BUDGETEER NEWS STYLEBOOK

Note: While this stylebook was designed primarily for internal use, we welcome feedback from your group or organization. Any corrections or suggested additions can be e-mailed to budgeteer@duluthbudgeteer.com.

according to

In the interest of space, should be avoided unless absolutely necessary.

WRONG: According to Ness, the storm sewer problem just keeps getting worse.

RIGHT: Ness said the storm sewer problem just keeps getting worse.

Aerial Lift Bridge

A city landmark in Canal Park. See “bridged.”

Allete

A publicly traded company headquartered in Duluth. Its power company is a subsidiary company, Minnesota Power.

APEX

An economic development group funded by the private sector; grew out of former Mayor Gary Doty’s economic summit.

attributions

It may seem a little stuffy, but try to avoid inverting speaker’s name and the attribution, unless a phrase makes it necessary.

WRONG: “It sure was a hot day,” said Jones.

RIGHT: “It sure was a hot day,” Jones said.

RIGHT: “It sure was a hot day,” said Jones, the newest lifeguard at the Park Point beach.

Barker's Island

An inn on the Superior island of the same name. Its marina is home to the annual Lake Superior Dragon Boat Festival.

WRONG: Using "Barkers Island." The island was named in honor of Captain Charles S. Barker, so Barker's Island is always right.

RIGHT: Barker's Island in Superior is home to a number of tourist-friendly attractions, including the S.S. Meteor "whaleback" ship and a resort and conference center.

Bayfront Blues Festival

Or simply Blues Fest on subsequent references. Major annual multi-day event that draws up to 50,000 people. Hosted at Bayfront Festival Park.

Bayfront Festival Park

Distinct from just “bayfront,” which includes a larger area. This is the site of Bayfront Blues Festival, Fourthfest and many other events. It also includes a skating rink and warming shack in the winter.

Blatnik Bridge

Acceptable on all references to the John A. Blatnik Bridge, one of two main arteries connecting Duluth to Superior across the St. Louis River. The Interstate 535/U.S. Highway 53 bridge, named after Jim Oberstar’s predecessor in the U.S. House of Representatives, was dedicated Dec. 2, 1961. It replaced the Interstate Bridge. It was referred to as the “High Bridge” until it received its current name in 1971.

Bong Bridge

Acceptable on all references to the Richard I. Bong Memorial Bridge, one of two main arteries between Duluth and Superior over the St. Louis River. The U.S. Highway 2 bridge, named after the ace World War II fighter pilot (and Poplar, Wis., native), was dedicated July 20, 1985. It replaced the Arrowhead Bridge.

bridged

A verb referring to being stuck in Canal Park or on Park Point waiting for a ship to pass under the Aerial Lift Bridge.

Budgeteer News

Not to be confused with the Budgeter or the Budgeteer Press, among the publication’s former names.

bylines

Bylines have no “by” and consist of two lines, the first identifying the writer and the second identifying the paper or the relationship of the writer to the Budgeteer (if the writer is not a staffer). The first line is set with paragraph stylesheet “byline1” and the second “byline2.” Some examples:

Jana Peterson
Budgeteer News

Larry Weber
For the Budgeteer

Mayor McCheese
Guest Columnist

CASDA

Center Against Sexual and Domestic Abuse on first reference.

CHUM

Churches United in Ministry on first reference.

Civic Center

The square and monument located in the cul-de-sac surrounded by City Hall, the St. Louis County Courthouse and the Federal Building in Duluth.

College of St. Scholastica

St. Scholastica on subsequent references. In headlines, referring to the College of St. Scholastica as CSS is acceptable.

Community Calendar

Page is included in the master pages of the Budgeteer template. It has built-in headers for days of the week, which can be adapted for exhibits, author events and upcoming events. An info box outlining deadlines should remain on the page. Type may be set with the “body copy no tabs” stylesheet but may also be shrunk down as far as eight points on an 8.5-point leading for space (be sure to unlock from baseline grid). Opening key words of each calendar item should be set in bold type.

corrections

Corrections should be prompt and typically run on Page 2. They are in standard newspaper format and should identify the date the incorrect story ran and the corrected information, phrased, if possible, to avoid repeating the error. If the newspaper was not at fault, that may be noted in the correction. The correction should conclude with an expression of regret. Corrections are set in “body copy” stylesheet under a standing head that reads “CORRECTION” or “CORRECTIONS.” Example:

Due to incorrect information provided to the Budgeteer News, a story in the April 1 edition spelled Robert Zimmerman’s name incorrectly. The Budgeteer regrets the error.

cutlines

Cutlines include photo credit and cutline text. Cutlines should be written to stand alone from the story and be in complete sentences. Cutlines are set in the “cutline” stylesheet. Photo credits are set in the “photo credit” stylesheet and are formatted as follows:

A single photo by a staff member: Matthew R. Perrine/Budgeteer News

Multiple photos by a staff member: Photos by Matt Suoja/Budgeteer News

Submitted photo: Image courtesy Bruce Ojard or Submitted photo

Mug shots do not need a photo credit unless requested.

