Cliche of the Week 55 – Regime Changes

(With thanks to Peta Dixon for suggesting this week's cliche)

Regime changes, as reported by the mainstream media, have accelerated in the world since January.

This transformation description surfaced 300 times last December but in March was being machine-gunned into news reports 2800 times. Usage has dropped since but still appears 600 times a month.

The revolutionary trend can be partly attributed to the Arab Dawn, an explosion of pro-democracy sentiment in the Middle East. "Arab Dawn" is being used a moderate 12 times a month.

"It was a sharp escalation in pressure on Assad and a sign that the Obama administration could be moving closer to calling for regime change in Syria over the violent crackdown on a four-month-old uprising." (The Jakarta Post, July 21)

"In recent weeks, Stephen Conroy, the Communications Minister, has accused Mr Murdoch's Australian newspapers of waging a campaign for 'regime change'." ( Financial Times, July 21)

Regime changes can also be a cultural shift. "As a "crystallisation" of regime change, (author Paul) Murray cites the old Bank of Ireland offices in Dublin — once the HQ of a shattered bank, but now earmarked as the site of a planned National Literary Centre." (The Independent, July 15)

Cliche of the Week appears in The Australian newspaper Mondays.

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