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These question marks are almost as annoying as the "self-interview" question marks made popular by former Sec. of Defense Rumsfeld.

What is a self-interview? Well, it's when you ask yourself a question then immediately answer it. Are they occurring more now than before? Listening to people on TV news shows and NPR seems to show that more are doing it now.

Why would people do this? Because it makes it sound as if they're answering a question that has been asked -- even if the answer they're giving wasn't actually in response to the actual interviewer.

Can we stop this now? I sure hope so.



Wouldn't it be easier to give the reporter a list of suggested questions? I think it would.

Would some reporters object? Probably, but I sure you could find a friendly one, or let them ask some question not from the list.

Would this make reporting better? It would sound better, so that's something.

But does asking yourself a question and answering it do any harm? I don't think so - it's a pretty effective way of transmitting information. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_questioning and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_method




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