Captions are required for “wild art” (stand-alone photos), and they can be done as either a headline over the photo itself (“headline2” stylesheet, centered) or within the cutline itself as an introductory phrase, set in “cutline” stylesheet plus bold and all caps, followed by a dash. An example:

SUMMER BREEZE -- Hayley Stark, 14, enjoys a bask in a brisk Lake Superior Wednesday on the warmest day of the summer so far.

Identifications are generally required for individuals featured prominently in photos or for everyone in a photograph if four or fewer people are pictured.

DAHA

Duluth Amateur Hockey Association on first reference.

dashes

This is just AP style, but a common error is the wrong dash. That particular punctuation, as opposed to a hyphen, is an em-dash (represented here by two hyphens [--] but in print by the actual typographic character). There’s a space before and after.

Example: The mayor -- a charming fellow -- left a bit to be desired in his diction as he labeled the archbishop a “homophone,” meaning to call him a “homophobe.”

In Quark, an em-dash is made by typing shift+option+hyphen. One exception is in a “headline1” headline, in which an actual em-dash sometimes looks too long. In such a case, try an en-dash, made by typing option+hyphen.

days of the week

Because the Budgeteer’s publication date is Sunday but is delivered Saturday mornings (or occasionally even Friday evenings), there is a potential for confusion about days of the week. So, standard rules apply Monday through Thursdays, but references to Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays should have dates affixed.

The show is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday.
but
The show is set for 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 16.

DECC

The Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center can be referred to as “the DECC” in all references. When referring to events, it is a good idea to specify what part of the DECC is being used, e.g. the DECC Auditorium, the DECC Arena or various ballrooms and convention halls.

DEDA

Use Duluth Economic Development Authority on first reference. This is city government’s economic development group.

Depot

Its full name is the St. Louis County Heritage and Arts Center’s Historic Union Depot, but the Depot is fine. Address is 506 W. Michigan St.

drop caps

All bylined stories require drop caps. On section covers, all drop caps are big (use “body copy big drop cap” paragraph stylesheet plus the “drop cap” character stylesheet on the drop cap itself). Beware changes in tracking on the entire story, which can alter spacing on drop caps. There should be, at a minimum, 15 points between drop caps and the next character.

If a story must start with two characters of drop cap -- if, for instance, the story opens with a quote -- this can be altered by selecting “Formats” under the “Style” menu in Quark. Set the characters for the drop cap to “2.” Both characters must be changed as above, but the first character should have tracking set to “0.”

Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce

Can be referred to as “the Chamber” (note cap) on second reference.

Duluth Convention and Visitor’s Bureau

Now Visit Duluth.

Duluth Downtown Waterfront District

A “special services district” organized by the Greater Downtown Council and businesses in the downtown and waterfront areas.

Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra

Although the hyphen would be very useful here, this is another hyphen-phobic organization.

Editor’s Note

Editor’s notes are set in “body copy no tabs” stylesheet plus italic and bold on the “Editor’s Note” part (note caps). Like this:

Editor’s Note: This is the third and final installment in a series on the Honeywell barrels dumped into Lake Superior.

Editor’s notes are usually placed before the bylines.

Fourthfest

The city of Duluth’s annual Fourth of July celebration, now covering multiple days with music and fireworks at Bayfront Festival Park.

entry name goes here

Entry explanation goes here.

WRONG: If needed, explain how not to use the entry.

RIGHT: ... And the proper way to use it.

Greater Downtown Council

Downtown Duluth business group. Can be called “GDC” on second reference.

Great Lakes Aquarium

Freshwater aquarium on Bayfront next to Bayfront Festival Park. Can be “GLA” on second reference.

headlines

On a typical page, Budgeteer style is that the lead story should be set with the stylesheet “headline1” and all other stories set with “headline2” (with sizes adjusted to fit space constraints). The paper capitalizes only the initial word and proper nouns. Use single quotations marks in headlines. Use a verb in headlines. All headlines are left-aligned.

