Michael Ding reports on the sale of 02138 to Manhattan Media, noting that “representatives from 02138 magazine would not comment on the deal.”

I can not help but give the Crimson folks suggestions from time to time (and they should feel free to return the favor), so….

Michael, I probably wouldn’t have told you anything either, but for the sake of thoroughness you should have called me. (I mean, heck, I did just visit your editorial board.)

Just to anticipate commenters, I mention this not because of any burning desire to talk with the Crimson, but because incomplete reporting drives me ’round the bend. (Sorry, but this is the kind of thing I think about for a living.)

At the very least, that way you wouldn’t have had to use the bizarre term”representatives,” which is an odd choice of word for a magazine that has a staff of around a dozen. It’s not like 02138 is the UN or something; nor could anyone you spoke with compel you to use the term representatives. (And in any case, 02138 doesn’t really have “representatives,” it has employees.)

You called someone; that person wouldn’t comment; then you say “insert-name-here wouldn’t comment.”

Instead, you have internalized and manifested Harwellian language without even realizing it!