Do you notice that the headline above is different from the names of the links below? That's because the headline is in downstyle and the names below are titles. Do you know the difference? You should.
The links below will help you to become a better journalist. They might even help you learn what downstyle means.
1. Commonly Confused Words
http://www.pnl.gov/ag/usage/confuse.html from Nancy Stratton, Pacific Northwest Laboratory
This site points out some common errors writers make. It is a quick resource that is available wherever you have web access, unlike a book that you'd have to carry with you.
2. High School Journalism
http://highschooljournalism.org/index.students.cfm from The American Society of Newspaper Editors
This site is dedicated to high school journalism students. It includes scholarship information and links to online high school papers throughout the country.
3. Freedom Forum
http://www.freedomforum.org from The Freedom Forum
"The Freedom Forum is a nonpartisan foundation dedicated to free press, free speech and free spirit for all people. The foundation focuses on three main priorities: the Newseum, First Amendment freedoms and newsroom diversity." This site helps students learn the history of journalism, especially at the http://www.newseum.org site that is sponsored by the Freedom Forum and is linked from their page.
4. Poynter Guide to High School Journalism Sites
http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=32&aid=3116 from Jonathan Dube, MSNBC Sr Producer, CyberJournalist.net Publisher and The Poynter Institute
PoynterOnline bills itself as "Everything you need to know to be a better journalist." It's an extensive site offering so much information that their claim just might be true. This is a starting point for exploring the site and other resources, some of which I also link to in here.
5. The Student Press Law Center
http://www.splc.org from The Student Press Law Center
"The Student Press Law Center is an advocate for student free-press rights and provides information, advice and legal assistance at no charge to students and the educators who work with them." They also provide resources to answer questions about censorship and the First Amendment.
6. Poynter's High School Journalism Guide from The Poynter Institute
http://legacy.poynter.org/centerpiece/highschool/index.htm from The Poynter Institute
This guide is also from Poynter. This link goes directly to the high school journalism information contained on the Poynter site, unlike the link above which links to a directory of outside sites. It has specific info on law, ethics, and writing, among other things.
7. Merriam-Webster Online
http://www.m-w.com/ from Merriam-Webster
This links to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. You can look up the meaning(s) of words and listen to their pronunciation(s).
8. News Writer's Handbook
http://www.jea.org/resources/curriculum/stylebook.pdf from Rob Melton
This is a link to an Adobe PDF document. It is the book we use in class so you can access it from home. You'll need Adobe Reader, available here.
9. MLA Citation Style
http://www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/workshop/citmla.htm from Robert Delaney, Long Island University
This is a color coded guide to MLA citation style. Use it to check the format for references in bibliographies or works cited pages.
10. SPLC Resource Center Homework Zone
http://www.splc.org/homework.asp from The Student Press Law Center
"Some of the most helpful online resources for students (and others) related to journalism, education, media law and civil rights, arranged by research topic." This site will help you answer all sorts of questions about student press rights and media law.
11. Glossary of Newspaper Terms
http://www.wowcom.net/education/nie/glossary1.htm from The Holland Sentinel and Flashes Publishers
This site presents a list of newspaper terms and their definitions. If you don't know what downstyle means, this is the site to check out.
Created 8/2/03
Copyleft 2003 by R.E. Vander Klok