Thursday, March 11, 2010

No 'newsspeak' allowed


A radio station owner recently banned a list 119 of words.

They are mostly jargon, something we all try to avoid in our writing. It can be hard to keep that stuff out. I imagine it's an even harder habit to break for radio hosts.

The news director explained in his memo:

“The real goal here is to avoid using words that make you sound like you’re reading, instead of talking — that shatter the image you’re speaking knowledgeably to one person. By not using ‘newsspeak,’ you enhance your reputation as a communicator.”

In good fun, the folks at NPR put together a sentence using all 119.

I'm not sure that banning words is a good thing, but I see the point attempting to stop using words stuff like "close proximity" and "senseless murder." What's your most-hated phrase or word that you hear in the news?

2 comments:

  1. "As you can see ..."
    It's either obvious (if you can see) or wrong (if you're blind).

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  2. 1. Very unique
    2. Completely destroyed

    I thought it was interesting that the station manager thought all that jargon made it sounds like they were reading, rather than talking. Reading what?

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