Ahead of last week’s economic reform roundtable, I wrote in The New Daily that the Australian people will support controversial policies if the government spends ample time explaining the problem.

I cautioned against engaging in techo-talk such as increasing productivity growth, which working Australians equate with working harder and losing their jobs altogether.

Yet in wrapping up their reporting on the roundtable, most journalists preferred to describe the three-day event as a “productivity roundtable” – from a small sample I took, the ABC (three times), The Guardian, The Conversation, the Nine Network, The Australian, Crikey and The Financial Review.

Isn’t it the media’s job to speak in terms the public will understand?

In his closing media conference, Treasurer Jim Chalmers barely used the productivity word.

He made one flurry of three references to productivity in response to a journalist who used it three times in a single question. At least Chalmers can’t be accused of not answering the question.

This might all seem a bit pedantic, but the adoption by........

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