Luxury of having no copy editors.

When reporters adopt the gushing language of developers, promoters, flacks, politicians and others they are covering, well, maybe it’s time to start hollering. What brings this up is a lede sentence in a Boston Globe business story, Jan. 26, 2018, about the settlement of a conflict over a condo tower planned for Boston’s Seaport district. The lede: “A luxury condominium tower on Seaport Boulevard will break ground this spring….”

Now anyone who has read any ads about real estate know that all new condos or rental units are identified as “luxury.” That means the units have a fancy kitchen and bath and there’s a security guy who is called a “concierge.” OK, that’s advertising.

But when a reporter repeats the luxury identification in a news story, he or she becomes a flack for the developer. No reporter would ever dare write, “An ugly condominium tower…” Or, more accurately, “Another uninspiring glass box tower will be built in the Seaport District….”

File under: Where have all the copy editors gone