Just when you thought it was safe to read the Washington Post, they printed another horrible headline. Did they design it to mislead us? Why do they obscure the responsibility? It was so massively passive and painfully indirect, it brought tears to my eyes:
“Ukrainian hospitals continue to be in the firing line during Russia’s invasion,” Washington Post, Mar. 24, 2022.
Hospitals in some line? Why would they move a building? (Seems like a lot of work.) And of all locations, they trot that big thing into a firing range. Maybe they built it there, but that seems like an unhospitally thing, to build something in a rifle range. (Un-hospital-like?) And doing this at the same time as an invasion? That’s just bad planning.
Or consider this alternative: “Russian invaders fire at Ukrainian hospitals.” An active sentence with half the words and all the meaning the Post tried to suck out.
The article starts just as miserably.
As the conflict in Ukraine ticks on, hospitals and health care continue to be in the firing line — with potentially devastating consequences. The World Health Organization has verified 64 attacks on health-care facilities, personnel and patients since Russia invaded a month ago, with 15 deaths and 37 injuries as a result.
“Ukrainian hospitals continue to be in the firing line during Russia’s invasion,” Washington Post, Mar. 24, 2022.
Talk about a random walk through cliché-city. “Ticks on,” “in the firing line,” “with potentially devastating consequences,” “as a result.” You get the drift, and ‘drift’ is the right word.
Putin’s military isn’t just bombing hospitals; it’s deliberately targeting civilians. Why would anyone hide that crime?
The Post has been improving. For the longest time, some federal law must have forbidden active sentences in Post articles. Now I have to search for bad examples. But the improvements aren’t consistent, as if some departments have more leeway than others. Remember this example I cited?
“Texas wildfire kills 1, as officials worry extreme drought could worsen conditions” (Washington Post, Mar. 20, 2022).
Ugh. “When something bad happens, somebody else worries that other stuff might get a little worse. In the future. Maybe.” That’s a lot of work to obscure the responsibility.
The next day, the ‘Weather Gang’ simplified that same idea to:
“‘Critical’ fire risk remains in Texas as more blazes erupt” (Washington Post, Mar. 21, 2022).
Still not perfect, but a giant step closer? Was that so hard?
Please stop torturing us. This is news reporting. Don’t obscure the responsibility of every action with this passive crap.
