• How to write a readable OP for the SH section.
    10 replies, posted
Hi guys. Recently, while going through our wonderful SH sub-forum, I have been bombarded by a massive wall of text (that is very unappealing and difficult to read) in nearly every thread with a large source wrapped in QUOTE tags. Here is how you should copy information off of a website if you want to put it in quote tags and make it legible. Say you want to post an article pertaining to the 23 dead bodies that were recently dumped next to the Mexican-American border. If you want to make it look like crap, and have all of your peers laugh at you, you would do it like this: [B]CRAP THREAD[/B] Step 1: Take the title from the website, and make it your own. Say it says "Bodies of 23 found dumped near U.S. border in Mexican drug war." You want to make the title unique, so you change it to "Dozens of Mexican Druggies Found Brutally Murdered On American Borders." Technically, this is true, but it makes you look dumb and sensationalist. I understand that that is the title, but don't take it so literally. Step 2: You quote the text from the source like this: [QUOTE](Reuters) - The bodies of 23 people were found hanging from a bridge or dismembered in ice boxes and garbage bags in northeastern Mexico on Friday, in an escalation of brutal violence involving rivel drug gangs on the U.S. border. In a first incident, the bodies of five men and four women were found hanging from a bridge in Nuevo Laredo, in Tamaulipas state just across the border from the Texas city of Laredo. Police could not confirm who was responsible for the murders but a message seen with the bodies indicated it may have been an attack by the Zetas cartel against the rival Gulf cartel. Hours later, police found the dismembered corpses of 14 people in garbage bags and ice boxes dumped near the police station of Nuevo Laredo, police investigators said. They said the second massacre could have been an act of revenge for the earlier killings, police said. More than 50,000 people have died in drug-related violence in Mexico since President Felipe Calderon launched a crackdown on traffickers after taking office in late 2006 and deployed tens of thousands of federal police and soldiers across Mexico. The Zeta cartel was founded by desertres from the Mexican special forces who became Gulf cartel enforcers and later split from their employers. The two gangs are now fighting for control of local drug trafficking routes. Last month the dismembered remains of 14 men were found stuffed inside a minivan left near Nuevo Laredo's town hall. Days later a car exploded outside police headquarters and police said the explosion was caused by a grenade. Discontent over the bloody attacks is helping fuel support for the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, ahead of Mexico's July 1 presidential election. Opinion polls make the PRI the favorite to regain the presidency they held for most of the past century. The Zetas have also been engaged in hostilities with the powerful Sinaloa cartel, named after the state in northwestern Mexico where violence has surged over the past week. Sinaloa is the home turf of Mexico's most wanted drug trafficker, Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, who heads the Sinaloa cartel, and analysts say his killing or capture would boost Calderon's embattled conservatives ahead of the presidential vote. Calderon cannot seek a second term in office. At least 20 suspected drug gang members, one police officer and a soldier have been killed in six confrontations in Sinaloa since April 28, a spokesman for local state prosecutors said. He was unable to specify which gangs were thought to be behind the latest violence in Sinaloa. [/QUOTE] Note how all of the paragraphs are stuck together. There is no spacing, and it is literally a wall of text. Protip on how to fix this: Hit the "preview post" button. It automatically mashes your text into that wall of filth that you see above. From there, click on the first line and hit enter. Then hit the "down" key on your directional keypad as many times as necessary before you get to the next paragraph's starting word. Then hit enter again, and repeat the last few steps. soon, your thread will look like this: [B]DECENT THREAD[/B] [QUOTE] (Reuters) - The bodies of 23 people were found hanging from a bridge or dismembered in ice boxes and garbage bags in northeastern Mexico on Friday, in an escalation of brutal violence involving rivel drug gangs on the U.S. border. In a first incident, the bodies of five men and four women were found hanging from a bridge in Nuevo Laredo, in Tamaulipas state just across the border from the Texas city of Laredo. Police could not confirm who was responsible for the murders but a message seen with the bodies indicated it may have been an attack by the Zetas cartel against the rival Gulf cartel. Hours later, police found the dismembered corpses of 14 people in garbage bags and ice boxes dumped near the police station of Nuevo Laredo, police investigators said. They said the second massacre could have been an act