Last Updated: December 29, 2000
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Ask Dr. Ink
A ‘major league’ slur and political celibates
The doctor offers prescriptions for profanity in the
news, where to draw the line on political participation and the value of
visual journalists
Dr. Ink offers advice, serious and humorous, to editors on a full
range of problems and issues, journalistic and managerial. Questions may
be real or hypothetical, and may be rephrased to protect personal or institutional
privacy. Send them to Ask Dr. Ink, ASNE, 11690B Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston,
VA 20191.
Dear Dr. Ink: One political candidate slipped and said something
vulgar when he thought the microphone was off. He called a reporter from
the New York Times a “major league asshole.” Some papers printed it out.
Others used dashes. Who is right?
Answer: Dr. Ink was most amused by this contretemps. Especially risible
was the announcement by The New York Times style gurus that the word in
question should not be described as an “obscenity,” a term reserved for
matters of a sexual nature. Hmmmm.
In general, Dr. Ink thinks that newspapers are way too squeamish about
using such language. The blanks make us look like secret Victorians. Any
word that offends should not be used off-handedly. But if it crosses the
threshold into news, take it to the limit.
Dear Dr. Ink: What do you think of the 50-inch web? What will be
lost if we shrink the size of the newspaper?
Answer: The hot air blown on this subject could fill a fleet of balloons,
all this talk about making the newspaper handier and more organized for
readers.
Such gab is disingenuous, or as we say in New York: “fagedabowdit.”
There is only one reason for this change: To save millions and millions
of dollars.
Now that is a VERY good reason to “downsize” the paper. And creative
journalists will do the best they can with what’s left. If some of those
savings are re-invested into news resources, the paper may indeed get better.
But, readers, don’t hold your collective breath.
Dear Dr. Ink: We keep having problems drawing the line on community
involvement. One columnist has put a bumper sticker for a political candidate
on his car. We asked him to remove it and he claimed that violated his
freedom of expression. What should we do?
Answer: Ask him again politely. If he refuses, exercise your freedom
of expression letting the air out of his tires. We don’t want civic celibates
in newspapers. But editors have a right to say: no lapel pins, no bumper
stickers, no yards signs, please. The strategic neutrality of the newspaper
depends upon it.
Dear Dr. Ink: One of our editors was asked to moderate a luncheon
benefiting Planned Parenthood because the speaker was a journalist. This
brought criticism from some readers who oppose abortion. They interpreted
our participation as support. What do you think?
Answer: Journalists should not participate in marches and protests,
except as neutral observers. A few years ago, a Washington-based reporter
who covered the Supreme Court was seen marching in a rally in support of
abortion rights. Way, way uncool.
The reporter must work hard so that no reader should be able to discern
the writer’s personal opinions from the coverage. This is a tough test,
but central to our credibility.
Dr. Ink is sure that your editor moderated the luncheon in the spirit
of generating a healthy public debate on a difficult issue.
Perhaps a disclaimer at the beginning of the lunch would have helped.
“I am not here as a supporter or opponent of Planned Parenthood, but as
a journalist dedicated to improving the public’s awareness of important
issues.”
Dear Dr. Ink: I’m an ASNE member who has attended meetings of SND,
the Society for Newspaper Design. I was shocked that nobody was reading
the newspaper. Am I paranoid? Are these design folks even journalists?
What do you make of so many newspaper designers leaving the paper for internet
jobs?
Answer: The best newspaper designers are visual journalists. They care
about news. They care about telling stories. They care about organizing
information in useful ways.
Dr. Ink has found that they care more about readers than the word people
do. If readers don’t get into the story, the writer blames the reader.
The designer blames the newspaper. The key, of course, is to get all the
journalists at the paper working together across departments.
To do that requires blowing up the 19th century assembly line model
of production. Newspapers need to hire and retain the best designers in
the world, not just to apply a coat of color to a corpse, but to bring
the whole enterprise to life.
