Frederick Lantern Style Guide

Article Essentials

Headers and Bylines

All articles require a headline and a deck.

headlines should be 4 to 7 words and be written in Up Style
decks should be 10-20 words, have no period, and be written in Down Style
info pages are not articles and should only have a headline

All articles require a real byline (no "anonymous" or pennames).

all Lantern staff members should add the title "Staff Writer" in Up Style to their byline
any author who is not Lantern staff should have the title of "Special Contributor" in Up Style to their byline
articles only receive dual author credit if both authors spent an equal amount of time writing or revising and generated roughly the same amount of text

Categorization

No article should be left as "Uncategorized" unless approved by the staff adviser.

News: any important events, announcements, or popular culture items, including pro sports and celebrity info

Sports: stories about Frederick athletics, CHSAA, or high school sports in general

Arts: stories about the Frederick High visual and performing arts programs, including concert and theatre reviews

Student Life: stories about Frederick academics, general school topics, and teenage trends and interests

Student Voices: opinion articles and podcasts

headlines begin "Dear [Someone]: Opinion"
select both "Student Life" and "Student Voices" for the article to display properly on the homepage

Senior Spotlight: profiles on seniors that should come out every Sunday between Labor Day and Graduation

all articles use the Immersive Half-Photo template
headlines begin "SENIOR NAME IN CAPS: Headline"
do not select "Student Life" in addition to "Senior Spotlight" for the article to display properly on the homepage

Reviews: any summary, analysis, and recommendation of a recent media release (past 30 days), older media that is rereleased in theatres or hits anniversary; public exhibition or service, or technology

Film: any theatrical release, including day-and-date streaming
- categorize into both "Film" and "Reviews" for the article to display properly on the homepage
TV & Streaming: episodic series, live broadcast events that are not sports or speeches ("News"), or full-length movies that are only available on a streaming service
- categorize into both "TV & Streaming" and "Reviews" for the article to display properly on the homepage
Music: album releases only
- singles of note and live pop concert reviews are "News"
- social media/Tik-Tok trends and local bands are "Student Life"
- categorize into both "Music" and "Reviews" for the article to display properly on the homepage
ranking lists of media are "Student Life"
award show recaps are "News"

Firefly: the student literary magazine

Archives: Every July, the previous years content moves to that year's subcategory in the Archives

Campus Resources: articles with permanent information for students and staff like school attendance policies, bell schedules, and how eligibility works

Special Sections: when appropriate, the "Arts" section on the homepage can be replaced by a special section; past special sections have included "COVID-19 Updates" and "Election 2024."

Images and Captions

Linking and Embedding

Infoboxes

Story Format Guidelines

News

This story reports verified facts that the writer personally observed or has researched using the credible reporting of others. All sources are hyperlinked within the article.

News includes stories in the categories of News, Sports, and Arts.

The tone of a news article should be unbiased and objective and never use first-person (I, me, my) or second-person (you).

News should use the single sidebar template unless editorial decides a topic may be too politically controversial to host advertising. In these cases, editors will change the template to full width.

The featured image must be 2:1 and set to appear above the story.

To be timely, news stories should be published no later than one week after the newsworthy event occurred.

Explainer

This story explores an important topic affecting our readers, provides background on how it came to be, and clarifies its relevance using verifiable facts and community perspectives.

The tone of a feature article should be unbiased and objective and never use first-person (I, me, my) or second-person (you).

Explainers use a variety of templates:

short explainers should use the single sidebar template
articles over 1,000 words should use a Full Width template
articles with more than five subhead sections should use the Long Form Immersive Photo template
an ongoing series of features should have its own custom template with all related articles appearing in the sidebar (to do this, give every article the same tag)

The featured image must be 2:1 and set to appear above the story.

Explainers are usually not time-bound and can be published anytime. Ongoing series should be published weekly on the same day for consistency.

Review

This story evaluates a product, business, service, or new and newsworthy media (film/TV, music, books, and video games) based on the writer’s experience and material criteria.

