The news being reported in the passive tense?

Merrion

It seems that most news stories these days are being reported in the passive tense e.g. "A boy was injured when he was involved in a collision with a car" rather than "A child was run over by a car".

Any ideas why this is - or is it all in my mind?

wretcheddomain

I'd much prefer if it were spoken in the future tense.

'Linda Martin will die at the age of 61 next year, after being smashed into the air by a HGV travelling at 120 kilometres per hour'

Wang King

wretcheddomain wrote: »

I'd much prefer if it were spoken in the future tense.

'Linda Martin will die at the age of 61 next year, after being smashed into the air by a HGV travelling at 120 kilometres per hour'

Unless you're talking about Back to the Future 4, I'm fairly sure Linda Martin is 78

Iranoutofideas

And whoever has enforced the rule whereby RTE is pronounced ARRRRRGH Tee Eeeee should be shot.

seenitall

Merrion wrote: »

It seems that most news stories these days are being reported in the passive tense e.g. "A boy was injured when he was involved in a collision with a car" rather than "A child was run over by a car".

Any ideas why this is - or is it all in my mind?

The bolded sentence is in the passive voice too, OP.

(The passive in the grammatical meaning is not a tense, but a voice.)

The_Valeyard

Wang King wrote: »

Unless you're talking about Back to the Future 4, I'm fairly sure Linda Martin is 78

Which is why they want back in time and stopped back to the future 4 from ever been made since it starred Linda Martin.

Kevin McCloud

wretcheddomain wrote: »

I'd much prefer if it were spoken in the future tense.

'Linda Martin will die at the age of 61 next year, after being smashed into the air by a HGV travelling at 120 kilometres per hour'

You have some hard on for Linda.

dxhound2005

Iranoutofideas wrote: »

And whoever has enforced the rule whereby RTE is pronounced ARRRRRGH Tee Eeeee should be shot.

That's how an Irish R from the abbreviation RTE is pronounced.

Raidió Teilifís Éireann

dxhound2005

Merrion wrote: »

It seems that most news stories these days are being reported in the passive tense e.g. "A boy was injured when he was involved in a collision with a car" rather than "A child was run over by a car".

Any ideas why this is - or is it all in my mind?

After Hours has learned that it is all in your mind.

conorh91

Merrion wrote: »

It seems that most news stories these days are being reported in the passive tense e.g. "A boy was injured when he was involved in a collision with a car" rather than "A child was run over by a car".

Any ideas why this is - or is it all in my mind?

Yeah, it's so dull and monotonous. Even media heavyweights like Harry McGee are predisposed to this bad habit. It's the journalistic equivalent of yawning whilst telling a story.

belacqua_

dxhound2005 wrote: »

That's how an Irish R from the abbreviation RTE is pronounced.

Raidió Teilifís Éireann

The E has a fada, so in that case shouldn't they be pronouncing it Or Tee/Tay Ay? A lot of country people and dort-torkers pronounce 'r' as 'or' or 'ur', the eejits.

dxhound2005

belacqua_ wrote: »

The E has a fada, so in that case shouldn't they be pronouncing it Or Tee/Tay Ay? A lot of country people, dort-torkers and those from the west and south pronounce 'r' as 'or' or 'ur', the eejits.

This is how an English R is pronounced.

http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=r&submit=Submit

You need to use standard phonetics in these discussions unless you can provide audio. For instance what do you mean R as OR, when there are two standard pronunciations of OR?

http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=or&submit=Submit

wbt

The news has always been reported like that. The whole point of the passive voice is to make the most important person/thing the focus of the story. Both your examples are in the passive. An active version would be 'a car ran over a child', which then makes the car the focus of the sentence.

I think you're actually asking why phrases like 'in collision with' are used rather than saying someone was run over. I guess it's because they don't really know all the details. You can be injured by a car without actually being run over.

hatrickpatrick

"A boy was injured when he was involved in a collision with a car" rather than "A child was run over by a car"

The latter apportions responsibility, the former does not. The news is supposed to be impartial, ergo they go with the former.

Grab All Association

Iranoutofideas wrote: »

And whoever has enforced the rule whereby RTE is pronounced ARRRRRGH Tee Eeeee should be shot.

And gore dee (gardai)

Annasopra

Doon Leara and Purt Leesha are the ones that really irritate me

Buona Fortuna

Chris___ wrote: »

And gore dee (gardai)

I like that one. When it comes on we sit there repeating it like 12y/o s. We could be on Gogglebox.

"Gore dee, Gore dee, Gore dee ....."

Although probably only the first time it comes on

OP's examples are both the passive. It's all about importance.. A man was killed vs. Someone killed a man.

Merrion

The example which set me thinking of this is from the UK where "A 14 year old is in a critical condition after he was involved in a collision with a van"... it just feels like nothing happened here.

endacl

Iranoutofideas wrote: »

And whoever has enforced the rule whereby RTE is pronounced ARRRRRGH Tee Eeeee should be shot.

Thread's about the passive voice. Not the pirate voice. Stay on topic. Also, they shouldn't be shot. They should be made to walk the plank. Obviously.

:pac:

NotCominBack

Another thinly veiled English lesson thread in AH

Son Of A Vidic

wretcheddomain wrote: »

'Linda Martin will die at the age of 61 next year, after being smashed into the air by a HGV travelling at 120 kilometres per hour'

Not likely though. I'm guessing death will be due to a never ending erection, after Linda takes too much Viagra.

Aard

Merrion wrote: »

The example which set me thinking of this is from the UK where "A 14 year old is in a critical condition after he was involved in a collision with a van"... it just feels like nothing happened here.

That's less to do with active/passive voice and more to do with journalists' habit of pretending that somehow cars have a mind of their own rather than being in the control of a human being.

It's especially noticeable in the cases you highlight wrt road injuries/deaths. The opposite is prevalent too whereby the tone of the language used in news articles to describe pedestrians and cyclists makes it seem like they caused their own deaths/injuries. At the most extreme end of the scale, news article verge on victim blaming.

Merrion

I'm guessing we will have the following headline soon enough "Man found himself under moving vehicle, injuries occurred" :-)

endacl

Merrion wrote: »

It is guessed by me that the following headline will have been had by us soon enough "Man found himself under moving vehicle, injuries occurred" :-)

Fixed.

Soon all news by Yoda will have been read, yes, hhhhrrrmmmm.

FloatingVoter

Is "Lie back, Kitty, and think of Ireland" a passive thing or just foreplay ?

Merrion

FloatingVoter wrote: »

Is "Lie back, Kitty, and think of Ireland" a passive thing or just foreplay ?

It's not a great way to treat a cat, however you look at it.

FloatingVoter

Merrion wrote: »

It's not a great way to treat a cat, however you look at it.

You would need to bring bestiality into a legit grammatical context......but now you mention it....I won't upload the pictures anymore.

Merrion

"Tabby, or not tabby. That is the question"

FloatingVoter

Merrion wrote: »

"Tabby, or not tabby. That is the question"

More of a Persian crossed with an Alsatian but thanks for asking.