Wikinews:Water cooler/miscellaneous/archives/2014/November


Style guide

I've produced a typeset version of the style guide using LaTeX with the idea that a nice printable version would be useful to somebody. See File:Wikinews Style Guide 2.pdf. While making it, I corrected a few typos/grammar errors on wiki I spotted, or clarified some wording. The text of the document is nearly verbatim, with some minor typographical differences (punctuation inside quotation marks; consistently italicize Wikinews) and few wording differences (since this is more a "book" format). I did add somewhat of a preface, but it is mostly information about the document itself and the introductory sections of the guide. If you have any suggestions/comments, feel free to let me know. Admittedly, it's not exactly the most useful thing, but I was partly doing this as a way to teach myself a bit more LaTex. —Mikemoral♪♫ 08:31, 3 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I copyedited the SG a bit following your copyedits. It particularly caught my eye, when looking over the things you'd been neatifying, that {{dateline}} is currently strongly discouraged because the review gadget doesn't handle it correctly. --Pi zero (talk) 12:57, 3 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
@Mikemoral: This is great: I know it will help me as I plan on getting into citizen journalism here. Thanks. —Justin (koavf)TCM 17:55, 3 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • I like, but note that the George Orwell quote in the first section is slightly mangled. It needs each of the elipsis bracketed (thus: "[...]") because they're representing omitted parts of the longer text (my selective editing there).
The essay it's culled from predates 1984 by a couple of years, the idea that control of language could be an incredibly powerful tool of oppression goes on to become the Ministry of Truth. Imagine an oppressive regime capable of removing, altering the definition of, or otherwise corrupting, the key terms required to discuss a specific idea; the oppressed lose the ability to discuss, or even think about, concepts which might threaten the regime.
The idea that choice of words can direct how people think long-predates Orwell. Journalists are supposed to have sufficient mastery of language to, at the very least, be able to nudge people towards a chosen conclusion. Saying: "The pen is mightier than the sword" simply doesn't do justice to the underlying concept. The point of the selective quote? To encourage those who read it to realise they do have some control over language, but that it is a power which the Forth Estate does not have exclusive control over. To give an example, I'd point people to elements within the First Estate (the clergy/church) who have manipulated the public perception of the word "theory" into a derogatory anti-science term. --Brian McNeil / talk 21:37, 3 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • I've made a couple of changes to the document. I've changed it to include Pi zero's new changes and Brian's suggestion about the ellipses. I've posted the code on GitHub for anyone to review/edit. The code is a bit messy since making it produce a PDF was more important than neat code, but I'll get around to making it neater. I'll also try to put the PDF output on GitHub so it won't be necessary to upload to Wikinews/Commons every time I (or someone else) make a change. I put it in using the website interface rather than using git, and as far as I can tell, you can only add text-based documents via the website.
@Koavf: Thanks! I was hoping it would be useful to somebody. :) —Mikemoral♪♫ 09:11, 4 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

17:28, 3 November 2014 (UTC)

15:00, 10 November 2014 (UTC)

Captain Dopey

As we approach the holidays (speaking as a 'Yank)....I often get kind of nostalgic and feel kinda lame and dopey....but this year, I've decided to channel my energies toward expressing thanks and gratitude! So, while it's still a wee bit early I just wanted to say THANKS! too all my fellow Wikinewsies here! Admins, reviewers and certainly any and all who report on all sorts of stuff happening around the world, what you do and what the project does is sincerely, a good thing! I heard this recently and I liked it: 'On the internet, everyone yells at the same volume!' Given that, I like that we adhere to solid editorial standards and don't just crank out 'churnalism' (God, I love that word!) Keep up the good work....each and every one of you! --Bddpaux (talk) 16:51, 17 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Content is Lacking

I find that the content is very lacking, and the news s often outdated. I feel that this feels more like a beta or test then a true site. I ask that all users do as I will attempt to do; write as many article as possible. AKA Casey Rollins (talk)Casey Talk with Casey 18th November, 2014. 11:26 AM EST—The preceding unsigned comment was added by AKA Casey Rollins (talkcontribs) 16:28, 18 November, 2014


18:28, 17 November 2014 (UTC)

19:31, 24 November 2014 (UTC)