Writing in clear English: top ten tips

Want to write clearly, right from the start? Then you need to plan, write and edit in equal measure. Here are Clear Ink’s top tips for getting your message across.  www.clearink.ie
Writing and speaking are tools for communicating a message. That’s it. Yet so many things – jargon, legalese, academic-speak, overly formal or informal language, too [...]

Assisted suicide: a right to choose?

Assisted suicide: a right to choose?
In everymonday.ie’s new “Getting Notions” column, journalist Margaret E. Ward asks if you legally take away a person’s right to die then, as a society, shouldn’t you take responsibility for the dignity of their natural death?

Is marketing making our kids fat?

Health claims are a feature of food marketing but legislators are biting down hard on “better for you” sugary and fat-filled foods writes Margaret E. Ward

Museum in the dust: revisiting 9/11

Sculptor Michael Richards spent his last evening on top of the world. After watching Monday night football in his studio on the 92nd floor of One World Trade Center with fellow artist Jeff Konigsberg, he knuckled down to the work at hand….his sculptures took form as World War II pilots falling from the sky, tumbling into debris or riding flame-tailed meteors… Some political artists tend to raise the flag and show the warning signs of things to come — so perhaps he was seeing something we couldn’t,

New Yorkers unite to help own in time of need

Eight years ago, New York, Washington DC and airplanes flying above the United States were attacked in the largest terrorist atrocity to take place on American soil. It was 9/11. Thousands died. Many were heroic. No one who witnessed, or lost someone, or watched it unfold on the telly will be the same again.

An Abusive Business

It’s a multi-billion euro business with properties and offices throughout the world. The company’s services are used by a huge percentage of the global population and many proudly display – and even promote – its logo. This secretive, privately held organisation has been in business for eons. It has a strong brand and a much-loved [...]

Democracy at risk in media meltdown

Ireland’s international reputation is in tatters thanks to strange goings on in business, government and regulatory circles. Now, more than ever, we need a strong investigative media committed to shining a light in all those dark places. Who dares to fund it?

Students’ advice for Irish government

Lectured some university students today in News Reporting and asked them to talk directly to the government – using Post-It notes. After class, I was going on BBC2 NI’s show Hearts and Minds as a guest along with Martin Mansergh. I told them I would give them to him after the show. It didn’t happen [...]

Beware the legalese virus

EUROPEAN SCIENTISTS are concerned about the rapid spread of an aggressive virus known as legalese LT08.
A close relative of jargonitis, academicspeakis and gobbledegook, the malady has taken hold of European laws and infected civil servants throughout the EU.
The virus, mostly found in EU legislation and government publications, attacks the human mind and hijacks its ability [...]

Welfare as tragi-farce

Friday, July 13, 2007

Scene: A social welfare office in Ballythisis- progress. Ten staffed customer-service hatches line the far wall. The first person in the queue, a very nervous, bald, middle-aged man, looks down at his wet, scuffed shoes.

Behind a shiny glass partition, two Government ministers sit back-to-back to ensure a full view of the cash [...]