Why do they have to say "gunned down?!" Your "journalism" pet peeves

[bertha katzenengel]

It's not "shot." It's "gunned down."

I detest sensationalism.

[Forkboy]

1. Anything good is "a miracle".

One guy could live out of hundred in a plane crash and it's a miracle.What,God didn't have the ability to perform a miracle for the other 99 people? :puke:

[Oeditpus Rex]

21. The guy who runs TestyCopyEditors.com

who's chief of the business copy desk at the Washington Post, has a mantra:

"There is NO SUCH THING as a 'miracle.' There is NO SUCH THING as a 'miracle.' There is NO SUCH THING as a 'miracle.'"

[reyd reid reed]

2. Mine is a more of a gray area...

"an historic moment" makes me crazy. I realize that technically it's correct, but it makes me squirm every time I hear it.

Other than that, all the cliches and lousy puns irritate me. It's not like they're doing this on the fly -- they've got copy. Lose the lousy puns. At least minimize them. One or two a week might be tolerable, maybe even funny. One or two a newscast gets on my last nerve.

Oh...and errors in the graphics. Inexcusable.

[johnnie]

3. I can understand the use of the term "alleged", but...

Sometimes it is a little beyond silly. For example "The man was shot in the head four time. The alleged victim's name is unknown at this time". Or, "We have security video of the man who robbed the bank. The alleged robber is in county jail".

[SteppingRazor]

7. Well, that one's a legal thing.

You've gotta refer to a suspect as an "alleged murderer" or whathaveyou until after he or she is found guilty — no matter how obviosu the guilt may be.

[johnnie]

8. Or you don't have to say "alleged"

"We have security footage of the man robbing the bank. The man is in custody."

Like I said, I understand the use, it just bugs me that it is overused.

[SteppingRazor]

9. Gotcha n/t

[reyd reid reed]

10. You can't

unequivocally say that he robbed the bank. It is a legal thing, whether he's on tape or not. Innocent until proven guilty in a court of law and all that.

What they *can* say instead is something like, "security footage of the man the authorities believe to be..." or "security footage of what appears to be the suspect...."

[johnnie]

13. Lol

I thought twice about putting the robber example in, but I did it anyway.

My big peeve is more of the first example. I have heard "the alleged victim" more than a few times and it drives me nuts.

Like I said, I understand what "alleged" means and why it should be used, but they over-use for things that are extremely obvious. That was my point, and it is a journalism peeve. :)

[GenDem]

11. And another is the dreaded...

"Person of interest"

[Left Is Write]

14. That's what the police call them - don't blame the journalist.

[johnnie]

15. Yeah

That's the new fad.

[Orrex]

4. I have several

"On the ground" always seems overblown. As in "We had a team of investigators on the ground even as Anna Nicole's body was laid to rest."

I hate it when "meteorologists" describe snow as "the white stuff."

For that matter, I hate it that every network's weather team is called The Severe Weather Center or something similarly dire. When it's sunny and 70 degrees, I don't need to hear it from any Severe team.

And I hate the whole hyperdramatic freshman-year-stage-production tone that every on-the-scene reporters adopts. It's close to impossible to reproduce in print, but just about every reporter uses it.


Aaaargh! So much to bitch about!

[bertha katzenengel]

5. Ah, yes. Weather.

Three raindrops in Southern California and it's Storm Watch! 2007!

[Wcross]

6. "boyfriend" or "girlfriend" in a story such as this......

A man remained in jail Monday after Tampa police say he ripped off a large portion of his girlfriend's scalp with a 6-inch kitchen knife.

After the Friday attack, 40-year-old Tina D. Robinson was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, where surgeons attempted to reattach her scalp. Hospital officials would not comment on her condition Monday.

Police say Robinson and her 30-year-old boyfriend Jason Eric Tarvin had been drinking Thursday night and were intoxicated when an argument got violent.

(THANKS MATCOM FOR THE LINK)

Sorry, a 40 year old is not a "girl" and a thirty year old is not a "boy".

[emmajane67]

17. Also, chances are he ain't her boyfriend anymore!

[Wcross]

18. Hey, who wants to date a woman with a patch of missing hair?

Yup, I wouldn't want to date her anymore looking like that! (Yes, I am being sarcastic)

[MorningGlow]

12. "War-torn"

Makes me NUTS. "War-torn Iraq"..."war-torn (insert any of several African nation here)". Please--there must be some other way of drawing concern that a country's been shredded by bombs and fighting. (Note: I'm not saying they shouldn't say a country's been devastated by war--but they should vary their terms!)

[InternalDialogue]

16. I cringe at television anchors' omission of helping verbs.

It's pandemic on local news, but it's even creeping into national newscasts.

E.g., "Local police tonight following up leads on yesterday's crime spree."

or, "The mayor taking questions from concerned residents tonight."

For that matter, I cringe at the use of present tense for stories that clearly have already happened.

[skygazer]

19. Romp

"Britney's gay romp"

What the hell - the mainstream press is about the same as tabloid journalism these days. :shrug:

[dolo amber]

20. When newscasters either don't know, or don't bother checking

whether the (incorrect) name they're calling a white supremacist group is the same as a very well known rap group who was very politically active in promoting black power? :shrug:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x6271925

*Not intending to threadjack here, but I saw the title of your thread after I posted that. :D

[GenDem]

22. Just heard this on MSNBC --"gaggle"

as in "gaggle of reporters"