While reviews are based on a writer's opinions, the tone should stay objective, avoid second person (you), and never use first person (I, me, my).

Music reviews should always use the Immersive Half-Photo template. Other reviews should always use the single sidebar template unless the media is rated R, TV-MA, or an equivalent. In these cases, advertisers may not like the content, so use a Full Width template.

The featured image must be 1:1 and set to appear beside the story. Alternatively, the featured image can be set to not appear on the page if the writer prefers a 2:1 inline image above the article.

Officially released posters, presser photos, and object photos (like album art and book covers) fall under Fair Use for reviews and can be sources for images.

Recommendations on whether to buy, use, or experience the topic of the review should not use any rating system (number of stars, thumbs up or down, etc.)

The word "review" and the medium of the review topic (e.g., video games, horror film, books) should be in the tags.

To be timely, reviews should always be published within 30 days of opening day or day of release.

Profile

This story shares the experience and perspective of someone relevant to our readers through an edited interview, which was not fully fact-checked by the writer or editors.

Profiles cannot be in Q&A format. Instead, they should intersperse the writer's objective perspective on the person with direct quotes from the interview.

Profiles should always use the Immersive Half-Photo template.

Since the Immerse Half-Photo template is used, the featured image must be 1:1.

Profiles are usually not time-bound and can be published anytime. However, subjects may assume the piece will be published soon after the interview, so touch base with them regarding when the piece will be published.

Opinion

This story promotes a subjective belief or perspective relevant to our readers by drawing conclusions from credible facts, which are independently verified by our editorial team.

The tone should be subjective and address a specific audience. While these articles can use first-person (I, me, my) and second-person (you) pronouns, that use should be minimal.

Opinions should always use the single sidebar template.

The featured image must be 2:1 and set to appear above the story.

The word "opinion" must be in the tags for the sake of transparency.

Opinions are sometimes time-bound. It's best to publish the articles within 30 days of the article's submission.

Multimedia Articles

Slideshow Galleries

Slideshow galleries are based on photojournalism more than text journalism and tell a story through original images.

Slideshow articles can be used for news and explainers.

Slideshow articles should use the single sidebar template.

Slideshow articles use 12 to 16 2:1-sized photos. To create the slideshow:

go to "Set Featured Image"
upload all the desired photos in a bulk upload
change the Filter Media dropdown to "Uploaded to this Post"
add the caption and credit to each photo
drag and drop the photos into the desired order
click "Set Featured Image"
change "Location" in the featured image box to "Slideshow of All Attached Images"

Each photo needs a caption of at least 40 words, and at least half must have direct quotes from the subjects of the photos.

The article needs a 150-word minimum introduction to the slideshow. This introduction should provide the background and context as to why the topic is best expressed through images.

Podcast Episodes

Podcasts tell a story through audio interviews.

Podcasts can be used for reviews, profiles, and opinions.

Podcasts should have a minimum of five episodes, and each podcast should be a minimum of 5 minutes and under an hour. All episodes in the series need the same intro and outro music for consistency.

Every podcast needs to have two hosts and at least one new guest per episode.

Each podcast episode needs its own article. The headline of the article should be "Podcast Title, Episode #: Name of Episode" and the deck should be a brief description of who the guest is and a hint to the topics of conversation.

Podcast articles must use the Immersive Half-Photo template and come out on the same day the podcast posts to Spotify.

The podcast can only be embedded in the article, not natively hosted. Once recorded and edited, an editor must upload the podcast episode to the Frederick Lantern Spotify. The episode title and description on Spotify should match the headline and deck of the article.

After this happens, copy the embedded media code from Spotify and add it to the "Add Video or Embed Code" field near the featured image field (select "Above Story" for placement).

Speaking of featured images, the podcast should have a 1:1 featured image of the podcast guest.

The article needs a 150-word minimum introduction to the episode. This introduction should provide the background and context as to who the guest is, what they are there to talk about, and some highlights from the conversation.

