Journalese Dictionary

A new Law of Journalse requires that anything must be called innovation that is claimed to be innovation by politicians or promoters. The late Boston Mayor Thomas Menino loved the word so much he named the development area of the old South Boston waterfront the “Innovation District.” The name didn’t last long, and is now the Seaport, which has little sign of innovation, other than possibly one curved glass tower… Read Article →

: Great example of the Bent Yellow Fruit Law of Journalism, which prohibits use of the same important word in a sentence (banana becomes a bent yellow fruit) is found in The Boston Globe’s page one piece, Feb 26, 2020, about Michael Bloomberg’s high school years in Medford, a Boston suburban city. Headlined, “His road to the big stage started in Medford,” the story quotes a classmate, Carmen Comite, who… Read Article →

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 →

Couple stories in the Boston Globe business section Dec. 28, 2019, makes one wonder if reporters took a reporting class or if there are no editors any longer at the paper. Or both. Story about a proposed $870 million high-rise project adjoining South Station says it will eventually provide 2.5 million square feet of offices, condos and a hotel, at what is now the station’s railbed and bus terminal. How… Read Article →

The buzz-word “influencers” becomes journalese when it is used in a Boston Globe page one print headline, Dec. 26, 2019, reading: “HUNTER, GATHERER, INFLUENCER” with subhead, “Once a vegan, he’s prepped to become Internet’s evangelist for primitive eating.” The story, datelined Bridgton, Maine, ledes with: “Daniel Vitalis, who was once a big influencer in the raw-food vegan movement and is angling to become an even bigger one in the modern… Read Article →

This one should be Euphemism of the Day: You know how the lazy media likes to adopt the euphemisms by corporate or political BS artists. Popular right now is “green.” Anything the reporter or editors like, and have any connection to the environment or climate, is automatically labelled “green” even though the thing may not save energy or clean up the air or water. If the corporation or politicians say… Read Article →

As snowstorms batter (storms always batter) much of the United States (ABC News the other day had 53 million Americans “impacted,” even though ABC never divulges how it gets its numbers), there’s the inevitable application of the Journalese Law of the Curved Yellow Fruit. (In case your forgot the law, it prohibits use of that the same main word in a sentence. Thus, banana become the curved yellow fruit.) In… Read Article →