An Open Letter to "Journalists" - Can You Please Get It Right?

Oh How Hard It Is To Be a Journalist! Or Should I Say...Can You Please Get It Right?

After spending over 25 years in journalism the time has come to write an open letter to journalists, at the local and network level. Why? The English language is beautiful and I am so tired of seeing it misused.

Here's today's English lesson for network anchors (who have committed some of these sins), correspondents, and local journalists.

"Thanks"

Thanks is a positive term. When a car crash has happened, you do not say, "Ten people have been taken to the hospital thanks to a three car accident at ...." You say: "because of a ....."

"Robbery and Burglary"

These crimes are not the same and cannot be used interchangeably. If someone breaks into a home when no one is there it is NOT a robbery; it is a burglary. On the other hand, if someone takes your money at gun point, that is a robbery. 

"Gore Point"

Have you heard traffic and news reporters refer to accidents at the "Gore Point?" Hmmmm. I must have missed that term in school or in casual conversations with friends and family, or I must live a very sheltered life. For the life of me, while radio and TV reporters talk endlessly about the "gore point," I can't quite understand why they don't use language like "where highways X and X merge together." They must love that inside jargon.  Please, on behalf of all consumers everywhere, use language we all understand instead of "news speak."

"Collector Distributor Lanes"

Doesn't that traffic term just roll off your tongue? I hear it every morning and I always say, "I missed that one in school!" What the heck is a collector distributor lane? By the time I have thought about it I have forgotten the area they were talking about. Once again, PLEASE use language we all understand. (However, I may be the only person listening who doesn't know what a collector distributor lane is).

"The Affordable Care Act"

Like it or not it is called "The Affordable Care Act" not Obamacare. Obamacare is a political term. 

In Summary:

Dear "Journalists" - Please think before you write and before you speak. Use language we all understand. 

To All Professors: Please help your students understand why it is so important to respect the English language, and to think about the reader, listener and viewer.

Sincerely,

Joe Barnes

Faculty Staff Lecturer: Albers School of Business and Economics, Seattle University, and Instructor, IMC Graduate Program, Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism, West Virginia University.

This article may be freely copied and distributed provided attribution is given to Joseph Barnes.