Fight the Faux Pox
(Aug. 5, 2010) I blurt things out at inopportune times. It is a disease I’ve had from birth, which I call footinmouthitis, also known as the Faux Pox. Some people who know me find this unnerving and avoid me. Others find it honest and refreshing. They say I tell it like it is.
So I was glad that the Times-Standard called for more telling it like it is in its Roast last week of the U.S. Forest Service for being too politically correct in a press release on a pot bust on public lands. The Forest Service said it had arrested a “displaced foreign traveler” from Mexico. The Times-Standard said: “The man apparently was an illegal alien doing something illegal, and damaging, on public land. The Forest Service should tell it like it is.”
The problem with telling it like it is is that it negates the sensitivity of those who hear or read what you say. When you have the Faux Pox, you almost always regret what you just said, because you see the face of the person you just said it to and you realize you made the person feel lousy. I admire those who have a better way with the instantaneous word — who can say what I mean to say, but in a way that allays feelings. I struggle over my written words. It will take me three hours to write these 1,000. That’s about one Word document page an hour and after much thought. People still will misread what I intended to say. So while I think the Forest Service’s wording was goofy, I applaud its attempt at being more sensitive to the difficult issue of undocumented people caught growing marijuana on public lands.
Nationally, illegal immigration is as hot button of an issue as you can find. Last year I found myself in so heated an argument with a longtime friend in Malibu over the issue that I wanted to toss him into his million dollar pool. And in a class on mass media, one student walked out when a class discussion over how the media reports the issue turned acrimonious. These days, the legality of marijuana might come in a close second.
While I understand people’s discomfort with political correctness, I find that problems often start with language, because words frame and shape our thoughts. Wording often connotes judgment — approval or disapproval. This is particularly problematic for journalists, who are supposed to stay neutral on issues they report.
Labels that agencies often use tend to dehumanize problems, no more so than with the term “alien.” That’s a word I associate with the dripping-toothed, belly-hatched monster that impregnated Ellen Ripley in Alien 3. In another context, someone who is alienated is a social outcast.
Someone who is caught growing marijuana on public lands is a suspected criminal. That he is of Mexican nationality means that he is a Mexican national suspected of criminal activity. In this case you can’t say he is an illegal immigrant because it isn’t clear he is trying to immigrate. He might be either a low-paid or extremely high-paid seasonal farmworker. He may or may not be tied to organized crime. So far, all we have is the information from a skimpy press release full of police speculation.
That gets us to the larger problem. Too many journalists and bloggers rely too heavily on government and corporate press releases without checking the facts or even changing the wording.
→ post a comment
seven-o-heaven
Old Town Arcata
Will Plaza Point put the kibosh on Arcata whippersnapper shenanigans?
Recent media maven
Feb. 2
Appropriating Property
Jan. 5
Publish or Perish
Dec. 1, 2011
The Poop Scoop
Today
Label GMOs Signature Gathering Training
meetings / 4 p.m. Sun Yi's Academy of Tae Kwon Do, 1215 Giuntoli Lane, Arcata. Help gather valid signatures to get the 'California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act' on the 2012 ballot. E-mail northernhumboldtlabelgmos@hotmail.com. 223-0424.
Open Celtic Music Session
music / 3 p.m. Cafe Veritas/Mosgo's, 180 Westwood Center, Arcata. Informal monthly gathering of musicians playing Irish and other Celtic music. Hosted by Seabury Gould. seaburygould.com. 845-8167.
Nonviolence Action Camp
etc. / 10 a.m. Chinmaya Mission near Piercy. Weekend-long direct action orientation features workshops, role playing, seminars, ceremonies and field trips. Bring food, bedding, warm clothes, signs, banners, bikes, drums, acoustic instruments. Pre-register. saverichardsongrove.org. 932-5898.
Audubon Society Field Trip
outdoors / 9 a.m. Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge, 1020 Ranch Road, Loleta. Meet at Refuge Visitor Center off Hookton Road. Leisurely, two- to three-hour trip intended for people wanting to learn birds of Humboldt Bay area. 822-3613.
