Writing numbers in your report

Numbers are used frequently in reports. When we go for exact facts, we should also know to write them in the proper format.

Here are the universally accepted practice of writing numbers in newspaper reports:

1. Spell out the numbers one through nine; for 10 and up, use Arabic numerals.
For writing ages and percentages, always use Arabic numerals, even for numbers less than 10.

2. Spell out numerals that start a sentence; if the result is awkward, recast the sentence:
(E-g) Twenty-seven were allowed entry to the show.
Yesterday, the school received 223 applications for admission to higher secondary class.

3.The one exception to this rule is in a sentence that begins with a calendar year.
(e-g) 1947 was an important year in the Indian history.

4. Use Roman numerals for wars, monarchs and Popes
(e-g) : World War II, King George VI, Pope John XXIII

5. Do not use commas between words that are part of one number.
(e-g) One thousand one hundred fifty-five.

6. Proper names: use words or numerals according to an organization’s practice.
(e-g) 21st Century Leasing, Big Ten

How to write dates?

1. Always use Arabic figures, without st, nd, rd or th

2. When a phrase refers to a month, day and year, set off the year with commas.
Aug. 21, 2009, was the day they had all been waiting for.

After writing your copy, go back and check if your have written the numbers correctly. The way you write tell you how much homework you have done and how much importance you give to your report to make it ready for publishing

Online search and journalists

When I wrote about quote and attribution, I made a note in my handbook to write on information search on the Net.

The online search has become inevitable.

Even when you think of adding  historical background about the school you are writing on, you  check the Net for info.

When you want to do a project in Science or Math you refer to online sources.

Many times, you not only check change in telephone numbers online, but the map of a particular location, if you haven’t been there yet!

What is more important than mere attributions for the online searches, is two things that one MUST follow:

- Be sure of the credibility of the website you are referring to.

- Always verify with alternate sources.

Apart from that, if you want to add a visual to your story and just ‘steal’ an image from the Net, be careful, you may be sued for unauthorised use.

Remember, photographs belong to the person who have clicked them and they are their intellectual property. Any use of them should be with their permission or at least with a credit to them, if they do not explicitly mention about their copyright.

After quotes, it is attribution

Though quotes add colour to any story, they need to be used very carefully. All the direct quotes need to be attributed to the source.

Oh, then what’s the difference between quote and attribution?
Well, it goes like this – All quotes are attributions and all attributions are not quotes!
If it further complicates the very idea, here are two links to read.

On Quotes

On Attribution

Call, talk, report, but quote!

It is not always just witness an event and report.

Many times, we go beyond just observing the event. We talk to related (sometimes unrelated) persons and gather more info.

But how do we quote them? When do we put their words within a pair of inverted commas?

This is one which pops up as speed breaker during the flow of writing a report.

Generally, the junior reporters have the habit of alternating between reporting in their own words and in quotes throughout the report. Perhaps, to make the report appear interesting!

In the process they end up with a dangerous habit of ‘quoting’ all unimportant facts and ‘writing’ important points in their own words.

After a few sacrifices to the scissors of the editors , they learn what to ‘quote’ and what to ‘write’.

Here goes what I learnt and find them useful even now:

- Do not quote anything unless there is something striking in what the person has said.
- Do quote verbatim, when there is an immediate and strong reaction to your question.
- Do quote if there is an interpretation on any statement or issue raised by the concerned person or issue.
- Do make sure that the words that go between the pair of inverted commas are the speaker’s own. Not a single word is added by you!
- Do not repeat whatever is quoted,  in your own words anywhere in your report.