Say what? Public urged to fight babble

Say what? Public urged to fight bureaucratic babble

Media release: WriteMark Plain English Awards Trust

Is jargon and bureaucratic babble causing you to have an unrequested fission surplus (meltdown)?

It’s time to fight back! The 2010 WriteMark New Zealand Plain English Awards are being held in September, and nominations for the People’s Choice Awards are open.

One category of People’s Choice Award is the dreaded ‘Brainstrain’. This Award is given to documents or websites most notable for confusing and dumbfounding their target audiences with obscurity and gobbledygook. The ideal entry is a publicly available or widely used document that could cause problems for many people.

Awards founder Lynda Harris says Brainstrain Awards are given in good humour and often prompt organisations to make much-need changes to their communications.

“The Plain English Trust puts these confusing documents under the spotlight to encourage organisations to rewrite them in plain English, and they've had some considerable successes. A number of high profile agencies have won Brainstrain Awards in the past and put a lot of time into fixing their documents as a result. Some even entered their re-written documents the next year and won more positive awards.

Ms Harris says that while writing submitted for Brainstrain Awards tends to make people laugh, the consequences of unclear communication are often far from funny.

“Many people have been caught out by an obscure clause in an insurance policy; a guarantee that seemed watertight, but wasn't; a benefit or payment they missed out on because information they were given was unclear.

“There is never a good reason for overwhelming people with technical, unfamiliar words. People need to be able to participate in government, commercial, legal, and leisure activities fully understanding what they are being told, and the implications of the choices they make.”

The Trust is encouraging the public to use People’s Choice nominations to let organisations know their documents aren't good enough.

“Organisations can be slow to change unless we push them – and that means speaking up and letting them know there is public demand for clarity and transparency and that they need to think more about their customers’ needs.”

But the news isn't all bad. People’s Choice nominations can also be used to reward organisations that have communicated well.

“If you have been really impressed by the way an organisation or company communicated with you, why not nominate them for the Best Plain English Document or Website Award? It’s easy to do and doesn't take a lot of time,” Ms Harris says.

The Plain English Awards are an annual not-for-profit event run by the WriteMark Plain English Awards Trust. Winners will be announced at a public ceremony on 3 September held at the Beehive and hosted by Hon Christopher Finlayson, Attorney-General and Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage.

People’s Choice nominations can be made at the Plain English Awards website: www.plainenglishawards.org.nz. Click on the People’s Choice Nomination link. Nominations are free and close on 28 June 2010.

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