Newscasters owe it to their listeners to use beautiful, proper language

Dear Fellow Earthlings,

"They will hunt this person down until they find him."

The sentence above was uttered by a man reporting for one of the major television news networks in

the United States. The wording of the sentence has moved me to express my feelings a bit regarding

how my native language (American English) is changing -- and to offer some suggestions about how

I personally would have expressed the same idea.

Recently four people, in isolated incidents, have been shot dead. All of the victims were shot, within

a one-mile radius of each other, in the Seminole Heights area of Tampa, Florida. The residents of Tampa

are, justifiably, worried about the killer striking again.

Law authorities are doing everything in their power to find the murderer or murderers so that the

people of Tampa can find some relief from the fear that has them in its grip...

In the sentence shown above the word "they" refers to the police. I feel that the news reporter's

usage was clear in this regard.

However, when the reporter used the term "hunt this person down", he was indicating that the

person had been captured, that the police had found him. If I were the one attempting to convey

the intended message, I would have opted for the following sentence, eschewing the expression

"hunt him down" in favor of "continue to hunt for the killer or killers".

Additionally, I would end the sentence not with "him" but with "the perpetrator or perpetrators".

You see, while it seems almost certain that the person or persons doing the killing is male, we

must refrain from using the word "him" until we are indeed certain.

Hence, I myself would prefer the following sentence for presenting to the American television

audience:

"They will continue their hunt for the killer or killers until they find the perpetrator or perpetrators."

Steve Walker

Earthsaver and Jingles Creator

EarthSaver