I was studying for political science with a friend the other day, and discussion turned to our experiences as journalists. She's a print journalist, but works at the capitol and occasionally makes radio wraps. I went to her website to see what work she's done. I read some recent headlines from her coworkers and that's when I saw it.
The headline (not written by her, mind you) referred to recent legislation related to chimpanzees. It read, "Primate Legislation Isn't Monkey Business for Missouri Senators." I couldn't help but roll my eyes and make some sort of sigh that was audible enough for my friend to notice. We debated the purpose of puns in journalism. She argued they were fun and harmless. I argued they talked down to our audience as if they were elementary school kids (unintelligent ones, at that) and could very well cause the destruction of western civilization as we know it.
I hate puns. They are easy. They are lazy. They are pointless. I know of no one who, upon hearing or reading a pun in the newscast, feel like it added anything to it. But why are they so pervasive in journalism? Perhaps because they are easy and lazy. I showed my friend a clip from the Daily Show that discussed this topic, hoping it would persuade her to leave behind her love of puns.
It backfired. We both laughed at the clip I showed her that criticized puns, and she mistook the laughter at the satire for laughter at how funny puns are.
I knew when I was fighting a losing battle, but I wanted to give it one last shot at convincing her of the error of her ways. I was working on a brewing story, a story ripe with the tempting fruit of cheap puns. I made a fake story from the work I had done, one with atrocious writing and even more egregious puns.
Here it is:
and here is the link to the Daily Show piece:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-november-29-2010/you-re-not-punny
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