Monday, December 31, 2012

No, but thanks for asking

Just a couple of general observations:

1) Don't write question heds
2) Particularly when the whole point of the story you're referring to is "no"
3) Which is the only reason to run a Bigfoot story in the first place, isn't it?

Fast away the old year passes, and -- if you're the resolving sort -- banning question heds and Bigfoot stories would be the sort of resolutions that would not only let you sleep easier (and awaken with clear eyes and conscience) but make journalism a happier place to be in general. But we have other things we can be thinking about as well.

Our friends to the frozen north go the wrong way, I think, in their annual word ban. I'd love a world in which journalists simply didn't use terms like "job creators" outside of direct quotes and parody, but the time for that resulution would have been -- oh, late May or so. I'm fine with banning "kick the can down the road," but without a parallel ban on "throw under the bus," it doesn't seem to solve the sort of problems that need solving. Let's start the new year with a simpler rule: If it's what everyone is saying, don't say it.


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1 Comments:

Anonymous moend said...

How about starting with the inaccurate fiscal cliff?
Unless, of course, you are describing the Tea Party lemmings migrating that direction.

12:15 PM, January 01, 2013  

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