Under the podcast introduction, list the following credits using bullet points:

Hosts:
Guests:
Date of recording:
Audio recording by:
Audio editing and mixing by:
Music by:
Series created by:

Video Segments

Video segments tell a story through a mix of visual footage, narration, and interviews.

Videos can be used for news, explainers, and profiles.

Videos should be a minimum of 2 minutes and under 5 minutes.

Every video needs two on-camera interviews. Only use the responses, not the questions being asked. The voice of the interviewer should only be heard (if it all) as a voiceover bridging together the segments.

Videos should be embedded in a short but complete article that could stand alone without the video. The video should enhance the article with new but relevant information best expressed through visuals and sound.

The video cannot be natively hosted, so after the video is finished, an editor must upload it to the Frederick Lantern YouTube channel. After this happens, copy the embedded media code from YouTube and add it to the story using the "Add SNO Story Element" button.

The video should be all video and not use any still images except for a three-second credits card at the end. The following credits should appear:

Story by:
Featured interviewees:
Date of recording:
Video recording by:
Editing and audio mixing by:
Music by:
Narrated by:

Writing Style

Names of People

Always use a person’s first and last name the first time they are mentioned in a story. Any time after that, only use their last name unless writing a profile on that person.

Always include honorifics with a period: Dr., Gov., Rep., Rev., Sen.

Do not use courtesy titles such as Mr., Mrs., Miss, Mx., or Ms.

Only capitalize a job title if it comes before a name (presidential election vs. President Abraham Lincoln)

Politians should always have their party indicated in their first introduction. Always indicate a representative district for House members like this: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY14).

Titles of Media

Contrary to the AP Style Manual, the Lantern uses Up Style for all titles, including article headlines. The first word in a title is always capitalized, and every other word is capitalized except:

articles (a, an, the)
coordinating conjunctions (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)
prepositions (e.g., of, to, with, through)

Titles of books, films, TV and streaming series, video games, and albums should be italicized

Titles of poems, songs, episodes, articles should be enclosed in quotation marks

Titles of websites and periodicals (like The Frederick Lantern) get no additional punctuation

Numbers

Numbers one through ten are always spelled out. Use digits for everything else

Never start a sentence with a digit

Ages are always numbers

Dollar signs go before the amount, not after

Do not use st, nd, rd, or th with dates. Words like first, third, and fifth should be spelled out if needed except when it comes to locations (5th Circuit Court, 10th Street, 2nd ward)

Scores and vote totals are always digits, even if under ten

Spell out the units in dimensions instead of using marks (5-foot-3, not 5'3")

Never use an apostrophe to add an -s to a digit (1990s, 20s)

Punctuation

Contrary to the AP Style Manual, The Frederick Lantern includes a serial comma after every item in a list but the last (apples, pears, and bananas)

If items in a list use commas, separate those items using semicolons (The film stars Cynthia Erivo, who plays Elphaba; international pop star Ariana Grande, who plays Galinda; Bridgerton's Johnathan Bailey, who plays Fiyero; and Michelle Yeoh, who worked with Director John Chu on Crazy Rich Asians and plays Madame Morrible.)

Commas and periods go within quotation marks.

Paragraphs are never indented.

Only use an ampersand (&) if a business uses it in their name.

When removing part of a source quote, replace the missing text with an ellipsis in brackets: [...]

When qualifying something with the adverb well, use a hyphen to connect it to the adjective if before the noun (a well-known author) but not after the noun (the author became well known).

Abbreviations

Abbreviations of Latin phrases are lowercase and get periods: a.m., p.m., i.e., e.g., etc.

All other abbreviations are in all caps without periods: USA, NASA, CDC, MST, TV, NORAD

BCE (before common era) should be used instead of BC (before Christ); CE (common era) should be used instead of AD (anno Domini [in the year of the Lord]).

OK can be in all caps or spelled out in lowercase (okay); Ok and ok are not acceptable [this is contrary to AP Style]

Abbreviate the months Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., and Dec. when pared with a digit (day or year)

Since The Frederick Lantern doesn't include datelines, state names should never be abbreviated

Usage

Use between and each other with pairs only; use among and one another for groups of three or more. Amongst is British English and should not be used.

