Author Archive
-
Language Corner
Word
January 4, 2010 11:49 AMAs the new year begins, we’re reeling from an overload of retrospective lists: top news stories; persons of the year; scandals of the year (and their subsets: financial scandals of the year, celebrity scandals of the year, etc.); viral videos... Continue reading
-
Language Corner
Seizin’ Greetings
December 21, 2009 03:20 PMPity the poor apostrophe. Even in this, the jolliest of seasons, its traditional role is misused, abused, and forgotten. As holiday poems, greetings, and lyrics become commonplace expressions, their apostrophes often get battered or shoved aside. Let’s... Continue reading
-
Language Corner
Singulars Bar
December 14, 2009 01:47 PMGrammar is a strict matchmaker: singular subjects must be paired with singular verbs, and plural subjects can associate only with plural verbs. Each must stick with its own kind. But they frequently intermingle, forming combinations that are unnatural in the... Continue reading
-
Language Corner
Just Because
December 7, 2009 01:35 PMOne reason why columns like this are written is because so many writers don’t realize when a tautology has them in its grasp and won’t let go. “Tautology” is a fancy word for “needless repetition,” or silly redundancy. And... Continue reading
-
Language Corner
Before the Beginning
November 30, 2009 11:01 AMOne of English’s favorite prefixes is “pre,” three little letters that mean “before.” It helps modify words like “nuptial,” “conception,” and “disposition,” among hundreds of others, to include a “pre-condition.” Even “prefix” has its own “pre” fix. “Pre” has... Continue reading
-
Language Corner
Your Move
November 23, 2009 02:08 PMTo practice politics, one must know something about strategy. Like a poker player, a politician needs to know when to hold ’em and when to fold ’em. And while politicians occasionally use poker terms when discussing strategy, more of them–and... Continue reading
-
Language Corner
Foundering Flounders
November 16, 2009 04:41 PMWhenever the government announces the failure of another bank, a news outlet somewhere reports that the bank has “floundered.” Well it did “flounder,” but once the government seized it, it stopped “floundering” and started “foundering.” “Flounder” and ”founder” have... Continue reading
-
Language Corner
Playing Tricks
November 9, 2009 01:53 PMA review of the new “Lego Rock Band” video game mentioned one cool feature: “You can also trick out your Rock Den and buy new costumes and instruments for band members.” A feature on a group that revitalizes old mopeds... Continue reading
-
Language Corner
Early Bird Special
November 2, 2009 12:34 PMUnless you live in Hawaii, Puerto Rico, most of Arizona, or off the grid with sundials, you turned your clocks back an hour yesterday, in the annual return to standard time. (Nowadays, lots of clocks turn themselves back, so it’s... Continue reading
-
Language Corner
Plethora Galore
October 26, 2009 11:31 AMThe English language has many words for “many”: “abundance,” “multitude,” “profusion,” “a lot,” and so forth. With such a “myriad” of choices,* it can be useful to maintain the nuances to indicate whether the large quantity is a good... Continue reading
-
Language Corner
Assurance Policy
October 19, 2009 04:33 PMIn Washington, legislators are trying to “assure” their constituents that they are working to “ensure” that any new health-care bill will “insure” them. All three of these transitive verbs mean the same thing: To make certain of something. (Surely... Continue reading
-
Language Corner
Walk It Off
October 12, 2009 01:21 PMThe World Series is fast approaching, and many of the teams in the playoffs are hoping for at least one “walkoff” victory. That’s where the home team takes the lead in the bottom of the ninth inning or later, and... Continue reading
-
Language Corner
Doctored Language
October 5, 2009 12:19 PMA sheriff said a suspect in the killing of a family may have some injuries, including “include cuts, lacerations, bruises, contusions, abrasions, and/or loss of hair." When was the last time you fell off your skateboard... Continue reading
-
Language Corner
Bodies in Motion
September 28, 2009 02:30 PMNews stories frequently cover accidents where a car hits a bus, a train hits a car, a bicycle hits a pedestrian, and so forth. These are frequently called “collisions.” In newspaper parlance, a “collision” occurs only when both objects... Continue reading
-
Language Corner
Lost Innocence
September 21, 2009 05:42 PMBack in the days before everyone had a computer, news stories would have to be retyped at least once before they could appear in print—a reporter would write the story on a typewriter or by hand, and it would make... Continue reading
-
Language Corner
Times Up
September 15, 2009 01:44 PMMost journalists didn’t become so because they’re good at math—even economic journalists. But, when dealing with numbers, you don’t have to be a savant to try to make things as clear as possible for readers, most of whom are also... Continue reading
-
Language Corner
All Wet
September 9, 2009 12:52 PMThe White House releases a bunch of sensitive documents on a Friday afternoon, and the investigative reporter resigns herself to spending the weekend examining them closely. Luckily, the forecast calls for torrential rain, so she’s not worried about missing anything... Continue reading
-
Language Corner
Nerve Center
August 31, 2009 04:43 PMContext clues are wonderful things. With them, a writer can load an article with lots of unusual or unfamiliar words and not worry that a reader will misunderstand. That’s good. But if the context clues are unclear, a reader... Continue reading
-
Language Corner
Double Entendre
August 24, 2009 03:16 PMSan Francisco commuters were relieved recently when a commuter rail strike was averted. But for some time, stories about the negotiations said that rail workers had vowed “to strike at midnight Sunday.” To some readers, that meant that they... Continue reading
-
Language Corner
Off the Wrack
August 17, 2009 05:18 PMOne news article said: “Compensation is coming under greater scrutiny since the world’s biggest financial companies wracked up almost $1.6 trillion of losses and write-downs.” Another, about a beloved pet going into surgery, said: “It was a nerve-wracking day of... Continue reading
—advertisement—
Desks
The Audit Business
- Audit Notes: pyramid people, Disney and ABC, no USA Today paywall Roddy Boyd digs into a diet-shake pyramid scheme
- Hot air Rises Above on CNBC An anchor pins a minor dip in stocks on the TV appearance of a minor politician
The Observatory Science
- Dull news from Doha UN climate summit a ho-hum affair for the press
- Highway to the danger zone Following Sandy, HuffPo and NYT dig into the folly of coastal development
Campaign Desk Politics & Policy
- NBC News sets good example for Medicare reporting People perspective leads to clear explanation of impact of proposed changes
- In Pennsylvania, a niche site with wide reach PoliticsPA drives political conversation in Keystone State
Behind the News The Media
Blog
The Kicker last updated: Fri 3:00 PM
- Must-reads of the week
- The media news cycle is bananas
- Pass the #popcorn
- Must-reads of the week
- Tom Rosenstiel leaving Pew
The Future of Media
News Startups Guide last updated: Thu 10:24 AM
- TRVL A free iPad travel magazine
- TheDigitel A small chain of local news sites/ aggregators in South Carolina