Have you ever noticed how often so-called newspeople say that some person or group “believes” this or that? Those writers and broadcasters ought to have their journalism or communication degrees revoked.
The simple fact is that they (and you and I) have no way of knowing what that politician, or bureacrat, or preacher believes. Not being mind-readers, reporters (and we) can know what this person says, or that personstates, or what an organization declares or claims or insists.
Unless you can read minds, you cannot know for certain what anyone else believes. It is not as though no corporate executive or public figure has ever lied. Surely these so-called journalists cannot be that naive.
The use of the word “belief” is particularly pernicious in politics. Stating that someone else “believes” something is so grossly inaccurate as to be partisan. It is certainly misleading.
In fact, such usage borders on propaganda when it comes from someone who is supposed to have been educated to understand the meanings and importance of words and how they affect people and who is supposed to be reporting facts, not parroting publicity slogans.
I do not claim to be a mind reader, nor do I believe anybody else is one. As a long-time professional writer and editor with a degree in journalism, I abhor such a dangerously misleading and logically ridiculous usage by the media. It has been grating on my professional nerves for the last several years.
So there. End of snark for today. Maybe.
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