of revenge for the earlier killings, police said. More than 50,000 people have died in drug-related violence in Mexico since President Felipe Calderon launched a crackdown on traffickers after taking office in late 2006 and deployed tens of thousands of federal police and soldiers across Mexico. The Zeta cartel was founded by desertres from the Mexican special forces who became Gulf cartel enforcers and later split from their employers. The two gangs are now fighting for control of local drug trafficking routes. Last month the dismembered remains of 14 men were found stuffed inside a minivan left near Nuevo Laredo's town hall. Days later a car exploded outside police headquarters and police said the explosion was caused by a grenade. Discontent over the bloody attacks is helping fuel support for the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, ahead of Mexico's July 1 presidential election. Opinion polls make the PRI the favorite to regain the presidency they held for most of the past century. The Zetas have also been engaged in hostilities with the powerful Sinaloa cartel, named after the state in northwestern Mexico where violence has surged over the past week. Sinaloa is the home turf of Mexico's most wanted drug trafficker, Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, who heads the Sinaloa cartel, and analysts say his killing or capture would boost Calderon's embattled conservatives ahead of the presidential vote. Calderon cannot seek a second term in office. At least 20 suspected drug gang members, one police officer and a soldier have been killed in six confrontations in Sinaloa since April 28, a spokesman for local state prosecutors said. He was unable to specify which gangs were thought to be behind the latest violence in Sinaloa. [/QUOTE] Notice how much more open it looks, and how much easier it is to read. Also, with the thread titles, it is much easier to blame a shitty title on the website than it is to take the flak for writing an overly sensationalist title because you could. Thanks for reading, and I hope that this helped.
"Pregnant woman drives into rock, teen blamed."
For brownie points (where did that saying originate anyway?), you could use bold to point out text to people in a hurry. [QUOTE](Reuters) - [B]The bodies of 23 people were found hanging from a bridge or dismembered in ice boxes and garbage bags in northeastern Mexico[/B] on Friday, in an escalation of brutal violence involving rivel drug gangs on the U.S. border. In a first incident, [B]the bodies of five men and four women were found hanging from a bridge[/B] in Nuevo Laredo, in Tamaulipas state just across the border from the Texas city of Laredo. Police could not confirm who was responsible for the murders but a message seen with the bodies indicated [B]it may have been an attack by the Zetas [/B] [B]cartel against the rival Gulf cartel.[/B] [B]Hours later, police found the dismembered corpses of 14 people in garbage bags and ice boxes dumped near the police station of Nuevo Laredo[/B], police investigators said. They said [B]the second massacre could have been an act of revenge for the earlier killings[/B], police said. [B]More than 50,000 people have died in drug-related violence in Mexico[/B] since President Felipe Calderon launched a crackdown on traffickers after taking office in late 2006 and deployed tens of thousands of federal police and soldiers across Mexico. The Zeta cartel was founded by desertres from the Mexican special forces who became Gulf cartel enforcers and later split from their employers. The two gangs are now fighting for control of local drug trafficking routes. [B]Last month the dismembered remains of 14 men were found stuffed inside a minivan[/B] left near Nuevo Laredo's town hall. [B]Days later a car exploded outside police headquarters[/B] and police said [B]the explosion was caused by a grenade.[/B] Discontent over the bloody attacks is helping fuel support for the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, ahead of Mexico's July 1 presidential election. Opinion polls make the PRI the favorite to regain the presidency they held for most of the past century. The Zetas have also been engaged in hostilities with the powerful Sinaloa cartel, named after the state in northwestern Mexico where violence has surged over the past week. Sinaloa is the home turf of Mexico's most wanted drug trafficker, Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, who heads the Sinaloa cartel, and analysts say his killing or capture would boost Calderon's embattled conservatives ahead of the presidential vote. Calderon cannot seek a second term in office. At least 20 suspected drug gang members, one police officer and a soldier have been killed in six confrontations in Sinaloa since April 28, a spokesman for local state prosecutors said. He was unable to specify which gangs were thought to be behind the latest violence in Sinaloa.[/QUOTE] Although, admittedly an article like this you'd probably have to bold the entire thing. It's usually best saved to make a SparkNotes version of lengthy political articles.
