Monthly Archives: January 2020

As you know, there’s a journalese law requiring any parking garage to be described as “hulking.” Unfortunately, there’s no law that requires a reporter to divulge how many stories there will be in a high-rise proposed to replace the “hulking” garage. This was seen in a Boston Globe story Jan. 23, 2020, about the latest plan by developer Don Chiafaro for a $1.2 billion monster on the Boston waterfront, to… Read Article →

Reading the lede in this AP story, Jan. 18, 2020, under the Boston Globe headline: “Riots in Lebanon’s capital leave more than 150 injured,” and you wonder, “What the hell kind of reporting is this?” “BEIRUT — Police fired volleys of tear gas and rubber bullets in Lebanon’s capital Saturday to disperse thousands of protesters amid some of the worst rioting since demonstrations against the country’s ruling elite erupted three… Read Article →

Teasers. Click-Bait. Same thing, except teasers are on TV, and the Teaser of the Week Award goes to David Muir, anchor of ABC TV News. We are familiar with his excited introductions of the day’s news, which usually includes something like “The storm threatens 54 million Americans…” Or, “Fire in a major city demolishes….” Or, “Highway crash creates ten mile long traffic jam…” The idea, of course, is to keep… Read Article →

Our Journalese Definition of “elite” is: “Any third world army unit that has polished boots and can march in step.” We could amend that definition to include, “The main duty of such elite soldiers is to shoot student demonstrators and other unarmed dissidents.” What brings this up is the media’s compulsion to describe the late General Soleimani as head of “the elite Quds Force.” For example, a search of the… Read Article →