"Chiaro!" ... a project for Italy, and soon the U.S.A.

"Chiaro" means "Clear" in Italian.

We all communicate ... but often in ways that confuse. It's not hard to find examples. Most people write as if "more" means "better." Making things simpler - to read and understand - usually makes things a great deal better!  

The following article announces the Italians are doing something about this:
Dateline: June 6, 2002

 ROME (Reuters) - Italy, the land of Dante, declared war on officialese Tuesday, vowing to simplify the way the state communicates with its citizens.

"This is a cultural revolution in our relationship with citizens," Civil Service Minister Franco Frattini told a news conference to unveil a project to make bureaucratic language understandable.

The project, called "Chiaro!" (Clear!), aims to rid the language used in bureaucratic texts of complex clauses and confusing terms.

One "before and after" example given at the news conference:

Before: "The aforementioned office for economic treatment will cease the distribution of monies commencing from May 1, 2001."
After: "Our office will stop payments as of May 1."

Frattini said ministries would be encouraged to compete for a "Chiaro!" stamp, which would be awarded only to departments and ministries that wrote simply.

"After this stamp is put on a document we defy the most critical of readers to find something incomprehensible," he said. A Web site (www.funzionepubblica.it) will encourage eagle-eyed citizens to inform the ministry if they discover someone has been using ten words when four would do.

Professor Alfredo Fioritto, who heads a task force of legal experts and linguists, admitted it was going to be tough.

"There are hundreds of years of tradition to destroy, today the government speaks like it did in the nineteenth century," he said.

"Simplifying language is very difficult. It means you have to know what you are talking about."

We think the Italians have such a good idea, we will soon sponsor the Chiaro Award here in the U.S.A. Soon, you'll be able to read more about it at the ChiaroAward.com web site. For now, you'll find the Chiaro logo below. Look for it in the future as a symbol of clear communications.


Click on the image to visit the Chiaro Award web site.


That's it for this segment. We hope these thoughts have been useful, and we welcome your comments. To give us your input on the Chiaro Award ... just click here.



William H. Thompson
Principal

PS - Visit the ChiaroAward.com web site. Click here!