Julian Sanchez header image 2

photos by Lara Shipley

Journalistic Doppler

December 19th, 2007 · No Comments

One more in my occasional neologisms series:

Journalistic Doppler (n): The phenomenon by which an article, especially one written rapidly about a complex topic, changes dramatically in style and pace as the author approaches deadline and/or word limit, progressing from a leisurely, relatively crafted opening to a dense core-dump of every idea or datum that seems relevant. By analogy to the Doppler effect in physics. Extending the analogy to the related phenomenon of the sonic boom yields “kicker boom” for the ill-starred attempt to preserve some semblance of a graceful exit in the last graf while bringing the piece to an abrupt, screeching halt.

Tags: Journalism & the Media