Pet peeve about the current state of journalism.
Aug 24, 2022 00:52:53 #
There is a trend in journalism that just drives me nuts. Currently it is in fashion to say that someone dies after a flood or after a car crash instead of correctly saying they died from a car crash.
Here are just a few examples of the misuse of the word after. This is far from the only situation where journalists incorrectly use vocabulary, another example is saying that there were over 1,000 of something instead of more than 1,000. We all know that over means above or on top of and more than means in excess of, yet journalists insist on using over to mean more than. If we do not properly use the English language we make it very difficult to be clear and accurate in describing what actually happens in the news.
A hiker who went missing after floods in Utah’s Zion National Park has been found dead, according to officials.
A 28-year-old man has died after crashing a car on Groesbeck Highway Monday morning, Warren Police Department said in a press release.
A Burrillville man died Sunday after the car he was driving went off the road and struck a tree.
A Fort Gratiot Township man died after a single-car rollover crash that occurred Thursday morning on Lakeshore Road, authorities said.
Note that in all of these examples this is the lead sentence in the article but when you read the entire article the person died from the crash, not after the crash.
Here are just a few examples of the misuse of the word after. This is far from the only situation where journalists incorrectly use vocabulary, another example is saying that there were over 1,000 of something instead of more than 1,000. We all know that over means above or on top of and more than means in excess of, yet journalists insist on using over to mean more than. If we do not properly use the English language we make it very difficult to be clear and accurate in describing what actually happens in the news.
A hiker who went missing after floods in Utah’s Zion National Park has been found dead, according to officials.
A 28-year-old man has died after crashing a car on Groesbeck Highway Monday morning, Warren Police Department said in a press release.
A Burrillville man died Sunday after the car he was driving went off the road and struck a tree.
A Fort Gratiot Township man died after a single-car rollover crash that occurred Thursday morning on Lakeshore Road, authorities said.
Note that in all of these examples this is the lead sentence in the article but when you read the entire article the person died from the crash, not after the crash.
Aug 24, 2022 01:14:56 #
Just my opinion but, looks a little like nit picking to me.
Aug 24, 2022 02:32:58 #
AzYooper
Loc: Sun Lakes AZ (Almost Phoenix)
It doesn't say he died after the crash, for example I see he died AFTER the car went off the road and struck a tree. That is probably when he died. AFTER the car went off the road and AFTER it hit the tree.
Next person died after he crashed the car, not before. Next person died AFTER a rollover crash, probably not before.
Most likely they all languished after the incident. Either way, it does not bother me to read these, as written.
Next question...
Next person died after he crashed the car, not before. Next person died AFTER a rollover crash, probably not before.
Most likely they all languished after the incident. Either way, it does not bother me to read these, as written.
Next question...
Aug 24, 2022 02:56:38 #
he's right ... the state of grammar in modern journalism is dreadful. add to this the political slanting, the acceptance that anyone with a microphone suddenly is a subject matter expert, and the notion that anything claimed by a journalist is obviously true, and you develop a situation that is Hearst-ian (is that a word?)
in truth, they know little more than the average guy on the street, but act as though their supposition is holy writ.
Scoundrels, thieves and monkey trainers, the whole lot of them.
in truth, they know little more than the average guy on the street, but act as though their supposition is holy writ.
Scoundrels, thieves and monkey trainers, the whole lot of them.
Aug 24, 2022 03:04:12 #
AzYooper
Loc: Sun Lakes AZ (Almost Phoenix)
MSW wrote:
he's right ... the state of grammar in modern jour... (show quote)
Right... much better to get your news from the experts on the Internet.
Aug 24, 2022 04:06:12 #
btbg wrote:
There is a trend in journalism that just drives me... (show quote)
It's a build your own adventure sentence.
Probably meant for legal loopholes and to allow as much leeway of having a general idea appear to be very accurate.
Saying "after" can mean the subject died at the accident site, on the way to the hospital or when sent home. An all encompassing sentence that can remain true even if the real narrative changes afterwards.
Aug 24, 2022 06:18:09 #
buckbrush
Loc: Texas then Southwest Oregon
Most news readers on TV merely read what the telepromter shows. The politically biased copy writer is the person who is really controlling the news we hear.
As soon as I detect any bias, I turn to a different station. The BBS is where I get most of my news as every US news organization lately, has been hijacted by political news directors.
As soon as I detect any bias, I turn to a different station. The BBS is where I get most of my news as every US news organization lately, has been hijacted by political news directors.
Aug 24, 2022 07:50:57 #
Without an autopsy there is no way to know what someone died from. The journalist’s job is to report only the verifiable information.
Aug 24, 2022 08:20:31 #
rmorrison1116 wrote:
Just my opinion but, looks a little like nit picking to me.
Well, they didn't die before the crash.
Unless they had a heart attack.
Aug 24, 2022 08:28:24 #
13
Loc: I am only responsible to what I say..not what
AzYooper wrote:
Right... much better to get your news from the experts on the Internet.
LOL
Aug 24, 2022 08:32:20 #
buckbrush wrote:
Most news readers on TV merely read what the telepromter shows. The politically biased copy writer is the person who is really controlling the news we hear.
As soon as I detect any bias, I turn to a different station. The BBS is where I get most of my news as every US news organization lately, has been hijacted by political news directors.
As soon as I detect any bias, I turn to a different station. The BBS is where I get most of my news as every US news organization lately, has been hijacted by political news directors.
...and everything is reported with the utmost urgency in their voice,
like the world is falling apart.
(But that's a different story.)
Aug 24, 2022 13:48:49 #
Longshadow wrote:
...and everything is reported with the utmost urgency in their voice,
like the world is falling apart.
(But that's a different story.)
like the world is falling apart.
(But that's a different story.)
I fail to see how the newsreader on TV can continue to say “BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!!!” even though the tidbit has been reported on already. I guess they must be acting.
Aug 24, 2022 13:58:14 #
yes ... "breaking News!!" the sky really is falling ...
i wonder if they care that "low information voters" sit in the break room of paper mills and machine shops and "pimp" their grammar ...
probably not
i wonder if they care that "low information voters" sit in the break room of paper mills and machine shops and "pimp" their grammar ...
probably not
Aug 24, 2022 17:17:08 #
pmorin wrote:
I fail to see how the newsreader on TV can continue to say “BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!!!” even though the tidbit has been reported on already. I guess they must be acting.
My favorite TV "news" show started out with, "when news breaks, we fix it".
Aug 24, 2022 20:21:40 #
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