Tag Archives: journalism

Alert the Media

Posted on June 22, 2020 by

A TikTok celebrity hailing from Gen Z complains of being confused with millenials. “Just because you’re so old you can’t remember the difference, doesn’t mean it’s OK to lump us altogether,” she said. (Poppy Noor, “So Gen Z-ers hate millennials … Continue reading →

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Bret Stephens Loses His Own Argument

Posted on June 12, 2020 by

The NYTimes published, then repudiated, an Op-Ed piece by a Republican senator urging deployment of active-duty troops to quell looting and rioting that intruded upon mostly peaceful protests. Bret Stephens disagrees with the politician’s incitement, but says it was proper … Continue reading →

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Blurred Slur

Posted on April 23, 2020 by

Language is awash in slurs: racist, ethnist, nationalist, sexist, ageist, classist, occupationist, sexual orientationist, “ism-ist,” and so on and so forth. The human race is a slurring race. I’m far from wishing to resurrect offensive words from their just entombment. … Continue reading →

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If There’s a Heaven, It’s Parody

Posted on April 5, 2020 by

Your neologismic servant, a spastic parodic — or is it “parodian” —, speaks his title. For one crowning moment, the Gray Lady really was “fake news.” An October surprise, so to speak. In September 1978, a strike by pressmen had … Continue reading →

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Fake Is Free

Posted on March 1, 2020 by

As my students often remind me, news tends to be behind paywalls, while fake news is free. (Laura Spinney, “Epidemics expert Jonathan Quick: ‘The worst-case scenario for coronavirus is likely,’” theguardian.com, 3-1-20) (c) 2020 JMN

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Precise, Forceful, Formal, Direct, Powerful

Posted on November 14, 2019 by

A letter to the NYTimes is signed by Roxana Robinson, former president of the Authors Guild, and 32 other writers. It exhorts The Times to “use precise and forceful language that reveals the struggle in which we now find ourselves.” … Continue reading →

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When Is Kill Not “Over”?

Posted on September 15, 2019 by

The illustration made me read this essay by Michelle Goldberg (“Margaret Atwood’s Dystopia, and Ours,” NYTimes, 9-14-19). On first glance, the picture’s Dairy Queen Blizzard ™ of cartoon imagery made me grumpy. Whatever it purports to symbolize, I thought, this … Continue reading →

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