An Astronomer Gets a Tricky Word Right

If I wrote that title as a headline the way the media do, I’d write “Astronomer Gets Tricky Word Right!” (Sounds more exciting with those articles taken out, doesn’t it? Well, that’s the media for you.) I’ve written about the word “media” in the past. Usage of that word is a good example of linguistic change. Many people use the word to refer to TV, radio, newspapers, news feeds, and other sources of broadcast information as “the media,” and they treat it as a singular. One of my favorite astronomers, Phil Plait, used the term recently, and I feel justified in commenting. Especially since the passage is reasonably thought-provoking and it’s worth reading anyway (emphases are mine):

I think a lot of scientists are on top of the idea that they need to understand how the media work to be able to get their message across. Certainly climate scientists are aware of this (the RealClimate site is written by professional climatologists).

This is a step in the right direction. It’s not a cure-all, of course, since I don’t think any such unicorn exists. If such a beast were real—if there were one thing I would change about how we consume information—it would take the form of people learning how to think critically about the news they get, assessing it logically. Is the medium biased? Who funds that particular outlet? Are you as a consumer biased, willing to believe something more readily because it aligns with your personal beliefs? What information are you being given that’s wrong, and what’s being left out?

That would be a wonderful thing. A lot of media outlets would vanish in a puff of logic were such conditions to prevail. And the world would be a far safer, healthier, and smarter place.

1. This is plural. Correct! Note the plural verb “work,” not the singular “works,” and the plural “their.”
2. Singular. He’s referring to the creator of the article or show or whatever you’re looking at or listening to.
3. Adjective. Technically neither singular nor plural, though he used the plural form to match “outlets.”