...and here's a tip for the writers

Buffalo.com photo by Tom Parry.

I have been noticing this quite a bit lately, and wanted to make a quick note -

I know that when writing for online media, you don't necessarily want to be voluminous - you want to keep it relatively short and sweet.

However, please do not feel like you need to sacrifice key details in order to keep your word count down.

Writing a news story for an online outlet is the same as writing for print - you still need your who, what, where, when, why, and how.

If you're writing a review, you still need to include both a summary of the event and your own personal critique.

If you're posting a blog, you still need to follow the rules of grammar - words need to be spelled correctly, abbreviations are still a no-no, and so on.

I know I have mentioned this many times, and I will harp on it again and again - buy an AP (Associated Press) style guide and read it. Learn it. Know it. Use it.

If you want to write professionally, you will need to know AP style. If you do not know AP style, you will not get writing jobs. It's that simple. Editors will not have the patience to make these changes. An AP style guide costs less than $20, and if you plan to write in the future, it is the best investment you will ever make.

It is intensely frustrating to see the same style mistakes over and over again, and if you get one thing out of this internship, it is this message: LEARN AP STYLE.