Chris Pash's Blog, page 7

Cliche of the Week 72 – De Rigueur

Society is increasingly sophisticated in its reading, wine sipping, food nibbling, fashion draping, art sampling, technology appreciation and constant interior decoration.

And all of it is de rigueur, required of tasteful people.

News reports with de rigueur, which apparently adds sophistication to any story about a social trend, are on the rise. Two years ago, de rigueur was used about 150 times a month. Now it's 350 and higher if you count the common misspelling "de rigeur".

"Long before Harry Potter pencil cases and Twilight lunchboxes became de rigeur, Charles Dodgson, aka Lewis Carroll, saw the merchandising potential of his much-loved literary creation (Alice)." (The Independent, November 3).

"Now digital cameras are de rigueur in the trade, with higher-resolution cameras minimising orbs and generally accepted techniques for distinguishing a dust particle from an apparition." (Wall Street Journal, October 31).

"With internet connections growing at 20 per cent a year, going online is becoming de rigueur in the country." (The Economic Times, India, October 30).

"In keeping with the hip and matesy atmosphere, communal long tables are de rigueur inside and out." (The Sunday Telegraph, October 30).

Cliche of the Week appears in The Australian newspaper Mondays.

Cliches in the media are tracked across the world using Factiva and Dow Jones Insight.

Chris Pash's book, The Last Whale, a true story set in the 1970s, was published by Fremantle Press in 2008.

Cliche of the Week 71 – An Early Christmas

The sound of Christmas wrapping paper being ripped gets a little louder and earlier every year, starting in late October and continuing right up to Christmas Eve.

It's been slow this year but we can expect a sharp rise in news reporting of Christmas came early and early Christmas presents.

December, as in previous years, will be a frenzy of early Christmas presents, with about 1400 of them to be found in the mainstream media around the world.

"Residents of a quiet Chatswood retirement village took a ride on the wild side when Christmas came early." (North Shore Times, November 4)

"Christmas came early for some pupils after a supermarket donated computers and printers to their schools." (Manchester Evening News, November 3)

"Christmas came early for retailers yesterday when the Reserve Bank cut interest rates for the first time in 2 1/2 years." (The Australian, November 2)

"Christmas came early . . . as Crystal Palace marched into the Carling Cup last eight for the first time in nine years." (The Sun, October 26)

"Christmas came early for dozens of children and their families when Morgan Stanley employees visited the Operation Smile-run charity hospital in Hangzhou in June." (South China Morning Post, October 10)

Cliche of the Week appears in The Australian newspaper Mondays.

Cliches in the media are tracked across the world using Factiva and Dow Jones Insight.

Chris Pash's book, The Last Whale, a true story set in the 1970s, was published by Fremantle Press in 2008.

Cliche of the Week 70 – Political Assassination

Australia leads the world when it comes to assassinations, according to news reports.

Last month more than 160 political assassinations appeared globally. Australia lead with 44, closely followed by Ireland.

Two years ago, the phrase surfaced four times a month in mainstream reporting. Most of the recent stories were about the resignation of Commonwealth Ombudsman Allan Asher. No shootings, bombings or other forms of elimination.

In Ireland, political assassination was linked with poet Michael D. Higgins becoming the next president. Again, no real blood spilled.

There are genuine political killings. "(Wouter) Basson denied responsibility for political assassinations carried out by agents using his toxins and said he was only following orders from senior (South African) government members." (Reuters News, September 28)

"High-profile political assassinations over the summer have fed perceptions . . . the West is losing the war in Afghanistan." (Agence France-Presse, October 17)

Back to Australia: "Ombudsman Allan Asher has bowed to pressure and quit . . . after admitting he secretly drafted questions for the Greens (who) are accusing the federal government of a political assassination." (ABC News, October 20)

Cliche of the Week appears in The Australian newspaper Mondays. Cliches in the media are tracked across the world using Factiva and Dow Jones Insight.

Chris Pash's book, The Last Whale, a true story set in the 1970s, was published by Fremantle Press in 2008.

Cliche of the Week 69 – Completely Destroyed

When something is destroyed, that's the end. It doesn't exist. It ceases to function. It is no more.

To be completely destroyed is overkill. It is either destroyed or it isn't. The "completely" isn't needed.

And nor is almost or partially or partly destroyed. The word to use is "damaged".

