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"Passive voice isn’t just a vice of journalists": A response to SiobhanFTB

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“Passive voice isn’t just a vice of journalists” , writes ex-journalist SiobhanFTB on Twitter. Instead of “Rents have gone up” , the more integral suggestion is “Landlords raised rent” . Instead of “Hospitals are understaffed” , reporters would best write “Hospitals understaffed their sites” . And so on, and so forth. The many ways in which reporting language absolves powerful figures and authorities of responsibility calls into question the true responsibility of journalists. Kovach and Rosenstiel (2007) state the social purpose of journalism as being “to provide people with the information they need to be free and self-governing” . Journalists are not only seen as a public good, tasked with loyalty to citizens, to monitor power and to hold responsibility to the authorities and the power structures which affect citizens the most. The American Press Institute (n.d.) outlines that journalists are also intended to report independently from whom or what they cover; remaining reliable an...
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A response to Nina Turner: "Well baby, politics is going to do you regardless".

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If it is irresponsible to disengage with politics, then why are people doing it? On July 7, 2022, the following was tweeted by progressive politician Nina Turner, member of the American Democratic Party: “’I don’t do politics.’ Well baby, politics is going to do you, regardless.” It is an inky-black, but urgent statement about citizenship: choosing not to engage with the current climate does not exclude you from its eventual repercussions. Participating is not a luxury; it’s a necessity. Research during the past two decades has surveyed the seeming lack of political engagement and participation, particularly with young people aged 18-24, as evidenced by the low electoral turnout in the US, UK and New Zealand, and a decline in party membership. In the UK general election of 2010, just over half of those aged 18-24 voted, in contrast to 65% for all age groups. In the US, for the 2012 presidential elections, 41.2% of those aged 18-24 voted, compared to the overall turnout of 61.8% (Man...
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