Writing “News” dated 2008 is not Legitimate Media Work

Original link for the story

Some people take no thought of the news they link. However, not all news sources are credible. It is not enough just to pick up stories and link.

From the titles alone of these so-called news, you could see that they are catchy but misleading. However, these are calculated to be like that - to tickle your mind to read on if you are not careful.

Let's take this link newly posted as an example: “19 Year Old Diebold Technician Wins U.S. Presidency.” This means that the election is over and that this technician has already won. It is misleading, at the same time it appears legitimate. It makes people read on, but one has to have a critical eye.

The source, Avant News, “Tomorrow’s News Today,” is not given credibility by serious people. At most, this news source is a joke. It is only predictive or is making guesses and then writes “news” out of that guess – wild guess, no matter. It is making business out of news, but news that is merely speculative.

In principle, news is a reproduction of an event, hence the element of objectivity. But here, the business is to ride on an imagined future and an imagined news – so there is no objectivity. But there is money, of course.

Angling, you say? Angling does not necessarily mean you move away from what is true. To provide an angle to news means to project one part as the center or focus of your news. However, you do not fabricate the angle. It is already part of the truth that you deal with. You only enlarge it over the others – and yet you do not falsify anything unlike what this 2008 “news” had done.

This one is pure imagination – a fiction using the real name of a real person who is an international figure, just to be able to hinge upon public attention for increased readership.

Check, therefore, what is written in there before you do any linking. If you link these items, you do a great disservice to people who expect legitimate news. Moreover, you encourage the usurpation of true media work.

Read for items like “temporally realigned” – what ever that means – as an equivalent of an excuse or disclaimer when there would be complaints in the future.

Check on the date the news is supposed to have been written. It may be two years later yet.

To illustrate, read this item -

19 Year Old Diebold Technician Wins U.S. Presidency
Temporally realigned by admin on 2006/9/25 10:49:05 (7401 reads)
By Ion Zwitter, Avant News Editor
Washington, D.C., November 5, 2008

Have you noticed the date?

This is not legitimate news. People who do this cash in on entertainment rather than do true media work.

Slang and Chatspeak: Where They Belong

It is good to form good habits of writing by not using slang. There is a proper time to use this and it is when one is trying to characterize one’s subject through level of language. It is when language is used as a tool to convey something about the character. This is mostly done in short stories or novels.

One can use slang to convey something like tone, mood, emotion, but it is not to be used as a norm. We may find it cute using slang - or chatspeak for that matter -but it is always a good writing habit not to be sloppy with language.

There are age-old principles to follow in writing and it is best to respect them for their wisdom. Therefore, we do not defend use of slang or chatspeak – when it comes to learning good writing.

Some writers concur with me. The following transcripts may lend some insights -

Me:
I had recommended a budding writer here - one whom I told to stop using slang and chatspeak and to use formal language as a good habit of writing. I told her she could develop here. I told her there is use for these kinds of communication - in a short story or novel where one is characterizing a subject. But, it is not the norm, I told her.

Instead of saying "yeah," for example, she should use "yes." Instead of using "u," she should spell it out as "you."

Unfortunately, I see slang and chatspeak sometimes in the posts.

A:
I agree that instant messaging abbreviations have no place in writing. However, there are instances where slang can be used in dialogue. In order for dialogue to appear natural, the writer should write, as their character would actually speak were that character an actual person. I don't use chatspeak or messaging abbreviations in my writing. I don't even make a habit of using it in my replies to other people's work, but it is used so commonly that people sometimes forget this is not proper for writing.

I do use yeah in dialogue because it is so common in speech. There are other instances. Street lingo would only be appropriate where a book or a short story is set in that setting.

If you're writing a formal letter for employment or such, slang, neither chatspeak, or street lingo would be appropriate.

B:
I totally agree. I think slang and chatspeak as you call it have to be separated even though they can evolve for similar reasons. In both cases, they are substitutes for normal or proper language, but at least in the case of slang, most people can understand the context more often than not. Slang can also filter into normal everyday conversations. But chatspeak is very limited. I think it's mostly used by teenagers to have a cute way of writing to each other and in that sense, it's immature. When I find a web site or message board that uses chatspeak, I leave immediately! I can't take anyone seriously that writes in chatspeak.

C:
Chatspeak is for the illiterate. At least it seems that way, and unfortunately, people who use it a lot sometimes forget how to spell. Believe it or not, I've come across it in nursing notes - which are technically legal documents. They shouldn't be there. Hate it. Slang speech is ok in writing though as it can help define a character

D:
True enough. Your own character, Shark Johnson, is a great example of using slang to define a person. In the beginning of the series, he uses it quite a bit, as he is still rather rough around the edges. As he matures and educates himself, he uses it less and less.

E:
I personally find chatspeak illiterate, and when people start writing stories using chatspeak, it shows how unseemly the whole thing is. It also shows how if people don't practise writing properly they begin to forget how to spell, and start writing in chatspeak everywhere. I hate seeing people writing or typing chatspeak, it reminds me of how society is slowly slipping away.

As for slang, there's nothing wrong with using it in dialogue, in fact I think it's great to use in dialogue. It gives character to your...well characters. But it's unwise to use it outside of dialogue, but not unheard of.

http://www.italknews.com/view_story.php?sid=6693

Owners of Data

Honesty is a value lost in most of us. Honesty in what should have been revealed, however, takes qualification. If what should be revealed solves something, gives added benefit to most, then by all means reveal it and be relieved from keeping it.

Personal secrets do not need to be revealed if it does not help, however. They may be mistakes that are part of growing up. One writer wrote of being relieved after telling her secrets, which she said, made her a prison all her life. This included revealing her mother’s being an alcoholic and not knowing who her father was. Certainly, one must be selective in choosing whom to reveal secrets.

Messages like these have to be handled carefully. As it is, the data about her mother belongs to her, and without her consent, she may not just tell anybody. The data about not knowing who her dad is belongs to her and it is up to her how she may dispense with it. There are so-called owners of data and this should be respected.

Before feeling obligated to communicate secrets to anybody, what one must consider is what the situation needs, and that is acceptance of those secrets – by oneself. Then and only then will one be able to look at them honestly. This is where honesty first applies, before getting things complicated on the level of having to tell others. As earlier pointed out, communicating secrets may involve some risk if not handled properly.

The reality is that not everybody knows how to handle information passed on to him or her.