Completely destroyed gets used in the media 700-plus times a month, mostly in crime stories or those about war where the aim is to destroy targets.

"The force of the fire was so strong that the stairs had been completely destroyed, making a rescue attempt much more difficult." (The Irish Times, October 4)

"The fire started at around 3.30am on Saturday and completely destroyed the five offices." (Indian Express, October 2)

"She was devastated to see her once admired bromeliad feature in her front garden completely destroyed." (Kawana Weekly, October 6)

"St Michael's Cathedral was almost completely destroyed by the bombs the Luftwaffe rained down on the city during the Coventry blitz." (The Guardian, September 23)

Update: 14 would-be Byline Madness laureates last week submitted sentences of 50 words or less with journalistic cliches. Entries close November 18.

More details http://chrispash.wordpress.com/2011/10/18/byline-madness-the-hunt-to-find-the-best-of-the-best-cliches/

Cliche of the Week appears in The Australian newspaper Mondays. The usage of cliches in the media is tracked across the world using Factiva and Dow Jones Insight.

Chris Pash's book, The Last Whale, a true story set in the 1970s, was published by Fremantle Press in 2008.

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Cliche of the Week 68 – Truthiness

Today, something different. Little is left to the imagination as feral winds of change toss quality journalism like a toy in a race against time towards far-reaching and game-changing outcomes, informed sources say.

This sentence has some "truthiness", a taste of truth to it, or at least appears at first light reading to make some sort of sense but crumbles on closer look.

At 30 words, it does have a lot of journalistic cliches, most of them appearing at one time in Cliche of the Week, and is entirely made up, a nonsense fiction.

Create your own cliched news fiction masterpiece of 50 words or less and be in the running to be the inaugural Byline Madness laureate.

Top marks for creativity, extra marks for using a cliche not yet covered in Cliche of the Week. Even better if the sentence makes some sort of sense.

Apart from the enormous prestige of being crowned Byline Madness laureate (chosen absolutely subjectively), the good people at Fremantle Press will send a package of books.

Either post your submission as a comment at chrispash.wordpress.com or at the Cliche of the Week Facebook group or to chris@thelastwhale.com.au.

Mark it Byline Madness and get it in by November 18.

Cliche of the Week appears in The Australian newspaper Mondays. The usage of cliches in the media is tracked across the world using Factiva and Dow Jones Insight.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/media/monday-section/cliche-of-the-week/story-fna1k39o-1226174616081

 Chris Pash's book, The Last Whale, a true story set in the 1970s, was published by Fremantle Press in 2008

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Byline Madness – The hunt to find the best of the best clichés

Create a sentence of no more than 50 words containing as many breathless journalistic clichés as you can manage.

 Top marks for creativity, extra marks for using a cliché not yet covered in Cliché of the Week. Even better if the sentence makes some sort of sense.

How: Either post your submission on the wall of the Cliché of the Week Facebook group, as a comment at this post or email me at chris@thelastwhale.com.au. Mark your submission "Byline Madness".

The incentive: Apart from the enormous prestige of being the inaugural Byline Madness laureate (chosen absolutely subjectively), the good people at that fine publisher Fremantle Press will send a package of books including The Waterboys by Peter Docker, My Dog Gave Me the Clap by Adam Morris, Brothers by Antonio Buti and, perhaps, one of the few remaining copies of The Last Whale by Chris Pash.

 Submissions close 18 November 2011

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Cliche of the Week 67 – World-Class

With a World Cup in New Zealand, the rugby is not only the best in the world but is populated by world-class players, teams and coaches.

The phrase world class when connected to rugby has enjoyed a fourfold surge in journalistic usage during the World Cup to about 200 times a week.

However, in the bigger world of news there are more than 3000 "world-class" people and items each week, many of them leaking to news pages from press releases.

"(Will) Genia isn't just world class — he's the best half-back in the world" (The Age, October 11).

"Colin Slade and Adam Thomson are world-class, no question about that. But they're not in the same stratosphere as Carter and McCaw and never will be regardless of game time'" (Bay of Plenty Times, October 8 ).

"The precommitment funding was an important milestone in the development of the world-class ore body" (The Gold Coast Bulletin, October 13).

"With views over Lavender Bay, this 211sq m luxury apartment offers world-class living" (Mosman Daily, October 13).

