SJC Style Guide

SJC Style Guide for Journalism and Public Relations majors.

It’s your style guide, so help us build it. Contact us with any suggestions for new words you think we should include, or even, errors you may find.

View or Print Style Guide here

Why a style guide?

Each news organisation has its own style guide, and while many are similar they’re not identical. So if they’re similar why not have just one?  The reason is partly about ‘correct writing’ but it’s also about consistency and standards of editorial performance. What one news organisation thinks is important may not be valued by another.

For example, some news organisations never use the word “actress”, but call both men and women in the acting profession actors. We acknowledge that while it is no longer common to distinguish acting professionals by gender, there are some limited occasions when the word “actress” is used, such as in the Academy Awards. So, our style, similar to that of News Limited, is that usually the word “actor” is the only noun we would use to refer to men or women in that occupation, but some occasions call for gender distinctions. The ABC doesn’t bother listing it, but in practice probably always uses “actor”.

This example is a small illustration that different newsrooms have different approaches to style. The ABC’s Radio National guide is available to the public online http://style.radionational.net.au/?apage=U . Check it out.

Consistent style also gives reporters a sense of being part of a professional team. If all reporters have a consistent approach to punctuation, word use, and grammar (where there is sometimes more than one right answer) the publication will give readers, viewers and listeners confidence they can trust your newsroom as authoritative in all aspects of communication: accurate in telling the news that matters, and providing reliable analysis and commentary – all within an accurate, succinct and lively style. There is no single definitive style guide. This guide is just another one.

When you work in different newsrooms you will find different approaches, but each style guide is providing consistency for each newsroom.
Most style guides in Australia use the Macquarie Dictionary as the final word on language and spelling. Fowler’s A Dictionary of Modern English Useage is also a popular foundation. There are a number of useful works in the Reference section.

If you find errors or inconsistencies please contact us. Use the contact us button in latest additions to help us keep this guide useful and up to date. Suggest words you notice are missing but which may be usefully included. Tell us why.

Academic style

This Style Guide is intended for use by journalism and public relations majors. However as university students you should also follow an accepted style of academic writing and referencing. For this, go to the UQ Library Referencing Style Guides http://www.library.uq.edu.au/help/referencing-style-guides and scroll down to APA (American Psychological Association).

Stucture of this style guide

There are five sections:

Quick reference. Some of the most common style questions are addressed.

Style – an easy guide to grammar. This is reproduced from the News Limited style guide, called Style and provides a very accessible and simple overview of grammar and usage. You can use it for quick reference but, being short and simple, it is probably also a good idea to read it in full before you start your course. It will remind you of grammar points you probably learned long ago, and sometimes it may even give you some new pointers. Try it.

A to Z. This is the main quick reference section. It provides an alphabetical list of word use for journalists, from suggesting our newsroom approach to word use, to spelling, to parts of speech to rules of grammar, punctuation, and so on. Hopefully here you will find the most important and useful aspects of writing style to help you produce cleaner, crisper copy. That’s an alliteration! Journalists should probably avoid them – they’re best used sparingly by advertising copy writers, comedy script writers, but rarely by journalists. Exclamation marks are also never used by journalists. That’s a taste of the style guide’s approach. It will be useful in all your courses. Don’t read it from start to finish; just dip into it.

JACdigital production guide. This will be especially useful for those students contributing to the School’s webpage news site – anywhere from first year to final year  production courses. As it is not long, you can read it from start to finish. You will also find it very helpful as a reference throughout your program of study.

Writing for broadcast and JACradio. While JACradio involves students in a number of broadcast roles, this section of the style guide is for students working in radio news. There are important differences in writing for print and broadcast. Many of these are reflected in the A to Z section; however, there are particular conventions of style and language covered in this section. It is a simple and brief guide which you can read from start to finish, and use as a valuable reference during your studies.

Latest additions

Nobody gets everything right all of the time. We want you to help us make this guide grow and become a useful tool for generations of students. We have introduced a new section with the online edition called latest additions. Here we will list new words that have entered the professional communications domain, but also words you have suggested we should include. Use the contact us button to send us your suggestions. But also click on latest additions to check on any new words which may not yet appear in the A to Z list.

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