After Deadline
Accuracy, precision in language concern readers everywhere
By John Simonds
The Advertiser's reader representative
It may not be necessary to travel to exotic places to find common issues to talk about, but nearly 50 news ombudsmen and reader representatives, including me, did so in Paris last month.
People from news organizations in Europe, North America, Japan, Brazil, Turkey, the Middle East and Africa met in a United Nations-like setting complete with translators and headsets.
The Organization of News Ombudsmen experienced a chilly April but a warm agenda of topics in the world of "ombudding" that included language and how it affects cultures and the way news organizations do their jobs.
As with such meetings, representatives found a mix of familiarity and difference in the work of their global colleagues. Listening to the public and reasoning with fellow newspeople are common responsibilities. But the issues confronting these journalists vary widely, from life-threatening situations in the Middle East to newsroom budget squeezes in America.
"Our issues are different than Americans. They're not about spending shifts and spelling errors," said a member from Portugal, citing nations where laws and government pressures can directly affect news operations.
Greater accuracy needed
Yet a survey among members showed the need for greater accuracy to be the lead public concern. Errors of fact, misspelling, poor grammar and missing context seem to be universal problems. Others: bias, mixing of facts and opinions, Page One story choices, headlines that don't fit their stories, questionable taste, too little good news, ignoring communities, issues of privacy and ethics. Identifying minors involved in crime and covering children of celebrities have become tests of news judgment and the law for European papers.
Language issues
France is at home with language issues, closely guarding the traditions of its own against the perceived intrusions of English and American. Halting the "imperialism" of an "American language battering on our doors" is a goal of the French National Academy and its painstaking project to create a dictionary by 2010 that preserves and defends its native tongue.
Reader reps shared details about style and grammar issues in their regions, a subject of such intense interest that each person at the conference might have spoken at length.
Hawai'i has two languages
Hawai'i, unlike other places, has two official state languages, English and Hawaiian. The Advertiser, respecting this, since last October has made the 'okina (glottal stop) and kahako (macron) part of its editorial style.
The change seems to have met with favorable response, though Hawai'i readers come from various language backgrounds.
For many English-language newspapers, the Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual is a bible of correct usage, though it includes a small yet curious point of mainland confusion. The AP Stylebook says "Residents of Hawai'i are Hawaiians, technically natives of Polynesian descent." This use of slippery language effectively labels all state residents "Hawaiians," in contrast to the widely accepted local view that the term specifies persons related by blood to early Polynesian settlers in the islands.
Grammar, clarity, correct usage of words and their precise meanings are issues that occupy the attention of many Advertiser readers. Callers question the use of words and phrases and note that newspaper usage may clash with rules about infinitives and prepositions that readers learned in classroom English.
Language keeps changing, as nouns such as impact, dialog, helm, lens and debut have evolved into verbs, despite rear-guard resistance of copy editors and others who care. Euphemisms and buzz words continue to sprout, "collateral damage" among the Pentagon's favorites.
The Advertiser's reader representative is a good place to call at 525-8033 (or e-mail jsimonds@honoluluadvertiser.com) with your comments or pet peeves on words, language, grammar and style. Stopping the rush toward cyber-speak is no certainty, but sharing reader comments with the newsroom does have an impact.
