6 Journalism language
‘Two thousand words from Boot, ’ sold Mr. Solter. ‘Any good?’ asked the general editor. ‘Look at it. ’ The general editor looked. He saw ‘Russian plot… coup d’état… overthrow constitutional government… real dictatorship … goat butts head of police … imprisoned blonde … vital British interest jeopardised’. It was enough; it was news.
Evelyn Waugh
Scoop, 1938
Language has evolved throughout civilization according to the way the message has been transmitted. Language changed when ancient civilizations learnt to write their spoken thoughts, and again when the written word was printed. As will be seen later in this chapter, it changed further when the printed word was transmitted to vast numbers of people by means of broadcasting ...
Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.
Read now
Unlock full access