"High School" on first reference

[Scouter]

How many of you work at papers that include "High School" or "College" on first reference when identifying a school (ex: Podunk High School, Buttface College)?

We do at my place and it annoys the hell out of me. I don't think it's necessary and I feel like it clutters the lede or nut graph. Thoughts?

 

[BTExpress]

Depends on the reference.

Many schools are a name (Washington, Douglas) that can make it sound like somebody named Washington or Douglas did something if you don't tell the readers it's a high school.

I usually use "High" but not "School" for first reference and usually omit both when the second team is referenced.

"Washington High's 43-game winning streak came to a sudden end Friday night against a Podunk team that could do no wrong . . . "

 

[Moderator1]

Always on first reference.
Sorry. Douglas Freeman High School can then become Freeman. But you're not from around here? What's a Douglas Freeman? What's a J.R. Tucker? It's two words. Doesn't clutter up a thing.
College full names on first reference. Virginia Commonwealth University can then become VCU. James Madison University can then become JMU.
Make it clear to your reader: What sport, what level?

 

[KYSportsWriter]

My old paper used to abbreviate, as in four letters, every school name after first reference.

Frankfort High School would be FHS, Franklin County was FCHS and Western Hills was WHHS. Drove me up a freaking wall every time I saw it.

 

[buckweaver]

Agree with Moddy. Definitely include the level. Make sure to include the sport, too.

Hate to see something like "Podunk beat City 3-2 on Wednesday". That could be soccer, could be baseball, could be tennis, could be volleyball, etc. Could be football, too. And a lot of schools are named after towns -- so make sure to say high school, college, etc.

Doesn't matter if the sport or level is made clear by a graphical element on the page (with a photo, scoreline, kicker) -- your story should stand by itself, because that's what you have control over as a writer. Maybe that photo doesn't make it on the web site; then how are people supposed to figure it out?

Make it clear. Shouldn't be that hard.

 

[sirvaliantbrown]

100%, you need High School. Always.

 

[Steak Snabler]

Yeah, always High School. Think of all the places where the town and the local school have the same name.

 

[Batman]

Don't we need to give the readers some credit for having a brain? I would hope they can figure out from a headline, picture, graphical element or context of the lede that they're reading a story on a high school sporting event.
I can see it if you're differentiating between something like a city and a county school (Podunk High beat Podunk Central 14-13...) or if it's a common name or the name of the city (Smith High beat Franklin High 14-13...) but I don't see how it's necessary each and every time.

 

[93Devil]

Always on first reference.
Sorry. Douglas Freeman High School can then become Freeman. But you're not from around here? What's a Douglas Freeman? What's a J.R. Tucker? It's two words. Doesn't clutter up a thing.
College full names on first reference. Virginia Commonwealth University can then become VCU. James Madison University can then become JMU.
Make it clear to your reader: What sport, what level?

You forgot this one.

http://www.frederick.k12.va.us/education/school/school.php?sectionid=13

James Wood was beaten by the girls from Stafford...

 

[imjustagirl]

I have never heard of this rule in my entire life.

 

[buckweaver]

Don't we need to give the readers some credit for having a brain? I would hope they can figure out from a headline, picture, graphical element or context of the lede that they're reading a story on a high school sporting event.
I can see it if you're differentiating between something like a city and a county school (Podunk High beat Podunk Central 14-13...) or if it's a common name or the name of the city (Smith High beat Franklin High 14-13...) but I don't see how it's necessary each and every time.

But what if you have Podunk College and Podunk High School in the same town, which is frequently the case? Do you ignore it when it's Suburb High vs. Exurb High, both of which are in Podunk, too; in which case, your usage is inconsistent depending on the teams playing? And what if those graphical elements aren't online -- how are readers supposed to know that a picture ran with the story in print that made it clear?

A story should stand by itself. And a writer, especially when school names and mascots are so interchangeable at the prep and sometimes college level, should make sure to be clear, instead of relying on outside elements to explain basic details of the story.

 

[Scouter]

Don't we need to give the readers some credit for having a brain? I would hope they can figure out from a headline, picture, graphical element or context of the lede that they're reading a story on a high school sporting event.
I can see it if you're differentiating between something like a city and a county school (Podunk High beat Podunk Central 14-13...) or if it's a common name or the name of the city (Smith High beat Franklin High 14-13...) but I don't see how it's necessary each and every time.

