In a previous post journalism or partisanship, I expressed my own thoughts about how I feel about current news and journalism. Yet there is another interesting opinion article by a media critic about journalists’ choice of words.

A professor of communication at DePauw University and media critic, Jeffrey McCall writes in the Hill Blog opinion that journalists’ choice of words in the news media has halted conversation and contributed to the current diminishing public trust.

Journalists have allowed several key terms to be used as rhetorical clubs in the nation’s dialogue. Instead of careful wordsmithing, reporters allow magic words to inflate and distort news stories that demand more nuance and perspective. The rhetorical result is a shallowness that diminishes reasoned discussion of the nation’s challenges.

Prof Jeffrey McCall on the Hill Blog

Prof McCall further adds:

“The use of terms such as “justice” and “science” are trotted out today by activists and advocates as rhetorical sledgehammers. Such terms are pushed in the face of the public and effectively shut down efforts to counter-argue. So it is today as public dialogue disallows dissent with anybody who is on the side of “justice,” “safety,” or “science” — no matter how poorly those notions are defined.”

What I personally find most annoying about consuming current news is that many news headlines on controversial topics are presented as sports commonly used in very competitive sports matches like smackdown wrestling, football and others. The terms like ‘hits back’, ‘knock down’ and similar others are often used in news headline in main media outlets like CNN, Politico, The Washington Post, The New York Times and others meant for click bait.

In my opinion, use of such ‘click bait’ terms are not meant for advancing discussion among peoples with opposing views but solely for baiting readers to click the headlines for generating revenue from commercial advertisement.