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He Said, She Said

And NOW for something completely monotonous ...

Tuesday, 10 March 2009 21:56
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Want to drive yourself absolutely crazy? (for no apparent purpose ...)

 

Count the number of times TV hosts say the word 'NOW' these days.  This discourse marker is as over-used, if not more so, than the old favourites 'you know' and 'like'.

 

Channel Nine is a particularly bad offender but it does seem like a cross-channel disease.

 

You'll find that the total goes into the thousands.

 

And producers appear to be so gutless, kowtowing and deferring to their precious hosts that they don't seem to want to offer any criticism or advice.

 

Martine Alpens - busted for silly talk

Wednesday, 04 February 2009 07:10
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Martine ALpens - 9 News - 4th Feb, 2009:

 

The term for a farmer who has fruit trees is ORCHARDIST not ORCHIDIST.  Soft 'ch' not 'K'.  And really, don't your soundo and cameraman have any input into this at all or do they just not give a stuff if you make a dick of yourself any more?

 Plus that Morag girl who did the story on Pickpockets needs to be told that it is NOT 'amacha'.  Amateur thankyou.

 

Nine News truly sucks and the boss at the top?  Does he do a darned thing?


Maybe Sorel and his drinking were a better double than Venus and his ....ah well... whatever.

 

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 10 February 2009 19:28 )
 

Never say 'never' ...

Wednesday, 14 January 2009 02:07
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Many of the new generation of journos appear never to have considered the correct use of the word 'never'.  I was taught that 'never' was a categorical word denoting that on no occasion did something happen, nor would it in the future.  But what we see all too often (and the Age journos are champions of this) is 'never' being used instead of 'didn't'.  Such as 'He never came out and the police had to go in and get him'.  Which would sound better as 'He didn't ... etc..'  It's an Irish thing, I believe, and seems to walk hand in hand with the letter of the alphabet 'Haitch' ...
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 14 January 2009 02:14 )
 

Does it take a speech impediment to get a news journo job these days?

Wednesday, 14 January 2009 02:02
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More and more we are hearing people with speech impediments starring as news journos or readers.  I'm as 'equal opportunity' as the next person, but isn't the point of having news read by people with clear speaking voices more to do with clarity of message than anything else?  There's a woman on our ABC (Lexie Metherall?) whose lisp is so shocking that it can be difficult to decipher what she is saying. 

 

I haven't been getting my 8 cents a day worth from the ABC for ages and  believe that this is just another example of how I am being robbed!! 

 

Nine Network Grammatically challenged by clause placement.

Wednesday, 31 December 2008 22:21
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31/12/08

Reporter Jessica Rich, TCN 9, when talking about Paris Hilton:

 

"After keeping the media waiting for more than an hour, journalists were given .....'

 

Ummm, Jessica, you do this a lot.   The subject of the first clause is Paris Hilton.  Thus, 'Paris' needs to continue the thread after the comma NOT 'journalists'.

 

IS THERE NO SUB-EDITOR?????

 

DO NEW REPORTERS HAVE NO TRAINING AT 9 ANY MORE????

 

I am heartily sick of hearing nnsensical gibberish on TV in the news.

 

On the other hand, Cameron Williams on 'Today' is really excellent both in his appropriate level of wit for the time of day, grammatically and his pleasant, non-offensive accent, neither too ocker nor affected in any way. Here's hoping he goes directly to '60 Minutes' where he showed some promise in a report in 2008.

 
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