Gategate
Just attaching ‘gate’ to the end of every controversial thing that pops into the news is bullshit, historically blind, and beyond insulting. There’s no way for the audience to understand that they should be concerned about something unless you attach ‘gate’ to the end of it?
The repeated use and assumptions involved in ‘*-gate’-ing things is like the ultimate media-to-audience insult. By doing so, media outlets assume you don’t know what Watergate was and you’re too stupid to understand why a topic should make you furious unless they ‘gate’ it. Even worse… it implies that unless someone attaches -gate to the end of something, it’s not really a big deal. Too bad there’s no finance-crisis-gate, gun-deaths-gate, or ebola-gate, apparently, they’re not worth caring about.
Adding -gate assumes your audience is idiots, robs them of any need to understand history, and devalues other coverage. It’s incredibly condescending. Don’t do it.
