Skip to main contentSkip to navigationSkip to navigation
Giles Coren
Giles Coren: 'the writing in news publications is getting worse and worse by the week'. Photograph: Linda Nylind for the Guardian
Giles Coren: 'the writing in news publications is getting worse and worse by the week'. Photograph: Linda Nylind for the Guardian

Journalists are the least well-read people, writes Giles Coren in The Times

This article is more than 9 years old

Giles Coren, who once let rip at sub-editors for the way they edited his column, has now taken on the whole journalistic fraternity.

In his Times column on Saturday, he wrote that "without question" journalists are "the least well-read people you will ever meet (unless you regularly meet chefs)." Get ready for a rant:

"They spend all day 'reading' newspapers, shorthand notes, filed copy, newswires, blogs, and when they come home they reckon they've done their 'reading' for the day and now it's time to drink cheap wine and watch Game of Thrones.

Which is why the writing in news publications is getting worse and worse by the week: because the people who write the words only ever skim-read other, similar words, thus 'deactivating their deep-reading facility' and stunting their literary development.

The result is that, with a few exceptions, the university-educated journalists of my generation write like swotty teenagers, while the straight-from-school-to-the-newsroom guys and girls write like policemen.

Because they do not read (because they read too much), their ability with words does not develop over time."

He specifically targets fellow columnists - "big, important, prize-winning clever ones" - for their supposed failings:

"Have a look at their work. How often do they begin a column with the sentence 'Here's a thing.' or 'So.'? Why do they use 'like' and 'right' and 'okay and 'um' and 'do you know what I mean?' so much? These used to be locutions we laughed at people for uttering aloud, let alone writing.

It happens because there was a brief phase a while back when a couple of influential writers thought it would be fun to appropriate street inarticulacy into their professional prose, and in their hands it was a powerful tool.

But ten years and a lot of skim-reading later, it has become the way in which a whole generation of 'writers' writes. Their 'deep-writing' skills gone the same way as their 'deep-reading' ones."

So, as I dare to write, what do you make of that, fellow hacks?

More on this story

More on this story

  • Jeremy Kyle received treatment for anxiety after TV show was axed

  • ITV failed to protect Jeremy Kyle guests from 'bullying methodology', MPs say

  • Jeremy Kyle set for TV return, says ITV boss

  • Jeremy Kyle refuses to appear before MPs' reality TV inquiry

  • Jeremy Kyle called to face MPs over treatment of guests

  • Reality TV show staff and guests need better support, says union

  • What does cancelling Jeremy Kyle mean for ITV's reality shows?

  • MPs launch inquiry after deaths of reality TV guests

  • ITV axes Jeremy Kyle Show after death of participant

  • 'That show has ruined my life': Jeremy Kyle guest speaks out

Comments (…)

Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion

Most viewed

Most viewed