Bryan, I wonder if this particular battle isn't lost when the editorial staff at a journal with some pretensions like Newsweek can make such a horrible blue and then cite the Fowler boys in defence.

I reckon the decline in journalists' use of language started when proofreaders (and to some extent knowledgeable subeditors) were largely dispensed with after the introduction of electronic systemsto the print media. No proofreader would have let that through. And of course the rot quickly spread to TV and radio journalism.

I'm faily tolerant about some 'errors' but what makes me sad about those like 'beg the question' is that they rob English of a way of directly expressing an idea that can only be replaced with some clumsy, convoluted trip around the block.