More →
13 Comments
Comment / By self.speaker / Aug. 6, 10:30 a.m.
george orwell disagrees with you, marcy. would you replace “gay” with “a man with unconventional relations”?
Comment / By Writer Mguillicutty / Aug. 6, 11:44 a.m.
Too much importance on how something is being said rather than what is being said. “Media”…the fucking lump sum word of all performance for now…is widening the disparage between thought, talk and action within “society”…the equally fucked lump some word of all people for now. The importance of words is growing to the point where all bases are thought to need covering in order to be understood, disclaimed, whatever. This is easily seen in larger lists of rules, stipulations, regulations, fine prints, etc. The metaphysical realm of our individual thoughts countains an active universe of words between people that has grown exponentially because of devices like cell phones and the internet, but the reality is reality proceeds with no complex interpretation necessary. I believe it’s very counterproductive.
The more intelligent the animal, the easier it is to train…
Comment / By Terrence McNally / Aug. 6, 11:49 a.m.
Man… that is so true, whatever it is you just said.
Comment / By Writer Mguillicutty / Aug. 6, 12:03 p.m.
Stick a fork in my eye, terrence, I agree with your confusion…sarcastic or not. When it comes to writing, I’m kinda like how Marcy describes herself. In re-reading my above…I could/should have written:
Too much importance on how something is said rather than what is said. “Media”…the lump sum word of all performance…is widening the disparage between thought and action within “society”…the lump some word of all people. The importance of words is growing such that all bases need covering to be understood, disclaimed, etc. This is seen in larger lists of rules, stipulations, regulations, fine prints, etc. Our thoughts contain a universe of words between people that has grown exponentially because of devices like cell phones and the internet, but reality proceeds with no complex interpretation necessary. I believe it’s very counterproductive.
The more intelligent the animal, the easier it is to train…
Comment / By Writer Mguillicutty / Aug. 6, 12:05 p.m.
hmm…guess that takes up about as much space. But it’s less wordy, therefore more open to being received. A right or wrong reception has a lot to do with a lot more. blablabla…..
Comment / By Terrence McNally / Aug. 6, 12:34 p.m.
Right-O. Reader response.
Comment / By self.speaker / Aug. 6, 2:58 p.m.
actually, writer, you could have simply said:
Too much importance is put on how something is said rather than what is said because of our tendency to scandalize and capitalize.
Comment / By Writer Mguillicutty / Aug. 6, 4:23 p.m.
“because”? I thought I was talking about the effect not the cause…that’s a whole nuther topic. Dang it, you misunderstood me! See what I mean?!?! DAMMIT I’M A FAILURE.
Comment / By Joel Mielke / Aug. 6, 4:35 p.m.
Why the would anyone replace gay with “a man with unconventional relations”?
And why does Self Speaker pretend to interpret whatever it was that Writer McGuillicutty said?
Comment / By self.speaker / Aug. 9, 2:31 p.m.
why would anyone replace illegal immigrant with displaced foreign traveler? it’s almost as cockeyed as joining the words pretend and interpret with the word to (joel, you moron, go turn the bravura into the bromide with another of your “cartoons”).
and writer, you aren’t a failure, but you’re not terse either. i simplified and amended. you didn’t really say anything after “Too much importance is put on how something is said rather than what is said”
Comment / By Joel Mielke / Aug. 9, 4:10 p.m.
“Self Speaker” is aptly named.
Comment / By Writer Mguillicutty / Aug. 9, 7:05 p.m.
selfspeeka…I beg to differ (please PLEEEEZ let me differ!!!) The point of the article seems to be writers should be more considerate with their words to accomodate the listener. I suggest listeners should be less sensitive to the words of the speaker and more to the point they’re trying to make. The internet…a cespool of negativity (politically anyway)…is a prime example of why. The speakers outnumber the listeners at least ten to one. Not much real communication going on.
Listening…REALLY listening…with an open mind…not being afraid of words…is a big part of “enlightenment”…and all that jazz, dig?
Comment / By Writer Mguillicutty / Aug. 9, 7:08 p.m.
…as I get on my own case about using “listeners” and “speakers” to describe readers and writers…