Excuse me for being existential. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
By Kevin S. Giles
Ever notice how we beat some words to death in the news? In social media? In everyday conversation?
For example, why is it important to continually state that all storm damage “looks like a bomb went off?” Or, that the aftermath looks like “a war zone?” Or why we redundantly describe every storm in winter (and sometimes in fall and spring) as “a winter storm?” What else would they be, in winter? A “summer storm” that occurred in winter would be far more newsworthy. And when did a thunderstorm become “a rain event?”
We also have “past history.” In the past? No kidding.
Beware false drama
Why do we engage in false drama, such as “a brutal murder,” heard habitually over the years? If you know of a “kind murder,” let me know. The same idea pertains to “grisly” murders and “tragic” deaths.
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And, the false drama category includes “rushed to the hospital,” one of the most overused and misleading descriptions in journalism. In these days of modern ambulances equipped with the latest medical technology, and EMTs trained in on-scene trauma care, rushing is rare. A newer false drama cliché (used everywhere all of a sudden to describe shootings) is “multiple victims,” lazy news reporting that obscures critical facts. How many people were shot? Two? Seventeen? Forty?