Thursday, October 30, 2008

Lessons In Journalism

I once worked for an editor who always said:

“Short words are better than long words. Short sentences are better than long sentences. Short paragraphs are better than long paragraphs. Short stories are better than long stories. And you show nothing but contempt for the reader if you make them pick up a dictionary. You are a journalist, not a vocabulary teacher.”

Everyone didn’t get that speech.

4 comments:

Ron W. said...

Journalism has taken a real nosedive since that speech.

Henry said...

Heyman is a clown and everyone knows it.

JoeyBoy said...

Jon Heyman is just one of many, most of them really. Snotty reporters that don’t like people should go do investment stuff on Wall Street or something.

Molly The Dog said...

I like this quote. I like writing that is to the point. And I don't like looking up words I don't know. It bogs me down and makes me feel I am not as smart as the writer.