Prose in business writing

Aaron London of the Daytona Beach News-Journal writes Saturday about the literary prose that surprisingly creeps into some business news stories.

London writes, “A closer look at some business reporting reveals evidence of a literary bent.

“Consider a recent report on Merrill Lynch’s decision to sell off some parts and issue new stock to raise capital.

“According to the report, the company ‘in a broad move to clean up its troubled balance sheet’ announced plans to ‘sell a big slice of its toxic asset backed securities . . . ‘

“No dry economic prose here. How pleased the Merrill Lynch executives must be of the descriptive reporting of their securities as toxic. Perhaps they can also entice the buyer to purchase some land near the Love Canal or in an area contaminated by kiln dust.”

Read more here.