They’ve stolen our stunt

I heard it again this morning. On the shuttle bus to the G8 summit site, I overheard a PR woman for an NGO (non-governmental organisation) talk to a reporter about the success of the “stunt” her group had staged the day before.

The word has showed up in more deliberate and official ways, too. Earlier in the week, another NGO sent a press release to the media inviting us to a “stunt” in advance of the G8.

Until now, stunt was OUR word.

We in the media used it comfortably and, ok, smugly to dismiss staged events designed only to attract our attention. We employed it proudly — as a pejorative — to prove we could tell the difference between a publicity event and a real event (though sometimes it hardly made a difference to our coverage).

Stunt was our shorthand way of saying we could see through the contrivance, we were wise to the manipulation.

But, now that the word has been appropriated by the very people who contrive the stunts, it loses its impact as a pejorative.

Like the “news conference” and the “photo-op,” the stunt has become such a legitimate communications tool that there’s no longer any shame in the word. Another milestone here in L’Aquila.

— Keith Boag

They’ve stolen our stunt