Overview

In print for over twenty years, Watch Your Words is a brief and accessible handbook for mastering best practices for journalistic writing, including tips from experts with experience across the journalistic spectrum. These best practices predate the digital age while resonating within it. The fifth edition updates its core content on language skills and Associated Press style, while continuing to offer language-skills self-tests with answer keys and sections on spelling and copy-editing symbols. The fifth edition also presents new content on inclusive storytelling and implicit bias. These prevalent themes, which have emerged in digital age journalism, reflect social mores behind how journalists are increasingly aware of, and acting on, the impacts of framing and language they use in their stories. Watch Your Words continues to be distinguished from other journalism reference works by its brevity. It provides accessible baseline instruction in punctuation, grammar, usage and AP style with clear-cut examples and self-quizzes. It presents sections on accuracy and fact-checking, brevity, clarity, and use of direct quotations with exercises, as well as an editing guide. Where digital grammar-fix and spell-check programs are useful, Watch Your Words provides a succinct yet deeper dive to help journalists and other media professionals master basic yet essential wordsmithing tools of their trades.

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9781538176689

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Reviews

The fifth edition's new section on Implicit Bias and Inclusive Storytelling is brilliant and encourages editors and writers to face their personal biases at every level of writing. Explaining recent AP Style changes on gender-neutral pronouns adds clarity for editors and writers.--Nahed Eltantawy, professor and associate dean, High Point University

The fifth edition of Watch Your Words clearly articulates the best practices for inclusive storytelling across print, digital and broadcast platforms in this ever-evolving media environment. Over the course of 15 years, I can attest that this handbook has measurably and significantly improved my students' writing and editing skills.--Michael A. Deas, Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University The fifth edition's new section on Implicit Bias and Inclusive Storytelling is brilliant and encourages editors and writers to face their personal biases at every level of writing. Explaining recent AP Style changes on gender-neutral pronouns adds clarity for editors and writers.--Nahed Eltantawy, professor and associate dean, High Point University

The fifth edition of Watch Your Words clearly articulates the best practices for inclusive storytelling across print, digital and broadcast platforms in this ever-evolving media environment. Over the course of 15 years, I can attest that this handbook has measurably and significantly improved my students' writing and editing skills. The fifth edition's new section on Implicit Bias and Inclusive Storytelling is brilliant and encourages editors and writers to face their personal biases at every level of writing. Explaining recent AP Style changes on gender-neutral pronouns adds clarity for editors and writers.

The fifth edition of Watch Your Words clearly articulates the best practices for inclusive storytelling across print, digital and broadcast platforms in this ever-evolving media environment. Over the course of 15 years, I can attest that this handbook has measurably and significantly improved my students' writing and editing skills. --Michael A. Deas, Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University The fifth edition's new section on Implicit Bias and Inclusive Storytelling is brilliant and encourages editors and writers to face their personal biases at every level of writing. Explaining recent AP Style changes on gender-neutral pronouns adds clarity for editors and writers. --Nahed Eltantawy, professor and associate dean, High Point University While the formats for delivering news are rapidly changing, the new edition of Watch Your Words helps journalists develop the core skills that matter most, regardless of platform: accuracy, clarity and technical precision. The self-tests provide useful feedback, and a new section on bias and inclusivity reflects vital industry conversations. --Amy Merrick, senior professional lecturer, journalism, DePaul University

Author Information

Marda Dunsky, a print journalist and journalism scholar, is an assistant professor in residence at Northwestern University in Qatar. Dunsky has 15 years of service at Northwestern University in Evanston. As a member of the Medill School of Journalism faculty, she has taught print editing, basic reporting, global journalism, and a seminar of her design, “Reporting the Arab and Muslim Worlds.” She has also served as an adviser to international students in the Medill MSJ program. She has held editing and reporting positions at newspapers including source and copy editor on the national-foreign news desk of the Chicago Tribune and Arab affairs reporter at The Jerusalem Post.

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