WRONG: Building a Better Mousetrap

RIGHT: Local inventor builds a ‘way cool’ mousetrap

Holy Cow! Press

Even though it’s bad style, we humor them and include the exclamation point.

homeschool

It’s true that people don’t publicschool or privateschool their kids, but homeschool is in the dictionary. Also: homeschool student, homeschooler (can be used to refer to a parent who homeschools children), homeschooled (adj.).

impact

Not a rule, but a strong suggestion…. Unless we’re talking about teeth or meteors, “affected” or some other verb is usually less, um, affected or vague.

WORSE: The state budget cuts will impact the city’s needy.

BETTER: The state budget cuts could reduce funding for several social service programs, hurting underemployed workers and their families.

Internet terms

Much confusion still arises from Internet terms. Here is how the Budgeteer handles them: Web site, Internet, online, e-mail. Some outdated terms to avoid: home page, World Wide Web.

Furthermore, Web site address protocol:

WRONG: http://www.duluthbudgeteer.com

RIGHT: www.duluthbudgeteer.com

BREEZY: DuluthBudgeteer.com (note caps)

Care should be taken when Web site and e-mail addresses run multiple lines so that hyphens are not added automatically where they are not a part of the actual address. This causes confusion.

Lake Superior College

Can be “LSC” on second reference or in tight headlines. Part of MnSCU (see below).

Terry Mattson

Terry Mattson is the executive director of Visit Duluth. He writes a business column for the Budgeteer.

Midwest

Mitchell Auditorium

Main auditorium at the College of St. Scholastica.

MnDOT

Minnesota Department of Transportation on first reference. “MnDOT” is fine on second reference, but note spelling. (Don’t use: Mn/DOT, MnDot, Mindot, Mn DOT, etc.)

MnSCU

Second-reference abbreviation for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system, which includes Lake Superior College.

MPAC

Marshall Performing Arts Center on first reference. Located at the University of Minnesota Duluth, this venue houses primarily theater events. The facility also includes Dudley Experimental Theatre, its smaller second stage.

Newsline

Page 2’s info box, formerly known as The Newsline, includes a list of advertising inserts, any corrections (or, if none, information on how to submit them) and notable quotables (“Well Said”) from that week’s stories.

News to Use boxes

A nice graphic element to use with stories, News to Use boxes provide an entry point and user-friendly information. Use element found in the Page Builders library. Type is set with “news to use body” stylesheet and whatever additional formatting seems helpful.

Online, News to Use boxes should be formatted as such: Following the story, create a horizontal rule (< hr >) then bold (< b >), NEWS TO USE in caps, unbold (< /b >), a break to avoid space between lines (< br >) and the relevant text. (Remove spaces from HTML code to make it work, of course.)

neighborhoods

Some notable Duluth neighborhood names: Spirit Valley, Lincoln Park, Central Hillside, East Hillside, Endion, Congdon, Woodland, Morley Heights, Piedmont, Lakeside, Park Point, downtown, Morgan Park, Gary-New Duluth, Hunters Park. Avoid West End (now Lincoln Park).

Norshor Theater

Northland

Always capitalized and one word. Many Northland residents are struggling to keep up in this poor economy.

obituaries

Unless it is a paid obituary, we run a form of death notice with no mug shot. Example:

Patricia ‘Patsy’ Kathleen (Murphy) Axell, 86
Patricia “Patsy” Kathleen (Murphy) Axell, 86, of Duluth, died Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2008. Services were held Monday. Interment was at Calvary Cemetery. Arrangements were handled by Dougherty Funeral Home.

Steve O’Neil

St. Louis County commissioner, CHUM worker, community activist.

Page Builders library

This document contains pre-built items for use with the main Budgeteer template, including text boxes and photo boxes of various column widths, obituary boxes, News to Use boxes, refers, pull quotes, standing heads and many other useful things. The Page Builders library should open with Quark. If not, find the copy in the templates folder on your hard drive. If you can’t find it, make a copy of the one in the Templates folder in the BudgEdit server. Do not open the copy on the server and use it as your own.

pagination

For tips on page layout, see the following items in this stylebook: bylines, Community Calendar, corrections, cutlines, drop caps, headlines, News to Use boxes, Page Builders library, obituaries, photographs, pull quotes, rules and borders, standing heads, taglines, templates and tracking.

Jeno Paulucci

Frozen entrees magnate and Duluth-based entrepreneur.

PAVSA

Program for Aid to Victims of Sexual Assault.

photographs

Photographs should be sized by column width and set to 200 dpi, saved in TIFF format in grayscale or black and white as specified. When presented on the page, unless circumstances demand otherwise, photographs should have a .5 pt. border. All images other than mug shots and line art should have a photo credit and cutlines. See also “cutlines” entry.

