I briefly dabbled in professional journalism earlier in my career, and took several courses in writing in college. The single most important stylistic lesson I learned was that the passive voice should be eschewed. (Yes, irony intended.)
The passive voice is the voice of weakness. It is the form used when one wishes to distance the actor from the action. The biggest example has to be the current hot phrase among politicians in trouble: "mistakes were made."
A while ago, Meryl Yourish noted something odd about media coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israelis killed Palestinians, while others "died" or "were killed."
It's a subtle thing, but a significant distinction. As Meryl points out, the active voice is the more powerful, more accusatory, more direct form, while the passive voice is that of minimizing, of excusing, of downplaying. It's a wonderful way of applying bias without being too flagrant; the two versions are defensible as equally true, yet the impact of the two versions is, as my old writing teacher used to quote, "the difference between the lightning and the lightning bug."
Well, Meryl's observation is still going strong. This morning's Boston Globe features a Reuters dispatch from the Palestinian Territories that could not give clearer proof.
Gaza boy, 2, dies in clash of Hamas, Fatah forcesGAZA CITY -- A Palestinian child was killed by gunfire in Gaza yesterday, medical officials said, as Fatah and Hamas fighters clashed in a second straight day of factional violence since the formation of a unity government.
...
Medical officials said the 2-year-old boy was killed and a female relative was wounded by gunfire as Hamas and Fatah gunmen clashed in northern Gaza. There was no comment from either side on the killing.
That bad, evil, naughty gunfire. It went off on its own and killed that little boy. It must have wandered away while the Hamas terrorists and the Fatah terrorists were duking it out nearby. How careless of them.
Let me rewrite that to balance the Reuters story out a bit:
Terrorists fight, kill baby in Northern GazaTerrorists from Fatah and Hamas -- the governing parties of the Palestinian Authority -- fought in northern Gaza yesterday, killing a two-year-old boy. The terrorists shot the boy and a female relative during the second day of open warfare after Hamas and Fatah formed a unified government, an agreement based on the principle of "let's stop killing each other and go back to killing the Jews."
Neither side would admit to killing the boy, and declined comment until they could find a way to blame his death on the Jews. At that point, they will give him a name, release cute photos of him, call him a martyr, and turn his funeral into a demonstration of Jew-hatred and cries of vengeance against the Zionists.
Yeah, it's as biased as the Reuters version, but it has two advantages: First off, it's a bit more open about its bias. Secondly, it's far more accurate.
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Comments (25)
It's not more accurate. The... (Below threshold)1. Posted by Jason | March 23, 2007 6:47 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
It's not more accurate. The passive voice was being used in the first report because it was not clear if it was Hamas or Fatah gunfire that killed the voice.
Unlike you, the media (and the US, and Europe, and Israel) distinguish between the two.
Given that there was no subject to head the sentence (as you demonstrate when you're forced to substitute "terrorists" to get active voice), the passive makes plenty of sence in this case.
1. Posted by Jason | March 23, 2007 6:47 AM |
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Posted on March 23, 2007 06:47
2. Posted by Jay Tea | March 23, 2007 6:57 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Fine, Jason, substitute "gunmen from Fatah and Hamas." Does that make any difference?
Not one damned bit.
J.
2. Posted by Jay Tea | March 23, 2007 6:57 AM |
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Posted on March 23, 2007 06:57
3. Posted by Jason | March 23, 2007 7:00 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I would personally go for "Gunmen killed the child in their crossfire, though it was unclear which party was responsible" or something like that.
3. Posted by Jason | March 23, 2007 7:00 AM |
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Posted on March 23, 2007 07:00
4. Posted by Rob LA Ca. | March 23, 2007 7:40 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Hey , take it easy with the FMG.
4. Posted by Rob LA Ca. | March 23, 2007 7:40 AM |
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Posted on March 23, 2007 07:40
5. Posted by Rob LA Ca. | March 23, 2007 7:41 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Hey , take it easy with the FNG.
