Writing with Spin: Making Your Readers Happy with Bad News

Perhaps you have heard the adage “No news is good news.” In contrast, sometimes the news is bad. How are you going to communicate that bad news?

Your last employer fired you. You are writing a financial report to stakeholders, and the company is losing money. You were required to perform specific duties and meet objectives, but you didn’t. You have a job to do, and it’s taking longer than expected. You failed a class in your undergraduate program. You have to miss work—again. You need to raise taxes because your budget is too high. Too many patients are dying. Etcetera.

A. The Purpose of Spin

Now you have to put the bad news in writing. One benefit of writing is that you can craft your words very carefully to say what needs to be said, honestly, but in a manner that reduces the negative impact. You can tell the truth, but tell it in a way that gives a better impression than the news deserves. This is called “spin,” or “spinning,” the news.  Read more...

Posted: 25th November 2009 under Writing.
Tags:2c, Adage, Bad News, Benefit, Budget, Happy, Job, Making, Money, Negative Impact, News, News 13, Readers, Revenue Streams, Spin, Spinning, Stakeholders, Undergraduate Program, Unpleasant Truth, Writing, Writing Report
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