In article
<usenet-75E2F1.19523308052008@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
Jim Ellwanger <usenet@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> In article <68hg6tF2tc7rbU1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
> Mikko Peltoniemi <mikkopel@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
> > xhoster@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote:
> >
> > > In the Bloch-age of Justice, the NPR re****ting always starts with
"NPR has
> > > learned that...". I don't notice that formula being used for other
news
> > > stories. Does the phraseology mean something special?
> >
> > I've heard BBC use it, albeit not very often.
>
> I've heard it on various TV networks and local stations. "NBC News has
> learned..." "NewsChannel 4 has learned..."
It is generally considered a cheesy form of self-aggrandizement in print
journalism where I work. Sometimes that's what management strives for,
but the people who actually put the words together generally consider it
to be inappropriate.
It does signal, "Hey, this story is exclusive to us," which provides
some justification. But as often as not, I see it in stories that are in
fact not exclusive. When I was a re****ter, I would occasionally see it
in stories in other news outlets that I knew damn well had been ripped
off from a story I'd written myself. The only thing exclusive about it
was the particular order of the words.
It can also indicate that the reader/viewer is not going to be given the
source(s) of the information in the story. Then you have to fall back on
whether the particular medium, or even the re****ter, has credibility
with you. I generally find a story that's both self-aggrandizing and
unsourced to be highly suspect. It often signals that whoever the source
is, is flying a balloon, and if it doesn't stick to the flagpole they'll
never own up to it. If everybody's enthusiastic, they'll come forward
and take credit.
You can signal that a story is (allegedly) exclusive by flagging it with
the word "EXCLUSIVE," and that still happens. Better, in my opinion, is
to source the information by saying it was obtained through a
freedom-of-information request, or found in court do***ents, or in
re****ts prepared for an environmental *****sment, or whatever. That
indicates some real re****ting was done.
--
bill
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