Fun fact! People have died today from cancer.
Fun fact! E! made a blunder during their Golden Globes coverage that gives me a chance to address something with you all this evening.
And that something is words.
Last night after getting home from John's Mom's, I happened to check in briefly online. I saw a headline on MSN that read something like: "E! makes people cringe during coverage of Golden Globes with fact about Michael J. Fox having Parkinson's" (but please don't quote me on the title; it's just sort of what I remember).
I was kind of miffed by that, as Michael J. Fox does indeed have Parkinson's disease. I mentioned it to John citing that people shouldn't be upset that trying details of their lives are shared with the public at large, especially since Mr. Fox came out and spoke to people about the whole matter all ready anyway.
Then I saw this:
And the image made me squirm a little with that uncomfortable sense that here was something that might have otherwise been a poignant detail highlighted with regard to Michael J. Fox's life and career--save for that one little word: fun.
Which brings me to today's point: there are certain words in the English language that we don't associate with acquiring or having a disease. Or when witnessing a tragedy. Or even when we're talking about wars, famine, hunger, and just about anything that you can imagine to be horrible. And one of those words is "fun".
For those of you out there who are aspiring journalists, or graphic designers, or even marketing campaign designers, take this gaffe as a lesson to the wise: make sure the words you use convey the idea you want to promote, rather than sending a message that can be (and was) both uncomfortably amusing and seriously a major faux pas.
And for the rest of you, who, like me, didn't have all the facts and made a snap judgment, I offer this heartfelt wisdom: check the facts. Sometimes they can surprise you.
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