“Heated Up” Is Heating Up

I’m going to start a “heated up” watch.



“Heated up” is the most overused lead in political news coverage. It’s a cliché reporters resort to all too often when candidates attack.



So I’m going to call out any uses of “heated up” I see in political coverage.



The latest sinner is an excellent reporter, Mark Johnson of the Charlotte Observer. He wrote this lead in Tuesday’s paper:



“The typically overshadowed race for lieutenant governor heated up Monday when two of the candidates for the Democratic nomination tussled over core issues for their party: abortion rights, death penalty reform, affirmative action and pollution control.”



How would you write it differently? Try this:



The old “wedge issues’ that Republicans once used against Democrats are back: abortion rights, death penalty reform and affirmative action. But this time a Democrat is using them against a Democrat in the typically overshadowed race for lieutenant governor.



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Gary Pearce

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“Heated Up” Is Heating Up

I’m going to start a “heated up” watch.



“Heated up” is the most overused lead in political news coverage. It’s a cliché reporters resort to all too often when candidates attack.



So I’m going to call out any uses of “heated up” I see in political coverage.



The latest sinner is an excellent reporter, Mark Johnson of the Charlotte Observer. He wrote this lead in Tuesday’s paper:



“The typically overshadowed race for lieutenant governor heated up Monday when two of the candidates for the Democratic nomination tussled over core issues for their party: abortion rights, death penalty reform, affirmative action and pollution control.”



How would you write it differently? Try this:



The old “wedge issues’ that Republicans once used against Democrats are back: abortion rights, death penalty reform and affirmative action. But this time a Democrat is using them against a Democrat in the typically overshadowed race for lieutenant governor.



Click Here to discuss and comment on this and other articles.

Avatar photo

Gary Pearce

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