We, as journalists, are destroying words. Our most important tool is being dulled by over use and misuse. We’ve done it to ourselves because it’s easy, and everyone else is doing it. This just causes the infection to spread. There are many examples of words that we have destroyed, but I have four that top the list. Major. Key. Controversy. Tragedy. How many times have you heard these on television newscasts? You may not realize it because they are sprinkled in so frequently. We just have accepted them as TV speak.
We have diluted there meaning by trying to make stories sound bigger and more important. We think they grab people’s attention. We report on “Major announcements, Major developments, Major hurricanes, and, of course, Major controversies”. But we don’t even reserve the word for really big things. We will use it interchangeably, whether we are reporting on a “Major announcement at a school board meeting, or a “Major hurricane that has the potential to destroy homes, and possibly kill people.” So what does “major” really mean? I do know for sure it’s the rank of an officer in the military.
A “Key” should only be used to open a door. But we use it much like “Major”. You’ve heard of “Key announcements, Key developments, Key rulings, and the Key to understanding.” We are trying to establish this phony sense of importance. Wouldn’t it be stronger to come right out and say why an announcement is “Major”, or why a ruling is “key”. Why not, “A hurricane with winds over a hundred miles an hour is headed up the east coast.” Or, “Same sex marriages are now legal is all 50 states. The 5 to 4 decision just handed down by the U-S Supreme Court.” Just tell viewers what happened. It’s much stronger. They will know it’s important if you tell them what it means to their lives.
Most good stories are often about differences and disagreements over issues that we always label as a “controversy”. Again, whether it’s a “controversy” about a red light camera, or the death penalty, we think the same word is appropriate. It’s not. We have rendered the word meaningless. We are cheapening our work
by being lazy, and falling back on the easy formula. We must rise to the challenge to make our stories standout. Writing is an art form. Art only comes from creativity. An artist wouldn’t paint the same picture over and over again.
The most meaningful word we have destroyed is “tragedy”. The Funk and Wagnells dictionary defines it as, “An intensely sad, calamitous, or fatal event or course of events: disaster. A form of drama in which the protagonist comes to disaster through a flaw in his nature or is crushed by social or psychological forces.” That’s a powerful word. The real meaning makes you stop and think about what a tragedy really means in someone’s life. It’s something profound. Not a word to be used lightly. Yet, how often do you hear it on newscasts? We damage our credibility and insult or audience by misusing the most important tool we have. There can be a fine line between comedy and tragedy. Crossing it can make us sound like fools.
Words define us. They are how we communicate, how we inform, how we educate, and how we report, and how we record history. We started writing them on stone tablets and cave walls to tell the story of humankind. They are a life force. The writer Joseph Conrad said, “My task which I am trying to achieve is by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel–it is, before all, to make you see. That–and no more, and it is everything.” The real tragedy would be the death of words.
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