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Do not be taken in by 'insiderisms.' Fledgling columnists, eager to impress readers with their grasp of journalistic jargon, are drawn to such arcane spellings as 'lede.' Where they lede, do not follow.

William Safire

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William Safire
Age: 79 †
Born: 1929
Born: December 17
Died: 2009
Died: September 27
Author
Columnist
Journalist
Writer
New York City
New York
William Lewis Safire
Taken
Spelling
Eager
Impress
Fledgling
Grasp
Fledglings
Drawn
Arcane
Readers
Columnists
Follow
Journalistic
Reader
Jargon

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What a joy it is to see really professional media manipulation.
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A dependent clause is like a dependent child: incapable of standing on its own but able to cause a lot of trouble.
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This is what it's all about. From what I could see, you could get a bunch of people together, whip up the press and have some impact.
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One challenge to the arts in America is the need to make the arts, especially the classic masterpieces, accessible and relevant to today's audience.
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The wonderful thing about being a New York Times columnist is that it's like a Supreme Court appointment - they're stuck with you for a long time.
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Better to be a jerk that knees than a knee that jerks.
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The right to do something does not mean that doing it is right.
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I'm willing to zap conservatives when they do things that are not libertarian.
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The Latin motto over Poindexter's new Pentagon office reads Scientia Est Potentia - knowledge is power. Exactly: the government's infinite knowledge about you is its power over you.
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Never look for the story in the 'lede.' Reporters are required to put what's happened up top, but the practiced pundit places a nugget of news, even a startling insight, halfway down the column, directed at the politiscenti. When pressed for time, the savvy reader starts there.
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English is a stretch language one size fits all.
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Remember to never split an infinitive. The passive voice should never be used. Do not put statements in the negative form. Proofread carefully to see if you words out. And don't start a sentence with a conjugation.
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Took me a while to get to the point today, but that is because I did not know what the point was when I started.
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Cast aside any column about two subjects. It means the pundit chickened out on the hard decision about what to write about that day.
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The perfect Christmas gift for a sportscaster, as all fans of sports clichés know, is a scoreless tie.
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Decide on some imperfect Somebody and you will win, because the truest truism in politics is: You can't beat Somebody with Nobody.
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I could get a better education interviewing John Steinbeck than talking to an English professor about novels.
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The CEO era gave rise to the CFO (not certified flying object, as you might imagine, but chief financial officer) and, most recently, the CIO, chief investment officer, a nice boost for the bookkeeper you can't afford to give a raise . . .
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George Washington had a tough second term.
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One difference between French appeasement and American appeasement is that France pays ransom in cash and gets its hostages back while the United States pays ransom in arms and gets additional hostages taken.
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