Author Archive
Articles by Merrill Perlman | Email the Author
Comma Suture
A little punctuation mark can hold things together, or rend them asunder
By Merrill Perlman Aug 25, 2008 at 01:31 PM
The selection of Senator Joe Biden to be Barack Obama’s running mate has revived the debate over a statement Biden... More
It’s Your Cull
Two different meanings for one little word
By Merrill Perlman Aug 18, 2008 at 02:49 PM
If you’re a poker player, when you “cull” the cards you have selected a bunch of good cards and arranged... More
When Loosing Is Winning
“Loosing” vs. “losing”
By Merrill Perlman Aug 11, 2008 at 02:03 PM
A lot of people seem to be loosing their minds lately, or at least their grips on their dictionaries. “Loosing... More
Richter Mortis
The decline and fall of the Richter scale
By Merrill Perlman Aug 4, 2008 at 02:56 PM
The recent earthquake in Southern California unearthed a reason to celebrate. Not because it wasn't the Big One, or even... More
Check Your Herring
“Mondegreen”? Did I hear you right?
By Merrill Perlman Jul 28, 2008 at 08:42 AM
Many language lovers’ favorite time is when a dictionary is updated, because they can see what new words make the... More
Absent Without Leave
Is it OK to use “absent” as a preposition?
By Merrill Perlman Jul 21, 2008 at 12:39 PM
John Cochran, a writer-editor for the federal government, writes: Here’s a construction I don’t like: ‘Absent some better way …... More
And Another Think
By Merrill Perlman Jul 17, 2008 at 09:00 AM
If you think you've heard all of the linguistic twists and turns, you've got another thing coming. Well, actually you've... More
#Realtalk: This isn’t another ‘golden age’ for print - But it is one for media
Social media in smaller markets - How three social media managers deal with smaller markets and more local coverage.
A rally for laid-off Sun-Times photogs - A protest Thursday morning drew about 150 picketers to the newspaper’s headquarters
Reporting, or illegal hacking - Scripps reporters are accused of violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
Exchange Watch: California Dreaming - Low healthcare premiums on the West Coast were trumpeted as a big, good-news Obamacare story. But: “Compared to what?”
One of the great reporters of his generation died Tuesday at 33. The stories he wrote, and the ones he didn’t live to write
Michael Hastings: my friend and his enemies
Hastings was fearless and shook things up - especially with his McChrystal expose. The haters in the media couldn’t forgive him
Journalism is about finding flaws and magnifying them, and surely someone who would spill massive loads of state secrets must contain a few broken parts, right?
Call it the Politico rhetorical crutch
The inside-the-beltway publication’s go-to phrase
Rachel Maddow’s tribute to Michael Hastings
“Michael was angry … he was angry about things that weren’t right in the world. He was angry with war and with loss, and that drove his reporting.”
CJR's Guide to Online News Startups
Uptown Messenger – Hyperlocal news for a neighborhood in New Orleans
Who Owns What
The Business of Digital Journalism
A report from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Questions and exercises for journalism students.
