Monthly Archives: January 2017

The Boston Globe, which never misses a chance to boast that it won a Pulitzer in 2003 for “meritorious public service,” for articles that were the basis for the movie “Spotlight,” sure needs some meritorious copy editors. Or an editor who is “concerned” about straight reporting. The Globe demonstrated this deficiency on Jan. 16, 2017, in a story about a meeting by Writers Resist, described as “a network of activist… Read Article →

A Law of Journalese requires that all lawns of ritzy homes must be described as “manicured.” This law is faithfully upheld, and you will be certain to see it used regularly in the future when describing Donald Trump’s home and neighborhood in Palm Beach, Florida. A page one, Boston Globe story, Jan. 14, 2017, headlined “The biggest threat to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago? Climate Change” has the obligatory “manicured,” with supporting journalese… Read Article →

Whenever you see a story that says something happened “recently” it means the reporter missed the event when it happened. Here’s an example, in The Boston Globe, Jan. 9, 2017, about a zoning law change covering the South Boston neighborhood: “…City Hall recently adopted a major change that even hidebound residents might embrace: new zoning regulations that will affect virtually the entire neighborhood, from the yuppies on A Street to… Read Article →

The old timers at the press club bar would laugh over the old law of reporting: Never kill a story with facts. A great example of this are the stories about the shooting at Ft. Lauderdale airport, all of which noted that it is legal to transport guns in checked baggage. The New York Times, Jan. 8, 2017, had a long story about this, headlined (in the Boston Globe): “It’s… Read Article →

How does a reporter jazz up a not surprising story? Easy. Just throw in an adverb. In this example, by AP, it’s “astonishingly.” Any reader with the slightest interest in the Middle East knows of bombings, terror, killings and danger in Turkey, especially to foreign tourists. But here’s an AP story lead, Jan 8, 2017: “ISTANBUL — The once-bustling Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is astonishingly quiet. The shops and restaurants… Read Article →

A Law of Journalese requires reporters and headline writers to use the verb “shutter” instead of “close” or “shut down.” This applies to a business or factory or other activity in a building. Naturally, there are no shutters involved. For example, the Boston Business Journal had this headline, Jan. 7, 2017: “Breaking News: These Sears, Kmart stores will shutter in Massachusetts.” Why is “shutter” used? Who knows, except that it’s… Read Article →

A Law of Journalese requires reporters and editors to accept without question organizers’ numbers of people attending an event. This is especially so when the reporters and editors have boosted the event in news stories and editorials. And this is compulsory if the newspaper or TV or radio station are sponsors. I forecast that Boston’s First Night celebration would be reported as attracting one million people, as are most local… Read Article →