Share The Language of News
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Reporters avoid clichés because they
have been used so often they have lost their impact..
What is the problem with the following sentence? “The car collided with a sign next to the road.”
For two things to collide, both must be in motion.
What is the problem with the following sentence? “The gunman executed his two hostages.”
“Execute” means put to death in accordance with a legally imposed sentence.
The phrases “shock and awe,” “made their escape” and “dream come true” are all examples of
clichés.
All trades and professions have jargon, but the problem jargon creates for news reporters is that it
is sometimes used to mislead or confuse readers.
Words like “flabbergast,” “blizzard” and “GI” are examples of words that have become accepted in English but started as
slang.
Words and phrases like “pass on,” “downsizing” and “collateral damage” are all examples of
euphemisms.
One way reporters try to establish their neutrality about the events they are reporting on is by
refraining from using first-person pronouns.
News reporters try to write sentences with positive construction rather than negative construction because
negative sentences are wordier and harder to understand.
Sentences that have lots of parentheses, dashes and semicolons are examples of
excessive punctuation.
When a source uses technical language, the reporter should
translate it into plain English.
What is the problem with the following sentence? “Fire Chief Tony Sullivan said his department provides the best possible service at the lowest possible cost to taxpayers.”
It is an example of gush.
What should be done to improve the following sentence? “The senator said he had not decided to decline to accept the campaign donation.”
Use positive constructions instead of the negative ones.
One reason news reporters sometimes use euphemisms is that they
wish to avoid offending readers when they discuss topics such as death,
One reason strong verbs are more effective than weak ones is
they describe a specific action, whereas weak verbs cover a number of different ones.
