because some gas stations across the nation were raising prices tremendously to prey on the panicking public.

I also remember emphasizing that we get information correct, because many networks repeatedly referred to “…the attacks in New York and Washington DC.” However, the Pentagon is in Virginia, not nearby Washington D.C. which is across the boarder.

The next morning everything was different, and things haven't been the same since.

You can reach me at amosnews@yahoo.com

Business phone eitiquette

This is not a journalist-specific post, so share this with any office.

March 10, 1876 Alexander Bell spoke the infamous words, “Watson, come here. I need you,” through his experimental phone. What Watson said in response is not recorded in history because phone etiquette had not been invented.

Of all the digital tools and technology we have to make our work easier, the most important device is more than 100 years old, and by tweaking our phone habits we can be more efficient with it.

These are things I do:

1. Have a pen and something to write on before answering the phone.
2. Answer with a nice voice and don't make the caller feel as though they are an interruption.
3. State your name, even with your personal phone. "Hello, this is Christopher." Add your business to the greeting if you are in an office.
4. Repeat your first name before asking the name of the caller. If the person asks to speak with another person or department, you may say “My name is ___. May I tell them who is calling?” Offering your name builds a relationship between you and the caller.
5. When you inform the co-worker or department of the call, tell them the name of the caller and reason of the call. That way they can prepare for what is waiting for them on the line and they can use the information and name when they answer the phone.
6. If a person or department is not available, offer to take a message. Then tell the caller “I will give ___ the message.” Do not tell the caller “I will have her call you,” because you are promising something you can't guarantee.

If you are on the receiving end of a forwarded call, do not burden the caller saying "Hello" and making the caller start all over with what they just told the person taking the call:

1. Have a pen and something to write on before picking up the phone.

2. Immediately use the caller's name and refer to the subject. The caller will enjoy your courtesy and you will save time by getting right to the point. For instance, a call may be forwarded this way: “Stella, Kenton is on the line asking about rates and billing options.” You pick up the phone and say, “Hi, Kenton. This is Stella. I understand you have questions about our rates.” The caller does not have to repeat everything they just said and the two of you can get right down to business. Plus, the caller will think you are smart and efficient.

You save time, make customers happy and build relationships simply by the way you handle phone calls. Even an irritated caller can be softened by your professionalism.

Use your name with your personal cell phone if you use it for business. I do it even when friends call.

 

Also, no silly ring tones! Nothing is more annoying than ♫♪“I'm Your Boogie Man” or some stupid sound going off in the office.

 

You're welcome.

Christopher  amosnews@yahoo.com

Content for slow summers

Community journalists sweat it out during the summer in more ways than one, and back-to-school brings relief to more than just parents. Community newspapers have a tougher time keeping the flow of interesting news and features during the summer months as compared to their counterparts in large markets who have more people, more events and more news to report.

Community newspapers rely a lot on schools for content. However, other factors slow the flow of news because businesses have fewer promotions during the summer, and there are fewer outdoor activities.

Here is way to increase your content: Invent anniversaries.

1. Make a list of major events that changed your community in past years, such as a new business area, school campus, annual community event that started or major construction that effected an area.
2. Look back in your archives at the past stories and devise a before/after angle to report on. How is the community different since the highway was expanded? How large has a community event grown? How has a new administrator improved operations? What has a charity organization done to improve the community?

3. 

   Severe storm damage is an excellent story to revisit.

   To save time, use much of the content and photos from your archive and follow up with a quick interview and maybe a new photo.

Here is another idea if you are approaching or have arrived at back-to-school time; arrange to speak with a few teachers or administrators and ask them what is the earliest first day of school they remember and what was their feelings, edit each response into a paragraph and list them on a page with a small headshot of each person. If you may already have headshots of teachers and administrators on file and can do the whole thing by phone. Do the same with sports.

Instant content to ease your hot summer will cool you off better than a snow cone in the shade!

Christopher: amosnews@yahoo.com

The wonder of blunders

Plans underway to get Americans sick with ebola

That was the online headline from the Associated Press August 1 which was quickly changed to “Plans underway to retrieve Americans sick with ebola.”

We find a lot of humor in goof headlines, be they by oversight, typo or not checking closely what your spell checker suggests.

Rather than sharing a bunch of headlines you can find simply online, I want to share with you my fantastic blunder.

But first, a grand blunder done in the text of a story by an under qualified chief editor I once had the misfortune to work under at a daily paper. The story was about public cleanup day, where residents are encouraged to get their junk out of their yards and garages and take it to the county facility for free disposal. The editor misspelled “Public” and instead wrote “Pubic,”  and to make matters more horrible he ended his story on Pubic Cleanup Day encouraging people to see if their elderly neighbors need help.

