Blog 3

Reflecting on Concision and Precision

Good journalistic writing needs to be concise and precise, especially in the online world. Technology leads to a faster pace of life, which leads to less time, which leads to the need for short and efficient news stories. I think the main reasons people prefer online news is because it allows them to scan and select information in the least amount of time. To be successful, all journalists must learn to use words and language in the shortest and most accurate way possible.

I think that many people have trouble expressing themselves in a few words. I believe that this stems from middle and high school education. By setting length limits on every assignment, teachers are encouraging what student like to call “B.S.ing,” or filling up space with seemingly intelligent information. I’ve heard this expression often from friends who refuse to write a four-page literary analysis or a three-page persuasive essay.

I also think that high school teachers focus too much on English literature and not enough on journalistic writing. I think that both styles of writing are important and should be taught equally. The problem with focusing mostly on literature is that students believe that good writing needs sophisticated diction, literary terms and symbolism.

It wasn’t until I started taking journalism classes that I learned the power of “getting to the point.” It took a painful semester of reporting class and many red marks on my articles that read “redundant” and “wordy.” I was trained to leave out unnecessary words because I study journalism, but this is a skill everyone should learn. I believe that effective and efficient writing should be introduced as a key skill in school and reinforced in college.