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Journalism, reporting and misleading language.

1. MontysDoubleSalvaged from archive27 Mar 2010, 20:37
   Buckle up folks, we're going for a dangerous ride in a machine that's pure hellspawned evil... http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/03/28/2858146.htm Teen killed as car flips and strikes pole Police say the car was travelling north along Anakie Road ... when it veered out of control and hit a pole, flipped over and struck another pole. Sergeant Frank Cernjavic say it is not known if alcohol was involved, but police believe speed was a factor."Naughty car, maybe naughty alcohol and naughty speed!" What a good way to slyly avoid the risk of readers assuming that this crash that has killed one person and seriously injured two was caused by the car's driver, the sadly killed nineteen year old man. Here's how the parts of the story I quoted could have been written: "Teen driver killed as he loses control of car which flips and strikes pole Police say the car was travelling north along Anakie Road ... when the driver lost control causing the car to hit a pole, flip over and strike another pole. Sergeant Frank Cernjavic say it is not known if the driver had consumed alcohol, but police believe the driver exceeding the speed limit was a contributing factor to the crash." http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/03/22/2852730.htm… Police determine fatal crash cause ... A police spokesman says the crash was caused by the four-wheel drive drifting onto the wrong side of the road. ...Damn those four-wheel drives and their inevitable tendency to drift in the face of drivers' best efforts! How about this: "Police determine fatal crash cause ... A police spokesman says the crash was caused by the deceased driver failing to prevent his four-wheel drive drifting onto the wrong side of the road. A police spokesman said driver fatigue leading to microsleeps is typical of similar crashes, "What we really want the take home message to be is don't drive tired: stop, revive, survive." ..." Please reporters: Don't anthropomorphise cars, they are just hunks of metal and don't cause anything at all, ever. Even mechanical failure (contributing towards a crash) can be attributed to poor design (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/13/prius-recall-run… maintenance or misuse. It's not 'the car' this, 'the car' that... it's the driver, stupid. I'm sorry if this seems callous; I fully understand why reporters and police use such language but come on, road trauma is a significant cause of death so why shouldn't the focus be upon drivers? So inducing drivers to be more vigilant and less reckless should save lives.
2. JooXSalvaged from archive28 Mar 2010, 02:51
   Whats worse is when the roads themselves cause the accidents. Some of the roads are notorious you know.
3. rubicksSalvaged from archive28 Mar 2010, 04:39
   Buckle up folks, we're going for a dangerous ride in a machine that's pure hellspawned evil... http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/03/28/2858146.htm "Naughty car, maybe naughty alcohol and naughty speed!" What a good way to slyly avoid the risk of readers assuming that this crash that has killed one person and seriously injured two was caused by the car's driver, the sadly killed nineteen year old man. Here's how the parts of the story I quoted could have been written: "Teen driver killed as he loses control of car which flips and strikes pole Police say the car was travelling north along Anakie Road ... when the driver lost control causing the car to hit a pole, flip over and strike another pole. Sergeant Frank Cernjavic say it is not known if the driver had consumed alcohol, but police believe the driver exceeding the speed limit was a contributing factor to the crash." http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/03/22/2852730.htm… Damn those four-wheel drives and their inevitable tendency to drift in the face of drivers' best efforts! How about this: "Police determine fatal crash cause ... A police spokesman says the crash was caused by the deceased driver failing to prevent his four-wheel drive drifting onto the wrong side of the road. A police spokesman said driver fatigue leading to microsleeps is typical of similar crashes, "What we really want the take home message to be is don't drive tired: stop, revive, survive." ..." Please reporters: Don't anthropomorphise cars, they are just hunks of metal and don't cause anything at all, ever. Even mechanical failure (contributing towards a crash) can be attributed to poor design (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/13/prius-recall-run… maintenance or misuse. It's not 'the car' this, 'the car' that... it's the driver, stupid. I'm sorry if this seems callous; I fully understand why reporters and police use such language but come on, road trauma is a significant cause of death so why shouldn't the focus be upon drivers? So inducing drivers to be more vigilant and less reckless should save lives. The problem is Monty the police Cannot say what caused the accident,that is up to the courts(stupid i know but that is how it works) ,so they can only allude to the pertinent points
4. rubicksSalvaged from archive28 Mar 2010, 04:41
   Whats worse is when the roads themselves cause the accidents. Some of the roads are notorious you know. so you have done 100kph down Majors lately????????????
5. MontysDoubleSalvaged from archive28 Mar 2010, 05:35
   The problem is Monty the police Cannot say what caused the accident,that is up to the courts(stupid i know but that is how it works) ,so they can only allude to the pertinent pointsYeah, I agree it's stupid. Police already use phrases like "the car left the road" and "speed is believed to be a factor." Modify these by adding 'driver' is all I'm saying; this wouldn't add any presumption to what is already said. If reporting of crashes continually mentioned 'driver' in this way then maybe, just maybe, it might make a few people lighten up on the go pedal, sleep off the carton first, park and catch a nap when they start to drowse or simply pay more attention to their driving. :shrug:
6. MontysDoubleSalvaged from archive28 Mar 2010, 05:47
   Whats worse is when the roads themselves cause the accidents. Some of the roads are notorious you know.Yeah, agreed. The notorious stretch of the Princess Hwy or the Old Coast Road to Bunbury... sheer evil when compared to the family friendly, nerfed for your protection back streets of Lower Battlerton. :D
7. __BLAK__Salvaged from archive6 Apr 2010, 19:08
   ahhh man that's nothing, try watching american news
8. MontysDoubleSalvaged from archive7 Apr 2010, 02:40
   How's that, Blak? Let's hear it pleez. :D Good to see you back by the way- Filecabi's like a gas giant; every so often an asteroid we haven't seen in eons swings by. :D

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