While this blog is dedicated to borrowing/being inspired by/stealing from patterns in top-tier journalism, you don’t want to be seen as a hack. Avoiding a few key clichés will demonstrate your originality.
I once had an editor who wouldn’t allow reporters to print the quote “win-win.” "It’s too much of a cliché,” she said. If a subject gave that quote – often “win-win situation” – reporters had to keep asking questions and get a different quote.
She also wouldn’t allow the quote “giving back to the community.” One of the other reporters for a time even ran a blog called Stop Giving Back – an ode to the egregious uses of the phrase found on daily news sites.
A word I dislike printing is “intentional.” It’s often stated in a religious management setting. “We need to be more intentional about this,” or “we’re going to intentionally reach out to others more.” The word is unnecessary. A more effective word is “deliberate.” Or just delete it altogether. Think about it … do you “intentionally pick up a suitcase,” or do you just simply “pick up a suitcase”?
On the TV show The Simpsons, executives of the Krusty the Clown show thought they would increase ratings by making the show more “proactive” and by offering a “new paradigm.” The writers saw through the corporate consultant’s drivel.
My favorite parody of hack journalism is the YouTube video, How To Report The News, by Charlie Brooker. He drops the F-bomb once, but that’s OK for this example, I guess. It's not unwarranted in his British setting.
Actually, if you’re a student and can put together a TV news report this good, you’re doing well. Still, it’s a reminder of how formulaic news reporting can be.
Watch it here:
This was great! Thanks for sharing!! Loved the video link.
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