15 Unnecessary Journalism Phrases

If you've been living under a rock lately, you might have missed the very unique Unnecessary Journalism Phrases. This blog is a game changer on steroids!

15.

Nearly anything that's new, different, influential, or otherwise important often gets lazily labeled a "game changer." This is far less exciting than actually describing how whatever the subject is might change the functions of the system in which it exists.

14.

Anything on steroids is über extreme to the max, yo. Unless the story is actually about anabolic steroids, you should probably avoid this phrase.

13.

Can anything ever be slightly destroyed?

12.

Uniqueness is a binary feature. Either something is one-of-a-kind, or it isn't. There is no gray area.

11.

Like "unique" and "destroyed" the word "necessary" implies an absolute state. Either something it isn't.

10.

The word "might" implies a possibility. "Might possibly" is redundant.

9.

There's a certain grandiose quality to the phrase "never before," one that fits well within a sales pitch but has no place in journalism.

8.

Color me impressed! I would have interviewed someone entirely unfamiliar with the matter, but that's just my freestyle, shoot-from-the-hip approach.

7.

You know, like, not exactly, but uh... more or less.

6.

As opposed to the frivolous, inconsequential danger?

5.

Do you mean to tell me that people don't often ask statements?

4.

In most cases, this phrase can be entirely omitted and the sentence will still make sense. The only appropriate times to use "that exists" is to differentiate between things that do not.

Example: "While Sutter Gold successfully waded through the environmental regulation that exists in California these days, only one other mine in the region may also get the chance to open in the near future, and that is about 60 miles to the north in the Grass Valley area."

3.

When it comes down to brass tacks, after the shit has hit the fan, the fat lady has sung, and the dish ran away with the spoon, all I can think of is the bottom line.

2.

Because. Just say because.

1.

For a phrase that implies that the following may or may not be of any value, it certainly gets a lot of use.

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Unnecessary Journalism Phrases is a blog by Josh Sternberg, a freelance writer based in Brooklyn, NY. His articles have been published in The Atlantic, The Huffington Post, Mashable & Mediaite.

For even more phrases and examples of their occurrences, follow Josh's blog on Tumblr.