Stylin’
The second in a series on the ideas we received
While many of the ideas we have received have been similar, there have been many unique ones, or ones that are about The Economist itself and some of its ‘products’.
(Disclosure: the ideas mentioned in the next two paragraphs were submitted by Economist Group colleagues David Shirreff and Edward Lucas.)
David felt that it would be a good idea to put The Economist’s Style Guide online 
(in its entirety, as you’ll find that there is already a large amount of useful information on the web site) so that readers could ’suggest updates and log mistakes that they see in The Economist’. David feels that an online guide would help The Economist ‘achieve that perfection of style and content for which we strive’. I can see the Style Guide becoming a wiki online, where users can change and update the guide. David notes that as ‘the English language is constantly evolving, the Style Book would become a living arbiter of what is good, elegant, pleasing English’.
Edward takes this idea a step further by suggesting that we run an online prose clinic. Again, this idea would work well as a wiki and perhaps freelance or retired journalists could be paid for significant contributions to the work.
Other users have also commented on how we can expand on some of our existing features. One user feels that we should elaborate on our Big Mac index to include ‘the price of ingredients, labo r costs, expense of complying with health regulations, and shipping expenses’. He references the ‘Great Tomato Shortage of 2005′ when several hurricanes (including Wilma) hit tomato crops in the US and affected the price of tomatoes - causing some fast food chains to remove the fruit from their burgers or charge extra for them. 
This user suggests that The Economist could ‘analyze how weather affects food prices’ and then ask fast food eaters if ‘the price changes caused them to adjust their eating habits or alter their restaurant preferences’. (Yes, I realise a Big Mac has ). The user then suggests that The Economist could then cover labour conditions, and sanitary regulations to get a wider picture of the influence of the Big Mac.
Bradley Skaggs’ idea submission was also along the line of developing an existing product at The Economist. Except he’s talking about The Economist, itself, and having it translated into different languages. Brad does not suggest a word-by-word translation of each issue into a foreign language but suggests that articles can be translated wiki-style, with the most relevant (or highly debatable) articles being translated first (Brad points to a recent article about property law in China). Having moved to London from Beijing, I like this idea and its related implications (some of which Kirk MacDonald mentioned in his submission). Much like the elaboration on the Big Mac index, a wiki-style translation of articles from The Economist would also open the doors to further discussion on related issues (like this English-language debate on the opposition to the property law).
March 27th, 2007 at 5:42 am
Thanks for sharing your ideas here. And I’ve found David’s idea of putting The Economist’s Style Guide online a useful one. I am going to take this quote in the tone section to heart, “Avoid fancy writing. The most powerful words are the simplest.”
March 27th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
Almost all of the Economist Style Guide (though not the current edition) has been online for years. What I presume David is proposing is moving the guide to a new platform. Making the guide searchable would be most beneficial to users. Letting them debate style and log style mistakes in the newspaper are also intriguing ideas. But I’d be wary of turning the Style Guide into a full-on wiki, where users can change and update the guide at will. At the end of the day many of the rulings in the Style Guide are arbitrary and it will be impossible to establish a consensus of opinion.
April 13th, 2007 at 3:37 am
I agree that a wiki would not be suitable for this, but a discussion forum where points of style can be discussed and debated would be interesting.
Can I suggest not just putting the style guide online, but creating it as an ebook which can be downloaded and as such will be available to everyone whether they are online or offline. The convenience of having this on my hard-drive to access as a reference book would be tremendous without having to wait for pages to load. Moreover, updates can be provided on a regular basis and controlled by The Economist (and I’d be more than delighted to let them pay for this through advertising).
April 13th, 2007 at 6:28 am
Believe or not, China’s property law will affect the whole world in that the twisted personal and social relationship resulted from it will be exported overseas. That’s why it’s quite a topic worth debating, although many would not like to stir up the dirty water.
April 19th, 2007 at 8:07 am
The Economist Style Guide can be turned into an online product. But first it must be widely advertised and publicised. There are still a great many people who still don’t know what the Guide is, and how it can help them write better.
After the blitz the Guide should become an ebook to increase its popularity. And to earn incomes it should carry advertisements. I don’t think people won’t mind this, especially if you tell them you will use them for its further development.
There’re a lot to develop. First there must be a version for the Americans. Most of them still don’t know what British spelling is. So at least one chapter on this subject is needed.
Then, there should be versions for young adults and children. But most of all a version for foreigners who are learning or using English as second language. Also, to make it trendy why not publish a cartoon version. Kids will come running if you do this.
So an opportunity is awaiting. How about opening a website called Economiststyle.com, so the Guide could realise its full potential and greatly benefit its users.