Directions in American English don't end in -s: toward, forward, backward, upward, downward.

The correct spelling is drive-thu.

Pay attention to the capitalization done by tech companies: YouTube, ChatGPT, OpenAI.

Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day all have an apostrophe. Vertans Day does not.

Daylight saving time has no plurality and is always lowercase.

Acceptable Terminology

Obscene Language and Slang

Article authors may not use any obsenity in their writing except:

damn when used in a religious context
hell when used in a religious context
bastard when referring to inheritance practices
these words plus ass, jackass, bitch, and piss if used in important quotes or media titles (e.g., Damn Yankees, My Old Ass, "The Bitch is Back")
all other obsenities, if found in titles or vital quotes, must be censored by writing the first letter followed by a hyphen for every subsequent letter in the word (f---, s---, p----); grawlix (#&$%!) and asterisks should not be used

When they cannot be avoided, these are the preferred for parts of the human body: breast, nipple, butt or buttocks, gluteal cleft, and pubic region. All other terms should be avoided or censored.

Ethnicity-Related Language

Avoid mentions of race unless it is relevant.

The term white is preferred over Caucassian and is not capitalized.

Black is preferred over African American and should not be used singularly (She is a member of the Black community, not She is Black).

Negro may only be used as part of an official title (e.g., the Negro Leagues, The American Society of Magical Negros). While used in many titles and quotes, n----- (both versions ending in -a and -er) must always be avoided if possible and censored if not.

Latino is preferred over Hispanic or Latinx.

AAPI is preferred over Asian American.

Native Americans, First Nations, and Amerindians are all equally acceptable terms for those indiginous to America. Indian should only be used if part of an official title (e.g., Bureau of Indian Affairs, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian).

Specific blends of ethnic identies (e.g., Mexican American, Hawaiian Mormon) do not use hyphens.

Collectively, BIPOC is preferred over minorities or people of color. Colored should never be used.

Biracial and multiracial should be used instead of mixed race.

Racism/racist only describes laws and policies; beliefs and language should be described as prejudiced or discriminatory. Use bigot/bigots for prejudiced people, not racist/racists.

Gender-Related Language

Use terms that can apply to any gender (e.g., humankind instead of mankind, police officer instead of policeman, actor instead of actress). Avoid binary groups as well (e.g., men and women, ladies and gentlemen).

Only use the singular boy/boys for children; for teens, use teen boy/boys or young man/men; across all age ranges, use men.

Only use the singular girl/girls for children; for teens, use teen girl/girls or young woman/women; across all age ranges, use women.

Nonbinary and LGBTQ+ are preferred over homosexual. As a descriptive term, queer is preferred over gay (e.g., queer studies, queer community).

Cisgender is preferred over straight or heterosexual.

Use sexual orientation or romantic attraction, not sexual preference.

Ability-Related Language

The terms disability and disabled are acceptable when relevant. Do not use euphemisms such as handi-capable, differently abled, or physically challenged. Never use handicapped.

When it comes to specific disabilities, use person-first language (e.g., a boy with autism not an autistic boy). Blind and deaf are exceptions to this rule.

Older adult and elder community are preferred over the elderly. To avoid confusion, seniors should only refer to those in twelfth grade and not older people.

Political Language

Only use majority (as in a majority of the vote or majority of Americans) if the amount is over 50%. For amounts that are more than the opposition received that are smaller than 50%, use plurality.

Unless included before names, these titles should always be lowercase: president, vice president, press secretary, majority leader, and minority leader; first lady is always lowercase.

Always capitalize Election Day.

Use climate change, not global warming.

Use anti-abortion advocate, not pro-life; similarly, use abortion rights advocate, not pro-choice or pro-abortion.

"Woke" and "anti-woke" are nebulous social terms without recognized definitions and, if used, require quotations.

A nonprofit is a charitable organization with specific government tax-exempt status. A not-for-profit is a business whose primary mission is not to make money (like a school newspaper).

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