tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8507136945842934293.post6431394547595425191..comments2023-09-21T06:15:03.099-07:00Comments on Conjugate Visits: Wily News WritingJune Casagrandehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00363096837053080969noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8507136945842934293.post-90747166266814848762008-11-25T08:01:00.000-08:002008-11-25T08:01:00.000-08:00Di:Good catch. "Lede," "hed," and "TK" (for "to co...Di:<BR/><BR/>Good catch. "Lede," "hed," and "TK" (for "to come") are common editor terms. They're deliberately misspelled so that, when an editor types notes into an article, there's less chance that the notes will get past spell check and onto the page.June Casagrandehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00363096837053080969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8507136945842934293.post-50228773871877413932008-11-25T05:26:00.000-08:002008-11-25T05:26:00.000-08:00lede?lede?Dihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04653282356172573799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8507136945842934293.post-22298797859445095992008-11-21T13:58:00.000-08:002008-11-21T13:58:00.000-08:00Sorry it took so long to get your post up. Really ...Sorry it took so long to get your post up. Really weird 24 hours. Which I'll blather on about soon.June Casagrandehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00363096837053080969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8507136945842934293.post-19710433439463684472008-11-20T11:08:00.000-08:002008-11-20T11:08:00.000-08:00Amen. And very well said. So much so that it mak...Amen. And very well said. So much so that it makes me smile. :-)Joelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05550742712966484303noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8507136945842934293.post-52257748267307850342008-11-19T17:16:00.000-08:002008-11-19T17:16:00.000-08:00"IMO, the ones who complain most loudly about the ..."IMO, the ones who complain most loudly about the bias of the rest of the media are the ones we should worry about."<BR/><BR/>TOTALLY. Because, here's the thing: If you're looking for bias, you're going to find it -- whether it's there or not. And, forgive me if I've said this here before, but I'm convinced that the best way to pull the wool over someone's eyes is to tell them someone else is trying to pull the wool over their eyes. The misplaced suspension of disbelief is staggering. You could build a whole news network on this single manipulative mind-f**k.<BR/><BR/>Oh, wait. Someone already did.June Casagrandehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00363096837053080969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8507136945842934293.post-76901172559870981382008-11-19T17:06:00.000-08:002008-11-19T17:06:00.000-08:00You are correct, of course. But I'd say that it g...You are correct, of course. <BR/><BR/>But I'd say that it goes beyond what we hear "in the media." In fact, I encounter this dilemma on a regular basis as I'm writing business and even personal correspondence. And, to paraphrase something I've heard on <A HREF="http://www.onthemedia.org/" REL="nofollow">On the Media</A> (and it's in an ad now): I actually think that the news media, in general, are far more ethical about this than the rest of us. As Brooke Gladstone says, "No, really." <BR/><BR/>Thing is, most other folks without that background, in my experience, don't even care about the half truths that they sloppily scatter about. That is, they won't even bother to write around what they don't know or can't say for sure; they'll say it anyway. I'm not saying that it's all (or even mostly) malicious un-truth-telling. But there's sure a lot of it out there. And not all of it is innocent or well-intended.<BR/><BR/>Now, you might argue that the news media have a higher obligation to the truth because of the role they play in our society, and I'd agree (at least sort of; the dangerous side of that is that the rest of us can use this idea to justify our lack of transparency, accuracy and integrity), but I think most of the folks in your industry deserve a lot more credit than they get for the difficulty of their job and the high standards they uphold.<BR/><BR/>And, really, in a lot of ways, I prefer the kind of writing you're talking about. It's all a matter of paying attention. And the alternative really isn't writing that's more transparent (because that would be so awkwardly verbose and unreadable that--well, it would be a lot like what I often end up writing ;-) ) that it just isn't practical. The alternative is writing that simply shortcuts the truth altogether.<BR/><BR/>Not that there aren't infotainers and crass partisans and, as you so beautifully put it, PR whores out there. Ironically, IMO, the ones who complain most loudly about the bias of the rest of the media are the ones we should worry about.Joelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05550742712966484303noreply@blogger.com