Monthly Archives: December 2016

Once upon a time, reporters would be prohibited from offering their opinions and speculation in the guise of “suggestions”. The New York Times hit a triple on Dec 7, 2016, when three of its stories ran on facing pages of the Boston Globe, and all offered “suggestions”. A story about Bob Dole’s role in Trump’s phone conversation with the President, of Taiwan, says: “The documents suggest that Trump’s decision to… Read Article →

When reporters throw around modifiers, you got a choice of whom to believe. The Boston Sunday Globe, Dec 4, 2016, published stories on facing pages about Trump’s stirring up the diplomats in Foggy Bottom by talking to the Mexican president and then to the president of Taiwan. The first story, by the Washington Post, says it’s one thing to make “wild claims” domestically, but “it’s another to inflame a fellow… Read Article →

Journalese of the Day: Widely viewed, widely seen Using widely twice in one sentence is a wild journalese achievement that only the widely opinionated New York Times could publish, as illustrated in a news story Dec. 5, 2016, about the Austrian presidential election. Here it is: “The election was widely viewed as a test of the anti-migrant and particularly anti-Muslim forces that have ridden a populist path to power in… Read Article →