Retrotalk griping just another example of big media's fracturing audience

Author Ralph Keyes wrote a provocative column recently, chiding journalists for using too much Retrotalk.

What's that, you say? It's the habit smart aleck writers like your truly have of inserting cultural references in stories to add meaning in a playful way.

For example, in the Simon Cowell post a few entries earlier, I made a reference to American Idol jumping it's final shark -- a reference to the term for when a TV show introduces a plot twist that makes it plain to all observers that the show is out of creative gas (a reference to classic Happy Days episode in which Fonzie water skied over a shark tank).

Keyes, in a column which also neatly references his new book I Love It When You Talk Retro, says today's journalists use too many old "retrotalk" references that young readers don't understand, and which help make newspaper copy sound dated.

His evidence, in part, is news articles which compare political figures to folks from the 1950s sitcom Leave it to Beaver, including casting Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner as a new school Eddie Haskell or saying First Lady Michelle Obama has been "Cleaver-ized."

The column drew lots of comments from writers who noted -- quite correctly -- that such references also are a way of passing cultural knowledge along (I mean, does excluding retrotalk mean excluding Shakespeare and Charles Dickens?) But think there's something else going on, too.

I have this theory that journalists today are caught between three audiences: old school readers who consume stories the traditional way; middle-aged folks who spend increasing amounts of time online but still occasionally turn to print tradition; and young people who aren't reading print much -- if at all -- and are multitasking animals watching a multitude of screens every day.

So I find myself constantly questioning whether a reference has crossed a tipping point.

Will enough people get a subtle M*A*S*H reference? Or a joke about Gone with the Wind? Or playful references to long-gone technology like TV dials and Betamax video?

I tend to think some obscure references are like little gems in a story -- if you know their meaning or take the time to look them up, it can add flavor to a story.

But are we seek to snare a spreading throng of consumers, we better think harder about the language we use to get our points across.

Comments

[Sokol]

I remember watching a cartoon with my daughter, and they used the phrase "e-ticket ride". Now that was a real blast from the past.

[g-man]

I'm not quite sure what Keyes was getting at as a solution. Not use pop-culture references at all? Or only use references that younger readers/viewers will "get"? If the latter, that causes a problem because as soon as an adult starts using such a phrase, it's nearly a sure thing that the kids are no longer using it. The adult is then an object of ridicule and is dissed, fer shizzle. Now, ain't that da bomb?

[Bonnie]

Bob H is right. I'm teaching way too many young readers who think the world started about four years ago when they started consuming real media.

To use a retro-reference that everyone will understand: when I was their age, I spent considerable time LEARNING the adults' way of writing/speaking/communicating so that I COULD understand.

I didn't spend time declaring that I didn't understand - in some passive-aggressive way demanding that THEY change to accomodate ME.

[Mere]

I agree with Bob - Keep 'em coming! I may not always 'get' them right off the bat, but there's always Google. (And when I do 'get' them, I feel like one of the cool crowd!)

[Tanya]

First hit when I googled: Hello! McFly???: http://tinyurl.com/csw2lm

[Tanya]

Well, I wish this was a reflection of my age, but it's more an indication of my aversion to the "Fonz": I googled "jump the shark" a couple of years ago when reading something else that included the phrase.

Keyes is the one going retro if it doesn't occur to him that members of this generation have instantaneous access to literally all the information that has gone before them.

Hello! McFly???

[Bob H]

Literary and cultural allusions *are* little gems that, as long as they aren't overly used and become a crutch, spice up an essay, article, or blog entry.

Such references are the sign of an educated, well-read writer, and the understanding of same are signs of an equally well-read and educated reader. And there's nothing wrong with that. In fact, that's a desirable pairing: intelligent writers writing for an intelligent readership.

To make your writing idiot-proof contributes mightily to the dumbing down of society. It's okay to make readers stretch a little, whether it's through unfamiliar vocabulary or obscure allusions.

So keep 'em coming!