Distill, Describe, Defuse
Every day, journalists distill complex and sometimes confusing proposals crafted by elected lawmakers into a few succinct phrases. It's a true skill, one that reporters employ every single time they cover a new law traveling through Congress or any of the state legislative bodies. You also see the fruits of this skill when you hear or read a story that explains the work of a government agency like the CDC, or even a court ruling. One of the critical functions of journalism is turning obtuse bureaucratic-speak into plain language.
And it is not without peril. Today we are addressing the words journalists choose as they take on this very important journalism task.
Politicians use new legislation and new initiatives to score political points or take a jab at their opponents. They slap provocative titles on top of bills, or over-complicate their reports to make their work seem more significant.
Journalists weed through all of that to tell you what's truly significant or interesting. Where an elected politician might choose words that play to a certain ideology, a journalist has to say it in a neutral way. Repeat the political rhetoric and the journalism no longer serves the audience, but instead amplifies one point
