Just finished a really fantastic article by Roy Peter Clark published on Poynter Online. Granted, as with my hyper-hyperlinking in the preceding sentence, the ostensible subject matter of the story is a little esoteric but the meaning of Clark’s message might benefit us all.
Clark explains journalists can benefit by using the right tool for the job, which is to say the appropriate diction for the context of a story. Thinking carefully beforehand to choose exactly the best word to convey the meaning is great, but the way the words are composed can convey the spirit of your work. As an unapologetic word-nerd I tip my hat to his overall message, and beg the non-journalism folks to give it a read.
Clark writes he “surprised some readers” when he called Osama Bin Laden “that spelunking meshuggeneh” which was criticized by some as inappropriate to some readers. Then he delivers one of the better statements of 2009 (in my sporadically humble opinion):
“I confess that I still loved the phrase and hope that such self-love is not literary onanism, but an essential form of self-respect, a writerly requirement. You can’t please others if you fail to please yourself.”
Are we still such a puritanical culture onanism is still taboo, regardless of context? Literal interpretations aside, it seems quite possible that popular culture and technology have dovetailed to create an environment welcoming self-gratification for public consumption.
The BlogosphereInformationSuperHighwayTechnobabblingWiFiWiredEverywonderyouEverEnvisionedInfoverse has already cut the hamstrings of conventional journalism better than Bill Murray on a golf course, and the one saving grace may be the absolute austerity permitted to any semi-sentient organism that can click/command/enablescript upload/ftp their message into an abstract realm of ones and zeros.
Online dictionaries, combined with the general apathy of internet consumers, mean you don’t have to write to a fifth-grade reading level unless you want to set the mood of a fifth-grade cafeteria. Which may offer hope to an etymologically bankrupt generation.
David Howard famously lost his job for an accurate adult vocabulary, if a questionable display of tact. His diction was lacking given the workplace context. I still advocate for new dictionaries to the whole staff before termination, but were Howard a blogger or Web site developer the worst consequence might have been a deluge of negative comments (how often does the publisher ever read those anyway) posted to his page.
I am pleased Clark defended adult vocabulary and a writer’s control of his medium and I like a new, more reasoned perspective. How often does a professional fine art painter get told to use primary colors, as though for children to see on the canvas, for the Gallery and Installation crowd? Perhaps the Internet, in all its winding and wending frenetic fury, will permit reporters to say what they mean, not the best approximation an overgrown toddler can ponder.
For the moment? Hats off and bottoms up to the new Fifth Estate. And to the onanists? Keep it down we’re studying the OED out here!
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