Avoiding mistakes with The Elements of Style

Craig Silverman says that when errors are published in a newspaper or magazine, they "erode credibility." While Silverman is talking about factual inaccuracies, I'd like to draw attention to some things that makes me squirm: bad grammar and spelling mistakes.
I write for, and have recently been named an editor of, a certain student publication. I am a journalism student with a view to, somehow, wrangle myself writing jobs one day, and every piece I have published in said publication is a precious addition to my portfolio. Which is why I get so angry when mistakes are actually added to my articles by hapless editors. While it's infuriating on a personal level, it's also frustrating because it makes the student publication seem like a very laissez-faire, non-serious paper.
A 1998 study by the American Society of Newspaper Editors found that "each misspelled word, bad apostrophe, garbled grammatical construction, weird cutline and mislabeled map erodes public confidence in a newspaper's ability to get anything right." Exactly.

That's why I propose everybody buy themselves a copy of The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White - more specifically, the newest edition illustrated by amazing New York artist Maira Kalman! So beautiful, you'll want to look at it even when you don't have a stylistic query!

Original Style author Strunk (White added to later editions) provided surprisingly wry examples for every "element." A humourous and pithy man indeed.
Kalman's illustration for:
Well, Susan, this is a fine mess you are in.

May I never have to write an angry letter to the copy editor again!