Piaras Kelly PR - Public Relations in Ireland

One thing I’ve noticed since I’ve started working in PR is that I’ve developed an appreciation for the English language. The difference one word can make is startling. How the media reported the death of Tara Whelan in a terrorist attack in Turkey is an unfortunate example of this.

When her identity was confirmed some media organisations reported that her remains were being flown back to Ireland for the funeral as opposed to saying that her body was being flown back. Due to the fact that she was killed in an explosion the word remains made it sound like that she was in bits and pieces. As you can imagine that would be quite distressing for her family and friends. Sure enough in later broadcasts I noticed that the word body was being used.

It sounds quite anal to nitpick over a word, but the reporting of Tara Whelan’s death illustrates that one word can make a big difference.