[QUOTE=Hidole555;35830100]For brownie points (where did that saying originate anyway?), [/QUOTE] In Girl Scouts (Or in "Brownies" which is for the younger girls IIRC) you get brownie points as a award for doing nice things or something.
[QUOTE=Zackin5;35830662]In Girl Scouts (Or in "Brownies" which is for the younger girls IIRC) you get brownie points as a award for doing nice things or something.[/QUOTE] Oh damnit, I thought it was points you could cash in for brownies. [IMG]http://www.myhomecooking.net/brownies/images/stack-brownies.jpg[/IMG] I've been saving them up for nothing!
[QUOTE] (Reuters) - The bodies of 23 people were found hanging from a bridge or dismembered in ice boxes and garbage bags in northeastern Mexico on Friday, in an escalation of brutal violence involving rivel drug gangs on the U.S. border. In a first incident, the bodies of five men and four women were found hanging from a bridge in Nuevo Laredo, in Tamaulipas state just across the border from the Texas city of Laredo. Police could not confirm who was responsible for the murders but a message seen with the bodies indicated it may have been an attack by the Zetas cartel against the rival Gulf cartel. Hours later, police found the dismembered corpses of 14 people in garbage bags and ice boxes dumped near the police station of Nuevo Laredo, police investigators said. They said the second massacre could have been an act of revenge for the earlier killings, police said. More than 50,000 people have died in drug-related violence in Mexico since President Felipe Calderon launched a crackdown on traffickers after taking office in late 2006 and deployed tens of thousands of federal police and soldiers across Mexico. The Zeta cartel was founded by desertres from the Mexican special forces who became Gulf cartel enforcers and later split from their employers. The two gangs are now fighting for control of local drug trafficking routes. Last month the dismembered remains of 14 men were found stuffed inside a minivan left near Nuevo Laredo's town hall. Days later a car exploded outside police headquarters and police said the explosion was caused by a grenade. Discontent over the bloody attacks is helping fuel support for the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, ahead of Mexico's July 1 presidential election. Opinion polls make the PRI the favorite to regain the presidency they held for most of the past century. The Zetas have also been engaged in hostilities with the powerful Sinaloa cartel, named after the state in northwestern Mexico where violence has surged over the past week. Sinaloa is the home turf of Mexico's most wanted drug trafficker, Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, who heads the Sinaloa cartel, and analysts say his killing or capture would boost Calderon's embattled conservatives ahead of the presidential vote. Calderon cannot seek a second term in office. At least 20 suspected drug gang members, one police officer and a soldier have been killed in six confrontations in Sinaloa since April 28, a spokesman for local state prosecutors said. He was unable to specify which gangs were thought to be behind the latest violence in Sinaloa.[/QUOTE] too many empty lines, that's not how proper journalism redaction works. One must try to separate key parts of the article in paragraphs, which kinda represent sections of the news. Sometimes it is ideal to put subtitles between each "section" to mark them more clearly to the reader. for instance: [B][title][/B] [B][factual summary of the news][/B](this should usually be just one paragraph) [B][further elaboration into the news][/B] (this can be more than one paragraph) [B][related extra info of the news][/B] (not exactly about the news, but relevant things related to it) [B][recap][/B] (sometimes not needed) a proper separation would go like this: [TABLE="width: 800"] [TR] [TD][QUOTE] [B][summary begins][/B] (Reuters) - The bodies of 23 people were found hanging from a bridge or dismembered in ice boxes and garbage bags in northeastern Mexico on Friday, in an escalation of brutal violence involving rivel drug gangs on the U.S. border. [B][summary ends][/B] [B][elaboration][/B] In a first incident, the bodies of five men and four women were found hanging from a bridge in Nuevo Laredo, in Tamaulipas state just across the border from the Texas city of Laredo. Police could not confirm who was responsible for the murders but a