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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated

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From: LindyBill	2/26/2005 10:07:51 AM
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Journalistic Buzz Words du Jour by Joe Gandelman - Moderate Voice Did you ever notice how a phrase used by a journalist that others respect suddenly becomes the rage — and is done to death? RatherBiased.com has a fascinating item here on how the words "charm offensive" relating to President George Bush's trip to Europe have become popular — so popular that the phrase is being used constantly by many in the media (the site gives you many specifics). And, the site notes, this has happened before with words such as "gravitas." There is an issue here. If you are a news junkie (like I am) or worked in the daily news media (like I did) you notice how certain phrases become instant cliches or short cuts. Here are some others: * Defining Moment: ARRGH! This has been done to death. It's often used when someone makes a speech or does something now, as if the writer/analyst has a crystal ball and knows that this will define the whole spectrum of that person's career. But it has become such a cringe-inducing cliche. How does the writer KNOW it is a defining moment? Did he/she use polls? Was he/she on the phone with thousands of people? It's one person's view that the moment said it all. And it's trite to boot. * Tried To Change The Subject: Used in political reporting. In some cases, yes, a candidate may indeed be trying to change the subject. But more often than not, it's used by someone who is reporting on a specific theme or hopes to do a follow up story and the official won't cooperate and is talking about other matters. Hint: politicians of both parties and government officials may not have the same daily story assignments as reporters. Maybe they simply are dealing with a different topic. "He tried to change the subject today" is an assumption without confirmation. Does the reporter KNOW that was the person's intent? * "A Marine Sitting With His Buddies..." Apparently every person in the military is talking to a "buddy" or "buddies." This pops up often in stories about the military. Hint: maybe the soldier you're writing about hates the guts of the person who you are assuming is his "buddy." * Shattered Lives: Used in catastrophe stories, crime stories. You could say this is used with more accuracy than the three above, but if you do follow up stories on some of these stories you realize a truth: people are resilient and life does go on. There are others, including the left and right talk show phrases of the moment. But that's for a different day......

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