Heard a promo on CNN yesterday morning about the “Democratic primary war.” I’m all for the use of metaphor, but given that part of the debate is over how to deal with a real war that is killing kids and destroying families, and given that the Democratic candidates are very close on the issue, the use of “war” to dramatize their sniping once again illustrates a media far more interested in the horse race than the issues.

Left turn: We have become very good readers of bad writing (and listeners of bad speech). We consume so much of it we simply ignore a lot of what’s confusing and do the hard work ourselves, guessing at what the writer must have meant. This is dangerous because we can easily guess wrong and completely misunderstand the intent, and because our ability to read without demanding sense often leads us to write the same way—with no regard for the precise meaning of the sentences we actually write.

Right turn: To become better writers, we need to become better readers and listeners. And that includes reacting to the tortured way ideas and issues are framed (consciously or unconsciously) to meet a less important goal (ratings) at the expense of a more important one (informing on issues). Yes, “important to whom” matters—in CNN’s case, the accountants or the viewers—but that’s why we need to pay close attention. Whether from incompetence, carelessness, selfishness or maliciousness, the meaning and import of what we read is often hidden, and only by demanding sense can we get past the surface and find them. And the better we are at demanding sense, the better we will be at making it.

cnn, Communication, Democratic, language, metaphor, politics, Writing

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