"Member for Whitsunday Jan Jarratt said the state government was committed to ensuring all Queenslanders had access to a world-class ambulance service" (Daily Mercury, Mackay, October 13).

Cliche of the Week appears in The Australian newspaper Mondays. The usage of cliches in the media is tracked across the world using Factiva and Dow Jones Insight.

 Chris Pash's book, The Last Whale, a true story set in the 1970s, was published by Fremantle Press in 2008

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Cliche of the Week 66 – Quality Journalism

(Thank you to Malcolm Colless for suggesting this one)

The good news is that quality journalism is on the increase, or at least we're writing about it more.

Quality journalism, be it reporting of the objective and balanced kind or investigative journalism or another flavour of the first cut of history, is now a daily debate. Two years ago, the label was used 25 times a month and now it's hitting 180.

Once you get past a baseline of relevance, accuracy and fairness, quality journalism depends on your viewpoint.

The 'quality" part should be dropped.  'Journalism' is excellence born of professional reporting. Anything else is sloppy.

"The paper also opens the debate on policy change required to support quality journalism in an environment where the commercial newspaper model is facing significant strain." (The Age, September 29)

"Google News is touting its latest new feature as focusing on high-quality journalism and 'giving credit where credit is due', as Google said in its blog." (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 25)

"The new site will appeal to readers who are drawn to the Globe's quality journalism, an immersive reading experience and the feel of a newspaper or magazine presentation, but on a digital device." (Entertainment Weekly, September 30)

Cliche of the Week appears in The Australian newspaper Mondays. The usage of cliches in the media is tracked across the world using Factiva and Dow Jones Insight.

 Chris Pash's book, The Last Whale, a true story set in the 1970s, was published by Fremantle Press in 2008

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Cliche of the Week 65 – Left little to the imagination

Leaving something for the imagination is better than bingeing on cliches.

Left little to the imagination is uncovered in news reports about 70 times a week. Newspapers in British tabloids favour the phrase as a sauce for entertainment titillation.

In most cases, cutting the phrase from a sentence will improve and not alter the meaning for weary and brain-tired readers.

"She (Gwyneth Paltrow) gave everyone at the Venice Film Festival an eyeful as she arrived bra-less in a pale peach Prada gown that left little to the imagination." (The Sun, September 5)

"Apart from the micro-skirts, plunging necklines and see-through overshirts which left little to the imagination, there were also more modest designs including sand-coloured tunic-style trouser suits and flowing chiffon skirts." (Republica, September 21)

 "High-class prostitute's claim for a slice of dead billionaire's fortune leaves little to the imagination." (The New Zealand Herald, September 17)

"Lady Gaga left little to the imagination as she stripped off in a series of newly released 'fashion films' to coincide with her music video for her song, You And I." (Asian News International, September 3) 

Cliche of the Week appears in The Australian newspaper Mondays. The usage of cliches in the media is tracked across the world using Factiva and Dow Jones Insight.

 Chris Pash's book, The Last Whale, a true story set in the 1970s, was published by Fremantle Press in 2008

Cliche of the Week 64 – Like a toy

Toys get tossed, hurled and swept away like matchsticks as the world pours wild weather on a broken land.

Every time there's a weather event – storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, typhoons, tsunamis, floods – the might of nature creates an opportunity to describe its force.

'Like a toy' is used 20 times in a non disaster month and 80 during 'weather events', a phrase which in a normal month surfaces 40 times but up to 500 in a busy climate month.

" … washed-out roads, flooded fields, destroyed foundations and trees and boulders tossed like toys." (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News, September 3)

"He was driving to meet friends when the SUV smashed into him, hurling the man and machine aside like toys in the street." (Los Angeles Daily News, September 5)

"In the aftermath of Irene, in addition to the homes and streets underwater, covered bridges and cars carried away like toys, and downtowns awash in knee-high sludge, the arts also have an extreme and unfortunate amount of cleaning to do." (Rutland Herald, September 1)

"A week earlier, 300-kilometre-per-hour winds raged through Goderich, Ontario, ripping apart historic buildings, turning trees into matchsticks and tossing cars like toys." (Vancouver Sun, September 1)

Cliche of the Week appears in The Australian newspaper Mondays. The usage of cliches in the media is tracked across the world using Factiva and Dow Jones Insight.

 Chris Pash's book, The Last Whale, a true story set in the 1970s, was published by Fremantle Press in 2008