Adding a new post to the Newsy Style Guide

Post Title: Keep post titles as short as possible, but also try to include key words someone would search for if they had a question.

Tip Posts: All posts about tips (rules) should start out "Tip:" in the body of the post.  Use complete sentences and be as explicit yet concise as you can be.

Sample Tip Post

Post Title: Wire Sources

Tip: Don't use content from AP, AFP, Getty, Bloomberg or other newswire services. Double check that you're not mistaking a wire source for another source. Newspapers and television stations pay for wire content and put it on their websites. Check the byline!

Guide Posts:  All guides should be numbered using Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.) and formatted "1., 2., 3., etc."  

Sample Guide Post

Post Title: Adding a new source in Admin

1. Click "Add New Video Source" on main Admin page

2. Enter the Name of the source as it is used on its website

3. Leave the URL field blank

4. Use the same blank placeholder Image

5. Click "Add Video Source"

6. Return to your story page in Admin and add the new source under Sources

Tagging your post: Please only use the tags that already exist in the guide unless your tip/guide is something completely new (and continuing).

Thumbnail Images

Don't forget to find a Thumbnail Image for each story; this is the image that will appear with your story on Newsy.com.

Thumbnail Images should be the following sizes:

dl - 385 x 310
tn - 640 x 360
iphone - 196 x 140
scroll - 110 x 75
ipad - 588 x 420

You should name each photograph DATEslug_tn, DATEslug_dl, etc.

Use Photoshop's crop tool to create each image, and save them separately in your story folder.

1. Open image in Photoshop
2. Click the crop tool
3. In the bar at the top of the workspace, enter the pixel dimensions for each photograph as a number with "px" after it (e.g. 110 px in the first box, 75 px in the second box).
4. Click and drag on the photograph to choose a crop area.
5. Save Image As... a jpeg/jpg file to your story folder.

NOTE: As with sources, Thumbnail Images should not come from wire services like AP or Getty.

Naming People

Naming People and Sources

In general, either name the people in your sources or don't name them. Keep the overall format of your story consistent. If the names seem to slow down parts of the script, take all the names out. The exception to this guideline is when a correspondent or guest is someone famous or a highly popular talking head/commentator.

For example, ESPN correspondent Stephen A. Smith (that is his full name) is regarded highly enough among sports fans that it is important to note that Stephen A. Smith is the one saying whatever it is he is saying, not just some guy off the street.

Editors will help make the ultimate decision on names in a script.

Obscure Sources

Tip: Do some research on obscure, less well known sources. While the use of such sources is encouraged, it's still important to do the legwork to identify any credibility issues. Mention anything out of the ordinary in your script. Be transparent in your sourcing.

Wire Sources

Tip: Don't use content from AP, AFP, Getty, Bloomberg or other newswire services. Double check that you're not mistaking a wire source for another source. Newspapers and television stations pay for wire content and put it on their websites. Check the byline!

Admin Transcript Example

(Thumbnail image: Nature)

“Scientists say they were able to alter people’s sense of right and wrong with simply magnets. MIT researchers say there appears to be an area right behind the ear that responds to magnetic impulses.” (HLN)

Trying to poison a friend with toxic powder—letting your girlfriend walk over a dangerous bridge. Both are unacceptable actions, right? Not if you have a magnet strapped to your head. New research shows magnets have the power to paralyze your moral compass. ABC News explains.

“If you put magnets near your moral compass, it will actually change your decision making and make you temporarily less moral. ... They described a man who let his girlfriend walk over a bridge that he knew was unsafe and under normal conditions more people would rate that man’s behavior as unacceptable. But after getting this magnetic pulse most people didn’t have any problem with it.”

The so-called moral compass is actually the temporo-parietal junction—an area in the brain just behind the right ear. The New York Daily News says when the area is magnetized, participants discount potential dangers.

“[W]hen the magnetic field was applied, subjects would make judgments based on end results, and not the intent of those involved.”

The Daily Mail points out—the more we learn about the brain—the more complicated things like conscience and spirituality become.

“The study highlights how our sense of right and wrong isn't just based on upbringing, religion or philosophy - but by the biology of our brains. …Last year American scientists claimed to have found a "god spot" - a region of the brain that controls religious belief.”

Finally, on Nature.com, a writer says the new findings could inspire the aluminum foil hat crowd to stock up on magnetometers.

“If ever a piece of research were destined to incite paranoid fantasies about dictators inserting chips in our heads to alter and control our behaviour, this is it.”

Adding a new source in Admin

1. Click "Add New Video Source" on main Admin page
2. Enter the Name of the source as it is used on its website
3. Leave the URL field blank

4. Use the same blank placeholder Image

5. Click "Add Video Source"

6. Return to your story page in Admin and add the new source under Sources