5. Posted by Rob LA Ca. | March 23, 2007 7:41 AM |
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Posted on March 23, 2007 07:41
6. Posted by Rob LA Ca. | March 23, 2007 7:50 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
The Democrat Media would rewrite that to read:
Our brave young children continue to die in the crossfire in what is clearly now , a civil war...a quagmire ... a blank stupid look on Pelosi's face.lol
6. Posted by Rob LA Ca. | March 23, 2007 7:50 AM |
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Posted on March 23, 2007 07:50
7. Posted by danno | March 23, 2007 7:53 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
"When will we all wake up, nuke'em into next week and cut the head off the snake, while we are there lets grab our "good friends" the syrians too"
7. Posted by danno | March 23, 2007 7:53 AM |
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Posted on March 23, 2007 07:53
8. Posted by MyPetGloat | March 23, 2007 9:55 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Shorter Jay and Rob:
Why can't the media be paint a more negative picture of these fucking wogs?
8. Posted by MyPetGloat | March 23, 2007 9:55 AM |
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Posted on March 23, 2007 09:55
9. Posted by Meryl Yourish | March 23, 2007 10:41 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Jason, the passive voice is used to downplay the death of a Palestinian child at Palestinian hands. As someone who has been reading the press about Israel for the past five years, I can say with confidence that Jay's absolutely correct here.
Don't believe me? Then read this post. Or this one.
Even the headlines show the bias. Look at the difference between the two paragraphs in this story from January. Notice the different wording used to describe the IDF and the terrorists.
It is not Jay's imagination, nor mine. It is not using the passive voice for a lack of clarity. The language used to describe Israeli actions is far more violent, vehement, and tinged with breathless excitement for every action than the language used to describe Palestinian violence.
The language used to describe the terrorists shooting indiscriminately into a crowd? "A baby died." "A bystander was wounded." "Several bystanders were hurt."
That isn't what they say when the IDF accidentally shoots bystanders. It is a clear bias of the mainstream media against Israel, and as I say, I've been tracking it for years. You want evidence? Read my archives.
9. Posted by Meryl Yourish | March 23, 2007 10:41 AM |
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Posted on March 23, 2007 10:41
10. Posted by passingthru | March 23, 2007 10:43 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Shorter MyPetGloat: I can't read.
10. Posted by passingthru | March 23, 2007 10:43 AM |
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Posted on March 23, 2007 10:43
11. Posted by Emerson | March 23, 2007 10:56 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Don't blame the Sand Amish for what they do. There must have been a Joo or two somewhere we can pin it on.
11. Posted by Emerson | March 23, 2007 10:56 AM |
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Posted on March 23, 2007 10:56
12. Posted by Heralder | March 23, 2007 11:03 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
The first good question I've ever seen you post MyPetGloat.
Why can't they seem to paint a more negative picture of Palestinian terrorists?
12. Posted by Heralder | March 23, 2007 11:03 AM |
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Posted on March 23, 2007 11:03
13. Posted by fea nicks | March 23, 2007 11:33 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Bending over backwards to turn reason on its head, Wizbangs' wannabee philosopher fails to notice the deluge of stories over time about Palestinian terrorists' bombings and killings of Israelis as opposed to all the incidents of Israeli" retaliations" in the West Bank & Gaza where "collateral" damage happens, just like shit happens.
13. Posted by fea nicks | March 23, 2007 11:33 AM |
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Posted on March 23, 2007 11:33
14. Posted by Heralder | March 23, 2007 11:37 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
fea nicks,
If only I could manage your impeccable prose and ferocious wit.
You don't have to even be intelligent to notice the difference in grammar and vocabulary used to describe each side. So what's your excuse?
14. Posted by Heralder | March 23, 2007 11:37 AM |
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Posted on March 23, 2007 11:37
15. Posted by Heralder | March 23, 2007 11:57 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Not to mention, while you charge others for 'turning reason on its head', you fail absolutely at addressing the subject:
Wording
Not quantity.
