Keep It Simple

The New York Daily News thinks it knows how to speak plain American, and can point to 2,000,000 daily readers to back up its opinion. The News is constantly reminded of its own vulgar virtues--sometimes from rather surprising quarters. The latest was a series of articles (just published as a book) in FORTUNE, by William H. Whyte Jr., called Is Anybody Listening?--an attack on the confused and confusing manner in which U.S. business generally expresses itself. Pointing to itself with pride as an example of how to do it, the News approvingly listed its own rules for getting people to listen:

P:"Keep it simple."

P:"Use active words . . . 'Verbs and nouns fight. Adjectives and adverbs don't.' "

P:"Never 'write down' to anybody . . . Our observation is that one of the worst libels ever committed against the American people is the ancient crack about their having the intelligence of a twelve-year-old . . . Much smarter, we think, was the late Raymond Clapper's advice to his fellow newspaper people: 'Never overestimate the public's information and never underestimate its intelligence.' "

P:"Don't be afraid of 'dirty words' [like] 'profit and stockholder' . . . What the hell? Profits and stockholders exist don't they? The readers know they exist and all of 'em like both profits and dividend-paying stocks . . ."

P:"The direct approach is usually best--meaning it's generally better than folksy, whimsical or cute stuff . . . Only a genuine old maestro can be whimsical or cute in print without making the average reader want to paste him in the snoot."

P:"Frankly admit your self-interest in striving to preserve the American free enterprise system . . ."

P:"(And last but not least). Forget that word 'masses.' The audience isn't 'masses.' It's made up of individuals, no two of whom are exactly alike and plenty of whom, bud, have just as much sense as you. Keep that thought in mind, and you'll almost automatically avoid the worst mistakes commonly made . . ."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.