Play Ground

Two words, both capped. Space run by the Duluth Playhouse at the Technology Village downtown.

Roger Reinert

Representative for District 7B in the Minnesota legislature. Former Duluth city councilor.

David Ross and Dave Ross

David Ross is the president of the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce and writes a column for the Budgeteer in the Business & Technology section. Dave Ross is the mayor of Superior.

rules and borders

The Budgeteer’s typical style is to use 1 pt. borders and rules. For bordered text boxes, standard text inset is 6 pts.

Brian Ryks

Executive director of the Duluth Airport Authority.

Sacred Heart Music Center

Formerly Duluth’s Catholic Cathedral, the historic building is now a nonprofit music center and recording studio. Sacred Heart is fine on second reference.

standing heads

The standing head page art element is found in (where else?) the Page Builders library. It can be extended from one to three or more columns wide, but be careful when changing the width. (It’s best to use the Item tool in Quark when changing the width so that the two grouped elements involved will always be the same width; otherwise the type’s vertical alignment may be skewed.) Standing heads should never be stretched vertically. Type is in all caps, and font and other attributes -- except size, when necessary -- should not be altered.

Standing heads are used to signify commentaries and reviews, as well as to cover the obituaries, a series of business briefs or community briefs and so on.

Kristi Stokes

Kristi Stokes is president of the Greater Downtown Council.

taglines

All columnists should have a tagline, set in paragraph style “body copy no tabs” plus italics. For staff members, indicate name, title and contact information.

Rob Gordon is the Budgeteer News’ Arts & Entertainment editor. Reach him at top5@duluthbudgeteer.com or 723-1207.

For non-staff members, see individual listings.

team names

University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (’Dogs)
College of St. Scholastica Saints
Duluth Central Trojans
Duluth Denfeld Hunters
Duluth East Greyhounds (’Hounds)
Hermantown Hawks
Proctor Rails
Cloquet Lumberjacks

telephone numbers

Telephone numbers which are local calls and have 218 area codes do not require their area codes to be listed. Because of cell phone use, all other numbers require area codes and should be formatted as follows: (715) 555-5555. This includes toll-free numbers: (800) 555-5555. If a press release is submitted with cutesy phone numbers that spell out different words, replace the text with the corresponding numbers. (Avoid 623-NAPA, for instance, as this will only waste readers’ time. Use 623-6272 in its place.)

templates

Every pagination terminal should have a current copy of the Budgeteer’s main template, as well as a copy of the Page Builders library. The template contains master pages for most of the things you will lay out in the Budgeteer, as well as built-in stylesheets, H&Js and colors. See also “pagination” entry.

tracking

Tracking is the distance between characters. Between a drop cap and the next character, it must be no less than 15 pts., preferably 20 pts. However, tracking may be increased or decreased to help fit copy to a given space. The acceptable range is +2 to -2.

Twin Cities

Acceptable in reference to Minneapolis-St. Paul. Capitalized.

University of Minnesota Duluth

They don’t like hyphens anymore. UMD on second reference. See “team names.”

University of Wisconsin-Superior

They do. UWS on second reference.

Visit Duluth

Formerly the Duluth Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, this organization promotes the Duluth tourist industry. It is partially funded by that industry and by the city’s tourism tax.

Larry Weber

Writes “Northland Nature,” a community column for the Budgeteer News. Here’s his tagline:

Retired teacher Larry Weber is the author of many books available now, including “Backyard Almanac” and “Butterflies of the Northwoods.” He lives in Carlton County.

Weber Music Hall

Recital hall at the University of Minnesota Duluth, used by many local groups and traveling musicians like the folk duo Storyhill.

West Duluth

Formerly a separate city. Everything west of Mesaba Avenue to Fond du Lac. Do not confuse with West End. See “neighborhoods” entry.

WLSSD

Second-reference abbreviation for the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District.

Women’s Community Development Organization

Can be WCDO on second reference. Formerly known as the Women’s Traditional Housing Coalition Inc. (WTHC), a name which is still used in reference to the organization’s transitional housing program. Web site: www.wthc.org.

Women’s Traditional Housing Coalition Inc.

See “Women’s Community Development Organization” entry.

Last updated: July 12, 2010

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SAMPLE ENTRY

entry name goes here

Entry explanation goes here.

WRONG: If needed, explain how not to use the entry.

RIGHT: ... And the proper way to use it.