Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Let’s get rid of journalese



Let’s talk about journalese, that twisted language peculiar to news writing. It looks almost like English, but it’s a weird form of the mother tongue. Its principal features are shopworn words and phrases, cliches, epithets used as synonyms for names, hype verbs to convey phony excitement, odd syntax and compression of sentences into bizarre forms.
In journalese, events are not begun or started. They are “kicked off” or “launched.” Plans are not announced, made public or revealed. They are “unveiled.” (Have you ever seen a veil on a plan?)
In normal English, we would write that Jim was born and reared in New York and joined the Army when he was 19. In journalese, this becomes a non sequitur: A native of New York, Jim joined the Army when he was 19. It’s a non sequitur because one fact is not shown to be a cause of the other. Jim might have joined the Army if he were a native of Peoria.
In normal English, we would say that Susan has two children or is the mother of two children. In journalese, this is artificially compressed into an awkward epithet: the mother of two.
Journalists use such epithets, presumably, because they think they are tight writing. “The car salesman” is shorter than “Jim is a car salesman,” although not by much. Tightness is a poor substitute for smoothness.
In normal English, we would say that Susan’s home is at 212 Elm Street. In journalese, this becomes her “212 Elm Street home.” Which implies that she has other homes. If Susan is wealthy and does indeed have other homes, OK.
In similar fashion, journalese gives us “the 3 p.m. fire.” What? Fires are scheduled like buses?
Speaking of homes, in journalese every dwelling is a “home,” even if it is an abandoned house that has rotted away.(Well, maybe it’s home to the rats.)
In normal English, we would say that U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham is a Republican from South Carolina. Journalese: U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. That form is fine, by the way, in lists. In leads and cutlines, it is downright silly.
Journalese is an almalgam of bits taken from other sources of jargon: copspeak, bureaucratese, academic psychobabble. In the normal world, for example, children play together and talk with their parents. In journalese, they “interact.”
Journalese has a vocabulary of worn-out verbs, besides the ubiquitous kick off, launch and unveil: fueled, sparked, spurred, targeted, triggered, bid, rapped (for criticized), lashed (ditto) and the ever-popular hammered.
Journalese has a large (that’s “massive” in you-know-what) store of cliches, including:
In the wake of
Send a signal
State of the art
Probe
Cautiously optimistic
Mixed reactions
Christmas came early
’tis the season
Bottom line
Manicured lawn
Unsung hero
Oil-rich
War-torn
This list is just a sample. And we haven’t even touched on cliches in sports.
The trouble with journalese is that it makes our writing sound tired. A story with riveting facts is dulled when it is couched in cliches and hype verbs.
Get rid of journalese and the writing will be fresher even if you never use a clever phrase or simile.

Labels: ,


Comments: Post a Comment



<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?