"Check You're Story Be4 You Right It, K?"

Grammatically wrong
1. Defeated in the house, the Senate now gets to debate the bill.

*Defeated in the House, the Senate now gets to debate the bill.

Stylistically wrong
2. The 19-year-old boy got a ticket for jay-walking at 9 p.m. last night.

* At 9 p.m. last night, the 19-year-old boy got a ticket for jaywalking .

See if you can catch what's wrong.
3. Meredith ran away from home, she was so angry that night.

*Meredith ran away from home; she was so angry that night.


These should be easy:

4. Yes Brittney I can figure this one out.

*Yes Brittney, I can figure this one out.

5. Holding there flags high the veterans marched through town.

*Holding their flags high, the veterans marched through town.

6. The students said they would "skip class" if Britney made them do more exercises that had to do with grammar punctuation spelling or style.

*The students said they would skip class if Britney made the, do more exercises having to do with grammar, punctuation, spelling or style. (Isn't is Brittney?-If this is supposed to be you.)

7. I think most students in this class are apart of the class of 09.

*I think most students in this class are a part of the class of '09.

8. "I wonder if this is how you punctuate this quote?" Brittney said.

*"I wonder if this is how you punctuate this quote," Brittney said.

OK, now that's enough torture. Answer this question for a bonus point:
9. Why is it important for journalists to get these things right?

9. Journalists must pay attention to details. In order to establish credibility for the paper and himself or herself, one has to make sure to check the grammar of a story. Misspelling words, forgetting punctuation, etc. lead to a lower quality piece of writing. Also, it saves the copy editor time when he or she has hundreds of articles to read; it is kind to double check one's work to save other people time. Finally, it makes the articles easier to read because almost all papers write according to AP Stylebook.