message seen with the bodies indicated it may have been an attack by the Zetas cartel against the rival Gulf cartel. Hours later, police found the dismembered corpses of 14 people in garbage bags and ice boxes dumped near the police station of Nuevo Laredo, police investigators said. They said the second massacre could have been an act of revenge for the earlier killings, police said. [B][elaboration ends here][/B] [B][related information][/B] More than 50,000 people have died in drug-related violence in Mexico since President Felipe Calderon launched a crackdown on traffickers after taking office in late 2006 and deployed tens of thousands of federal police and soldiers across Mexico. The Zeta cartel was founded by desertres from the Mexican special forces who became Gulf cartel enforcers and later split from their employers. The two gangs are now fighting for control of local drug trafficking routes. Last month the dismembered remains of 14 men were found stuffed inside a minivan left near Nuevo Laredo's town hall. Days later a car exploded outside police headquarters and police said the explosion was caused by a grenade. Discontent over the bloody attacks is helping fuel support for the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, ahead of Mexico's July 1 presidential election. Opinion polls make the PRI the favorite to regain the presidency they held for most of the past century. The Zetas have also been engaged in hostilities with the powerful Sinaloa cartel, named after the state in northwestern Mexico where violence has surged over the past week. Sinaloa is the home turf of Mexico's most wanted drug trafficker, Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, who heads the Sinaloa cartel, and analysts say his killing or capture would boost Calderon's embattled conservatives ahead of the presidential vote. Calderon cannot seek a second term in office. At least 20 suspected drug gang members, one police officer and a soldier have been killed in six confrontations in Sinaloa since April 28, a spokesman for local state prosecutors said. He was unable to specify which gangs were thought to be behind the latest violence in Sinaloa. [B][related information][/B] [/QUOTE][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]
[QUOTE=barttool;35831072]too many empty lines, that's not how proper journalism redaction works. One must try to separate key parts of the article in paragraphs, which kinda represent sections of the news. Sometimes it is ideal to put subtitles between each "section" to mark them more clearly to the reader. for instance: [B][title][/B] [B][factual summary of the news][/B](this should usually be just one paragraph) [B][further elaboration into the news][/B] (this can be more than one paragraph) [B][related extra info of the news][/B] (not exactly about the news, but relevant things related to it) [B][recap][/B] (sometimes not needed) a proper separation would go like this: [TABLE="width: 800"] [TR] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE][/QUOTE] That is all good and fine, but the point that the OP was trying to make was not "How to Write Good News Articles", but "How to Post in Sensationalist Headlines Without Giving Everyone a Huge Fucking Headache Because You Were Too Lazy To Spend One Minute Formatting the Article Properly".
[QUOTE=Headhumpy;35832454]That is all good and fine, but the point that the OP was trying to make was not "How to Write Good News Articles", but "How to Post in Sensationalist Headlines Without Giving Everyone a Huge Fucking Headache Because You Were Too Lazy To Spend One Minute Formatting the Article Properly".[/QUOTE] so much spacing gives me headaches. what I said was not how to write an article, was how to properly format an article.
[QUOTE=Hidole555;35830746]Oh damnit, I thought it was points you could cash in for brownies. [IMG]http://www.myhomecooking.net/brownies/images/stack-brownies.jpg[/IMG] I've been saving them up for nothing![/QUOTE] At my workplace you actually can get brownies for brownie points. Speaking of which, I need to buy/make some brownies now...
You should have written it as an article and posted it in the SH section.
I like how you directly used a thread by Shian as an example. He's one of the most frequent SH posters, so I think he could use this advice. Now just to figure out how to get him to venture out of SH [to see this].
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