My big goof was in the cutline under a front page picture, which was a wonderful photo I took of scores of people releasing purple balloons into the air. The story was Children’s Advocacy Week, and supporters gathered at county courthouses across Texas to hear speeches and released balloons into the air. The cutline read:

“Supporters yesterday joined children advocacy groups around the state in releasing 10,000 baboons at courthouses across Texas”

 

Ahhhh! The baboons are attacking!

I hate auto spell check.

Are you brave enough to share YOUR blunder? Email it here.

A diamond in the abyss

I teach you need to be a good conversationalist to be a great photojournalist. You need to be a outgoing and creative to break the ice with subjects or approach complete strangers. I just completed a grueling photography task I do each year photographing dozens of subjects in two days, often finding strangers to be my subjects.

This is easy if you are at an event – such as an art show, park or fair – but the task is photography for the annual Parker County Texas Visitors Guide. I must get interesting photographs – preferably human – from 16 towns big and tiny and I have been doing this assignment for about 10 years. It is grueling but challenging and satisfying.

I need to drive the entire county and I don't want to take days going out and back. To make things harder, doing it in two day means I cannot schedule to be at popular public events or make arrangements to meet people at particular times.

The bigger towns have senior centers, parks and farmers’ markets to find subjects doing interesting things, while the small towns have nothing almost nobody, at least on a day I randomly drop in.

I was dreading the small town of Peaster because it is a bleak pinpoint on the map and a woman at the school district was snooty on the phone and would not let me photograph on their campus this year Basically, Peaster is a nice high school and neighborhoods. When I arrived I took a picture of the small post office, and it wasn't even open on this weekday afternoon.

I drove around the few neighborhoods and saw a woman in her shaded back yard, hair pulled back, head down and intently painting something on a table. I was thinking “Please, oh please, oh please” as I walked up to her wood gate, introduced myself and explained what I was doing. 

I asked if I may photograph her while she painted, and she said “No, I don’t take good pictures,” I enthusiastically countered with my favorite comeback, “Well, I take great pictures, so that evens things out!” Artist Ariel Menchaca laughed and agreed. 

Jackpot! Not only did she agree to be photographed, she was doing something of interest. She was paining folk art on mirror frames for a taqueria her family was opening. For those not familiar with Texas, a taqueria is small Mexican café specializing in yummy authentic soft tacos.

It took imagination, inspiration and a little bravery to get this good picture in a tough situation. It was my best photo of the job. I drove to my next stop singing   ♫  “Everything's Coming Our Way” by Carlos Santana.

I sacrificed a story

Sometimes – not often, but perhaps a couple time a career – it is best to walk away from a good story.

It is 15 years since this happened and I have never shared this story because someone might think I am not a good journalist. Now I am going to share it because I believe it shows I am a good journalist.

I built an excellent relationship with a police department to the point the chief and lieutenant called me with scoops and breaking stories, sometimes having me jump out of bed in middle of the night to rush to a drug bust or burglary arrest. The police department liked the exposure in the news because it made them more visible to the public and fortified their $$ figures with the city council come budget time. I liked it because it allowed me rock star photos and stories other papers in my area could only wish for.

I covered a routine house fire in a nice neighborhood one morning and that afternoon the chief called me to the police station for a meeting. The neighbor who called 911 to report the fire told investigators that just before seeing smoke coming from the house he saw a man run out the back door and pour something onto the grass near a fence. Detectives checked and discovered a soup of chemicals liken to methamphetamine poured along the fence line. The chief told me he was starting an investigation to determine if a meth lab caught fire and he wanted me ready for the scoop.

Needless to say, my story angle took a drastic turn.

The following morning the chief phoned me with an odd request.
“I need a favor, Chris.”
Sure, chief. You know me.
“I would like for you not to report anything I told you yesterday afternoon.”
You mean about the neighbor seeing a guy poring meth on the grass?
“Yep.”
I took a long 5 seconds to gather my thoughts and asked the chief if he could tell me why he wanted me to kill the story.
“Sorry, I can't tell you. I just need you to not print the story.”

His voice was not strict or demanding but somewhat exasperated and disappointed. During the next pause it felt as though we were reading each other’s thoughts. I had the right to report the story no matter what the chief said, and it would be a great story that I had the exclusive on.

I said, “You have my word,” and the chief said thanks and hung up.

I printed a routine report about the house fire in the newspaper, including a basic statement from the fire marshal and a photograph of firefighters in action, and that’s all.

For a while I imagined what scenario made the chief want to kill the story, but in time I just let it go. I still had an excellent relationship with the police department, I still had unique access to great stories and I still got calls in the middle of the night for drug busts and burglary arrests, all because I did not sacrifice that relationship for one good story.

Send me comments amosnews@yahoo.com