Trust Tip 20: Explain your word choices

Published on June 29, 2019 by Lynn Walsh | Reading Time: < 1 minute

When writing a story or headline, journalists are ideally choosing their words carefully. Sometimes our decisions follow company style guides. Other times they’re the center of lengthy newsroom discussions. But we very rarely talk to our audiences about why we use certain words over others, let alone shine a light on the debate and discussion that took place. More from this edition can be found here and to receive the tips in your inbox each week click here.

Lynn Walsh

lynn@trustingnews.org | + posts

Assistant director Lynn Walsh (she/her) is an Emmy award-winning journalist who has worked in investigative journalism at the national level and locally in California, Ohio, Texas and Florida. She is the former Ethics Chair for the Society of Professional Journalists and a past national president for the organization. Based in San Diego, Lynn is also an adjunct professor and freelance journalist. She can be reached at lynn@TrustingNews.org and on Twitter @lwalsh.