That's always been my thinking, and I'm a bit surprised you and I seem to be in the minority on this. At my paper we have guides on the page that tell readers the subject of the story (High school baseball, College basketball, etc.). Same goes for our website. Putting it in the story seems redundant to me.

 

[zebracoy]

We only ever use the words "High School" if it refers to a certain location where something is held that doesn't involve one of the teams.

Examples:

"Bloomfield defeated Harbor City, 58-45, in a quarterfinal game."

"Austin Smith's jump of 41 feet, six inches helped Kalamazoo win its third consecutive state championship Saturday at Liverpool High School."

 

[RickStain]

My paper requires the "High School." I'm not a big fan of it in our area.

 

[mediaguy]

If you're writing for the sports section, there is zero need to write "high school" unless there's a college with the same name. If you're writing a 1A story on a pitcher saving a bus full of nuns, fine, step back and say "Johnson, a senior at Frank Lucas High School, said anyone would have done what he did."

It's all about context. Your readers should know the name of the high schools in your readership. My paper, we don't even include the city with the school if it's in our area, but include the city if it's outside our area ... at no point do we write "High School" after the school name on the sports pages.

 

[BTExpress]

At my paper we have guides on the page that tell readers the subject of the story (High school baseball, College basketball, etc.). Same goes for our website. Putting it in the story seems redundant to me.

We have "guides" on top of many game stories that tell the score of the game.

Doesn't mean we can leave the score out of the story for fear of redundancy.

 

[Batman]

Don't we need to give the readers some credit for having a brain? I would hope they can figure out from a headline, picture, graphical element or context of the lede that they're reading a story on a high school sporting event.
I can see it if you're differentiating between something like a city and a county school (Podunk High beat Podunk Central 14-13...) or if it's a common name or the name of the city (Smith High beat Franklin High 14-13...) but I don't see how it's necessary each and every time.

But what if you have Podunk College and Podunk High School in the same town, which is frequently the case? Do you ignore it when it's Suburb High vs. Exurb High, both of which are in Podunk, too; in which case, your usage is inconsistent depending on the teams playing? And what if those graphical elements aren't online -- how are readers supposed to know that a picture ran with the story in print that made it clear?

A story should stand by itself. And a writer, especially when school names and mascots are so interchangeable at the prep and sometimes college level, should make sure to be clear, instead of relying on outside elements to explain basic details of the story.

I admit I'm inconsistent on it, mainly because the schools in our area don't always use it. For example, around here, Podunk High is commonly referred to as "Podunk High" so I'll often call it that. And when we had two area high schools in the same town -- one a private school, one public -- that were called "Shelbyville High" and "Shelbyville Academy" we referred to them as such.
But some of our other schools don't use the "High School" or "Academy" on the end. Podunk County, for example, is usually just called "Podunk County" so that's what we call it. Same with the private schools. They have more common names that don't include the "High School" tag.
Now, if there were a Podunk College and Podunk High School that you cover, by all means use it. Otherwise, give the readers credit that they can figure out what's what.
Basically, it comes down to what it always comes down to -- each paper needs its own rule for it. One size doesn't necessarily fit all.

 

[amoney]

If you're writing for the sports section, there is zero need to write "high school" unless there's a college with the same name. If you're writing a 1A story on a pitcher saving a bus full of nuns, fine, step back and say "Johnson, a senior at Frank Lucas High School, said anyone would have done what he did."

It's all about context. Your readers should know the name of the high schools in your readership. My paper, we don't even include the city with the school if it's in our area, but include the city if it's outside our area ... at no point do we write "High School" after the school name on the sports pages.

Why should readers of the sports sections be required to know the local high schools (when they might not have grown up in the area or have children) but readers of 1A don't?

Consistency from section to section is a good thing.

 

[albert77]

I generally don't use the full term, "Podunk High School," preferring Podunk High. There are other occasions when I don't, when the inference is clear that it's the high school in Podunk, but when I write it that way, I always – always – include a reference in the second or third graf indicating that it's a high school (whatever) game.

One thing that has always bugged the pee out of me has been our paper's style to refer to the University of Mississippi as Ole Miss on first reference. I'd be interested in how some of the other Mississippi writers on here do it.

 

[Clerk Typist]

We never use high school, and don't use the first name -- it's Lincoln beat Washington, not Abraham Lincoln beat George Washington -- and everybody seems to get it.