accuracy in language (was airport x-rays)

[stabin@esper.com (Mike Stabin)]

I echo Ron's plea for accuracy in technical communication.  All of us,
myself included, certainly have some slang and some sloppy approximations
that we lapse into at times, but the reminder is a point well taken, and
was, I might add, respectfully made.

On a somewhat related matter, I wondered if anyone has had any success in
getting ANYONE in the media (whose primary job, I understand is the use of
**words**) to accurately distinguish between "radioactivity" and
"radiation"?  This is so often misused, in AP wire releases, by major
network news anchors, etc. that it would seem that someone would care.
"Radiation" does not normally leak from power plants (except perhaps through
cracks in shields), nor is it usually inhaled, or found in foods, etc, etc,
etc.  But this is the common usage in the press.  I have approached several
national media groups about this, and been shown Perot-sized deaf ears.
Anyone had any success with this or any related communication-type issues in
the general public or the press?

Mike Stabin