this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2024
22 points (84.4% liked)

Ask Lemmy

26968 readers
1350 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don't post about US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

I don't know who started this, but I always feel frustrated when I see headline along the lines of "USA says" or "China signal", countries are not people.

I don't understand why don't even the best news outlets put headlines like " Official x said this on official order on USA" Or something like that.

I really don't understand who came up with this way of reporting where they report on officials as their country and I always thought that this is dumb.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] OneCardboardBox@lemmy.sdf.org 23 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago) (1 children)

I always assumed that it was to quickly delineate what people say in their capacity as a citizen vs what they say in their capacity as a representative of their government.

"Sarah Carter, from the Canadian embassy, says to avoid the all-you-can-eat buffet" could be interpreted as a personal opinion. "Canada says to avoid the all-you-can-eat buffet" is clearly an official statement.

Plus, sometimes the news may be reporting on a memo or announcement from a government entity which was crafted by several people and has no author listed.

[–] Joker@sh.itjust.works 1 points 11 hours ago (2 children)

In that case, it can reported on in formal way.

"Russian official said" Or even "Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs said Russia should try to calm down".

You get my point.

[–] Cephalotrocity@biglemmowski.win 11 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

They are 'representatives'. The US President or relevant diplomat literally speak for the country which is why the language is appropriate. Like it or not, your leader (and their delegates) speaks for you in an official capacity which is what that kind of dialogue describes. The extra specificity you desire is superfluous and actually subtracts from truly describing what is going on.

Being awarded with a Medal of Honour by Biden? No. Biden isn't giving you a datta-boy. The entire nation is expressing their gratitude. Is it fair that an entire nation gets marred by 1 individual's buffoonery (exhibit A: Trump's entire first term)? No. Accurate? Yes (see the next 4 years).