Initial Reading of Strunk and White's "Elements of Style"

I have learned about Strunk and White’s "The Elements of Style," in other classes and I find it to be very helpful with my writing.
There is only one rule I found that doesn’t apply to the journalistic style of writing, which I use most often. That rule is, “In a series of three or more terms with a single conjunction, use a comma after each term except the last.” (2) An example of this is, “At the grocery store I bought apples, oranges, and bananas.” According to Strunk and White, the last comma is called the serial comma.(2) I learned in a news writing class, and through the AP Stylebook, that journalism does not use a serial comma.
I found three rules that are especially important to the journalistic type of writing I want to pursue professionally. The first of these rules is “Use the active voice.” (18) I learned in a modern grammar class that active voice is the most basic expression of core meaning that a sentence can have. This means that active voice makes the point of the sentence clear to the reader. Active voice begins with a subject, followed by a verb. Therefore, the subject of the sentence is the one performing the action, and is not having the action performed to them. An example of active voice is, “The dog bit the man.” The opposite of active voice is passive voice. An example of passive voice is, “The man was bit by the dog.” According to Strunk and White, “The active voice is usually more direct and vigorous than the passive.” (18) Furthermore, “…when a sentence is made stronger, it usually becomes shorter. Thus, brevity is a by-product of vigor.” (19)
Another rule that applies to journalism, and is particularly important to making your writing clear and understandable, is to “Omit needless words.” (23) According to this rule, every word used should have a meaning and reason to be there. Strunk and White state that, “every word should tell.” (23). Omitting needless words allows your writing to be concise. One example, particularly mentioned in Strunk and White, is the phrase, “the fact that.” (24) Instead of saying, “I was unaware of the fact that…,” it is better to write, “I was unaware that…,” or “I did not know…” (24) Making your writing longer than it needs to be only makes it harder for the reader to read, and complicates the point of the sentences. The error of using unnecessary words is also referred to by Strunk and White as “wordiness.” (24)
The final rule that I found that is important to journalism, and is a rule that I need to work on most, is “Put statements in positive form.” (19) According to this rule, we must be careful about using negation, especially the word “not”. An example of this rule is the phrase, “I did not remember.” A better form of the sentence is, “I forgot.” (20) The second sentence is more concise and omits needless words. This rule, for me, requires close reading and revising. The key to each of these rules is to analyze what you write and make corrections, and through practice they will become habit.