15. Posted by Heralder | March 23, 2007 11:57 AM |
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Posted on March 23, 2007 11:57
16. Posted by Meryl Yourish | March 23, 2007 1:24 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Heralder, it's obvious that fea nicks hasn't got a leg to stand on, which is why he resorted to ignoring the evidence and throwing around uncited accusations.
16. Posted by Meryl Yourish | March 23, 2007 1:24 PM |
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Posted on March 23, 2007 13:24
17. Posted by Oyster | March 23, 2007 1:29 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
They'll just say Allah is pleased and has granted the child martyr status. They'll blame it on each other and won't waste another moment thinking about it.
17. Posted by Oyster | March 23, 2007 1:29 PM |
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Posted on March 23, 2007 13:29
18. Posted by Heralder | March 23, 2007 1:36 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Meryl,
That's pretty much standard for him.
Sometimes that's what it takes to be unfailingly against everything posted here.
Great site by the way.
18. Posted by Heralder | March 23, 2007 1:36 PM |
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Posted on March 23, 2007 13:36
19. Posted by Synova | March 23, 2007 2:33 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
It's easy to play with active and passive. I discovered that when I had the job to take notes of the cadet officer meetings in AFROTC in college. If someone complained about another person, it went passive. If someone volunteered for a task or someone got complimented, it went active. It wasn't decieving, I took notes on everything and recorded everything, but I was emphasizing good stuff, and while the bad stuff was laid out there in nice detail it was less accusatory, less personal, than it could have been.
And much more recently I've had an article I wrote edited by a lady with a journaism degree. It's not that I didn't write in an active voice, but she still changed my verbs to stronger, more colorful verbs. It wasn't worth complaining about, but I did wonder at the changes because the stronger, more colorful verbs were not always accurate. They were exaggerations. "Run" is not the same as "sprint" for instance.
From Meryl's example, "burst" is not the same as "entered".
19. Posted by Synova | March 23, 2007 2:33 PM |
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Posted on March 23, 2007 14:33
20. Posted by Brian | March 23, 2007 3:26 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
You almost had a reasonable post, with the exception of miraculously turning a 2 year old into a "baby".
20. Posted by Brian | March 23, 2007 3:26 PM |
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Posted on March 23, 2007 15:26
21. Posted by jhow66 | March 23, 2007 4:38 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
biarnless 2 years old is not a baby? Wonder if it comes under the min. wage law? How many hours a day can "it" work? Sheeze you are an idiot.
21. Posted by jhow66 | March 23, 2007 4:38 PM |
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Posted on March 23, 2007 16:38
22. Posted by Brian | March 23, 2007 5:24 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Wow, you don't even know what a baby is, jhow? I guess we now have proof that you're subhuman.
22. Posted by Brian | March 23, 2007 5:24 PM |
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Posted on March 23, 2007 17:24
23. Posted by Richard Burns | March 25, 2007 12:16 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Yes folks JT reveals to us all the fine art of manipulation. Manipulation 101. The left does it, the right does it. Everybody does it whether intentionally, like Jay, or unintentionally through bias. See, I knew Jay was skilled in salesmanship. I have told you all, after he "dabbled" in pro. journalism, he went to work for the Shoe Barn.
23. Posted by Richard Burns | March 25, 2007 12:16 AM |
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Posted on March 25, 2007 00:16
24. Posted by Richard Burns | March 25, 2007 12:19 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
LOL!!!LOL!!!
Bending over backwards to turn reason on its head, Wizbangs' wannabee philosopher fails to notice the deluge of stories over time about Palestinian terrorists' bombings and killings of Israelis as opposed to all the incidents of Israeli" retaliations" in the West Bank & Gaza where "collateral" damage happens, just like shit happens.
24. Posted by Richard Burns | March 25, 2007 12:19 AM |
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Posted on March 25, 2007 00:19
25. Posted by 914 | March 25, 2007 1:27 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Excellent Jay!
25. Posted by 914 | March 25, 2007 1:27 PM |
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Posted on March 25, 2007 13:27