I tend to listen to NPR on my way to and from work. I think NPR has excellent programming overall, and a damn sight better than most programs with their coverage. Even their fluff pieces tend to be informative.
However, I was upset today by something I heard on the local segment of our NPR station, Milwaukee Public Radio. The reporter in question referred to a problem that I know for a fact isn’t just happening in Milwaukee - food supplies running low for those who can’t afford food. This is definately something to be concerned about in our country, when fellow citizens cannot afford food. However, this is not by any means a food crisis. What is going on in the cyclone ravaged areas of Myanmar is a food crisis.
Yes, ours is still a problem, but we should not neuter the English language by using hyperbole where suitable words exist to describe a situation. Let’s not make a situation where everything is described as a “crisis”, because then crisis will lose its meaning.