Why Are News Reports So Weird?

Plain speaking leads to plain thinking. That's why we are constantly bombarded with increasingly obtuse phrases

The Federal Government is considering a push to subsidise the cost of sex change surgeries through Medicare.

What caught my eye in the announcement was not so much the merits (or otherwise) of the suggestion, but the language used in the proposal.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported …

Gender-affirming procedures such as chest surgery and genital reconfiguration would be subsidised by Medicare under a push to improve mental health and quality of life for transgender people.

Gender-affirming procedures?

Chest surgery?

Genital reconfiguration?

Wait. What language is this?

When you need to read the news several times in order to know what on earth they are talking about, you know something is wrong.

Spoiler alert: It’s not you, it’s them!