…of modern news reporting
The column that has fun with the smaller mistakes and missteps of Australia’s mainstream mediocre; that pays homage to those sweet little fishes that individually don’t amount to a full meal but collectively can cause a tummy upset over the overall state of the once great and noble craft of journalism in this country.
It seems almost incredible to the bitter, washed-up, old hacks who compile this column as to the number of modern journos who apparently don’t know the meaning of the word ‘incredible’.
Ditto for the same seemingly very large cohort who have a religious bent and firmly believe in miracles.
Let us explain. Above and below is a recent example of an ABC online story from the cricket World Cup. Was there anything remotely totally unbelievable about the Aussies winning their semi-final over South Africa?
Or close enough to being unbelievable that it can’t be seriously considered.
Now, don’t get us wrong. Letting Pat Cummins anywhere near a coin toss might require some sort of miracle for a positive outcome – calling right in the first place and then making the right decision!
Speaking of miracles, here’s a recent online piece from The New Daily about that plane crash off the Sunshine Coast on November 10.
Apart from being bitter and old, our Mediocre Bytes compilers also proudly admit to being total rusted-on atheists who don’t believe in miracles.
And they’ll gladly explain that there was nothing at all miraculous about the saving of the two men on that ditched two-engine plane. Luck, certainly, that a Royal Flying Doctor Service pilot saw the downing and could direct an RACQ LifeFlight crew to the spot not long after.
Let’s stick to that incident and return to the overuse of “incredible” and its derivatives. Nine News’ Meg Sydes on the day caught the fever from that word being splashed about on screen early in the bulletin when the segment was being promoted and had this to say: “Incredibly, neither sustained any injury.”
Once again, let’s hear from our compilers: the pilot made a controlled sea landing as they are no doubt trained to do. The two men then had time to exit the plane and get into their liferaft. There was nothing “incredible” about what happened. Yes, they were lucky that the sea wasn’t up and things panned out well. It could have gone badly. But what happened was totally believable. Thoughts, Meg?
Thanks, Meg, for those thoughts.
And just for interest, we keyed in “incredible rescue” and look at just some of the Channel 9 offerings that popped up! We love the double dip from that yarn almost three years ago.
Look, we try to be fair in this column. We understand that in the hyperbolic chamber of modern news reporting with overworked staff expected to pump out yarns in as short a time as possible but still exciting and punchy, throwing words like “incredible” and “miraculous” into the mix must almost be as tempting to young reporters as the dangling participles that these tyros can’t seem to get enough of.
We just wish they wouldn’t.
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