# Bad News Writing: The Tautology Version

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-writing-the-tautology-version/631148>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [August 11, 2012, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-writing-the-tautology-version/631148 "2012-08-11T02:35:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\
**Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-writing-the-tautology-version/631148/1 "2012-08-11T02:35:36Z")

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SEriously, who writes and edits the shit they have in newspapers on on major news websites? Right now, on [CNN.com](http://CNN.com), in a story about troubled singer Randy Travis:

[QUOTE=CNN]  
In a genre largely led by artists who can achieve chart-topping tunes and high-grossing concert tours, …  
[/QUOTE]

Er… you don’t say? This genre of music is largely led by musicians with popular songs and concerts, huh? And here I thought the most famous musicians were generally the ones with unpopular songs and concerts nobody went to.

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**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\
**Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-writing-the-tautology-version/631148/2 "2012-08-11T13:10:45Z")

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You’re thinking of hipster musicians.

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**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-writing-the-tautology-version/631148/3 "2012-08-12T13:37:14Z")

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I agree with you that editing standards are abysmal.

However, I’m not sure your quote is tautology. It seems to me more stating the obvious.

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**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-writing-the-tautology-version/631148/4 "2012-08-12T14:21:17Z")

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> [@Cicero](#):
>
> However, I’m not sure your quote is tautology. It seems to me more stating the obvious.

Right. There are genres led by artists who aren’t chart-toppers going on sell-out tours–in fact, even more so now that some artists are distributing their own material online. “Leading” a genre doesn’t necessarily mean one is “famous” in the traditional way.