Manifesto

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Advice

“I had just asked myself what was the most important thing to remember about writing a story, and the answer came back loud and clear: ‘To make somebody read it.”

“Ultimately, there’s no other reason for writing. Journalists write to support democracy, sustain truth, salute justice, justify expenses, see the world and make a living, but to satisfactorily do any of these things you have to have readers. Fairness and accuracy are of course profoundly important. Without them, you aren’t in journalism proper: you are playing some other game. But above all, you have to be read, or you aren’t in journalism at all.”

—Tim Radford, former editor, The Guardian,
“A manifesto for the simple scribe – my 25 commandments for journalists,” Jan. 21, 2011.

• Editorial Comment: Sounds simple enough.

• News from the MicroSoft Front: Longtime journalist and educator Betty Medsger writes: “I just had the ultimate Microsoft Word ‘correction.’ It indicated that my use of ‘you’re’ was an error. It indicated that instead I should have written ‘you is.’ No kidding.” No comment. (MS translation: “You should have written, ‘Yo mama.’”)

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• Agricultural Communication/Journalism Faculty Wanted! The joint program in Agricultural Communication & Journalism at Utah State University seeks candidates for a full-time, tenure-track assistant professor. See the posting at USU’s HR site here or email ted.pease@usu.edu for details. Review begins in March. Start date: August 2011.
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