Is the word, hero, the most overused word by journalists today?

Question

Reading in todays papers about a hero pilot who died along with all of his passengers after his light aircraft hit a microlight on approach to landing.

The plane apparently dipped before the pilot seemingly had some control over it, before it finally plummetted to the ground.

Nowhere in the story could I work out the heroic part of his act.

A hero is someone who puts himself in harms way even though he has the option of not being in harms way. In this circumstance , the pilot was just trying to save his own bacon. I dont blame him for this, but there was nothing heroic about the act. Still I guess it makes people feel better about a sad situation.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1046109/Hero-pilot-tried-guide-plane-safety-following-mid-air-crash-led-deaths.html

Answer 1

It's overused, just like YOU OVERUSE WHAT YOU THINK ARE JOKE QUESTIONS ABOUT HEATH LEDGER - and then YOU go on to make remarks like "Still I guess it makes people feel better about a sad situation"

You've really peed me off over that question about what's he doing next - and I'm not alone.

Answer 2

Yes I agree - If I lost control of my car then regained it temporarily before crashing, it wouldn't make me a hero.

Answer 3

sorry dear, you have misunderstood the news.  who is a hero?

Those who died in a war are heros.

those who dies while saving some one or group are heros.

Those who acts in a film whether doing acting best or worst ..he is the hero.

A driver who averts major accident and applies his mind and also applies sudden brakes in a train is a hero. (not driver for some days)

A pen's name is hero and those who using the pens are heroes?

A revolutionary is called as hero when he succeeds.

Even Al-Quida leader Bin-laden is a hero  ''hero of atrocities''

A man who sees accident and taking steps to save a human rushing hospital taking wounded is a hero.

similarly, in a plane a pilot is a hero, no doubt about it.  As a pilot, he may tried in several angles which we don't know and on mechanism or beyond his efforts it met accident.  what he will do?  Hence, stating him as a hero is seems to be correct.

Answer 4

I would put my money on "the"...

Answer 5

There's only one hero in my eyes, that's you.  XX.

Answer 6

No, the most over used word by journalists these days is 'insurgents'.

Answer 7

People who die are always reported as being some sort of faultless angel.

Answer 8

He tried. He died trying...heres what you should focus on :

The pilot did absolutely brilliantly to recover it.

'When it first happened, it looked like the plane would go straight down but the pilot recovered it and seemed to be in control of it. Then it tipped and came down suddenly."

That sounds heroic instead of just sitting & passing negatives judgements on perfect strangers.

Answer 9

It's just newspapers using 'buzzwords' to spice up a story. The UK press is getting quite frightening in how willing they are to sensationalise and exaggerate.

For example they'd say'

'Knife Crime Britain is out of control'.......when in truth you're 4 times more likely to die falling down the stairs than you are in a stabbing (that's an actual fact).

Also they're huge hypocrites, they make out paedophiles are on every street corner, and they they'll also release a story saying Britain has couch potato kids who sit in and play videogames, because their parents are too scared to let them outside......and kids need exercise!!!

BUT maybe if you stopped painting this picture of paedos, drugs, and knifes on every street corner, parents would let their kids play outside.

Answer 10

I have heard that most journalists  eat Hero Sandwiches at the local delis for lunch so I think the word Hero is firmly implanted in their brains.   It is so overused that we go numb hearing it.  Who isn't a hero today .  

Answer 11

Yes hero is over used. the real hero's are those we never hear about.

Answer 12

Sociologists and and anthropologists notice that in the west during the 20s the distinction between hero and celebrity started to break down. The process has continued to this day where the appellation hero is given to all sorts of figures despite the fact that they have never done anything for anyone besides themselves in their lives. So the word has pretty much lost its classical meaning. Why this is so is has much room for debate, the growth of sensationalist media being a part no doubt.

On the other hand, keeping your head during a crisis and trying to get yourself and your passengers out of a life threatening crisis strikes me as reasonably heroic behaviour, wouldn't you want the pilot of your plane to emulate him? So give the guy a break. :)