Former vs. Latter: When readers are forced to perform mental gymnastics

Unwanted things happen when journalists use the terms “the former” and “the latter”.

Some readers are forced to reread the passage because they cannot remember which is the former or the latter.

If the terms are not in close proximity to the items they refer to, mental gymnastics become doubly difficult. Readers may get confused, tired and bored and may give up reading.

So, why do writers insist on using the terms? To avoid repeating themselves. Example: “There’s a debate as to which category of people is more successful between optimists and pessimists. My sense is that the globe is inhabited by more of the latter than the former.”

The writer, Prof Makau Mutua, could have used the word “pessimists” instead of “more of the latter” and “optimists” instead of “the former”. But, apparently, he didn’t because he would be repeating the words. 

Similarly, columnist Macharia Gaitho avoided repeating the words Orange and Banana when he wrote: “In 2005, we had Orange and Banana. The latter imploded, as the former went on to become the Orange Democratic Movement.”

But why do writers not want to repeat themselves? It’s argued that repetition may irritate the reader and distract him from what the writer is trying to say. However, when used intentionally to provide clarity, I think repetition makes a story easier for the reader to follow and understand. It also adds emphasis and rhythm, I believe.

Journalists also use “the former” and “the latter” to save space. However, in the Mutua and Gaitho examples, no space is saved. Seldom does the use of “the former” and “the latter” save space. Contrariwise, in both examples, repetition would have made the sentences shorter and crisper.

Don't know meaning

There is another argument for avoiding the terms: Many people don’t seem to know their meaning. Just to be clear, both refer to previously mentioned items but they can’t be used interchangeably.

“The former” refers to the first item and “the latter” the last—as in this example: “Jomo Kenyatta and Uhuru Kenyatta were both Kenyan presidents. The latter was the son of the former.”

The difference between the two terms is lost on many, including journalists. “Church leaders on Saturday came under fire from women leaders who accused the latter of misleading Kenyans on the proposed constitution,” the Nation reported in a story headlined “Women differ with clergy on abortion”. “The latter” is the women; could they be accusing themselves?

A well-known and experienced Nation columnist wrote: “Coupled with this is the huge disparity between rich and poor with a disproportionate amount of the wealth and resources going to the latter.” The sentence didn’t make sense because “the latter” is incorrectly used (The error has since been corrected).

Even when it’s clear what the two terms mean, the possibility of confusion or misunderstanding remains high if the list of items is long and the sentences are convoluted. Lengthy lists and the complexity of sentences add to the confusion.

Overuse the terms

Consider this rather scholarly example: “The Constitution, as a social contract entered between the government and the citizens, does not say that the latter have pawned their safety away in order to be brutalised and their possessions mangled by the former.” The writer made the statement more difficult to understand by using “the latter” and “the former” in a sentence that is already tough.

Journalists tend to overuse the terms, which are more suited to formal and academic writing than journalism. Most of the time, it’s not necessary to use them. In the following example, “the latter” can be replaced by the pronoun “he”: “In an unprecedented escalation of a political battle stemming from the disputed election, Mr Odinga has demanded that President William Ruto resign, insisting that the latter [he] is in office illegally.”

In the following example “the latter” can be dropped, without a replacement: “A Ugandan court has ordered a woman to pay her former fiancé more than Sh400,000 as compensation for breach of the promise to marry the latter [him].”

It is clear that, for crisp storytelling, journalists should avoid using “the latter” and “the former”. The terms are pompous and archaic and rarely add value to journalism.

Excellent article on land con men

We cannot allow con men and lowlifes to pretend to be realtors and developers. Thank you, Simon Ciuri, for your excellent article, “Inside Kenya’s land buying con games” (January 16, 2023). 

I have been in the real estate sector for 20-plus years and my company is well-established. I have watched these crooks and fraudsters play games with buyers. Most people now think investing in real estate is not worth the trouble. We are honest in our engagements with clients and have been delivering residential houses and apartments consistently for many years.

However, you have a duty, Mr Ciuri, to help the Kenyan people to realise their dreams of owning good houses. The private sector has a major role to play. Your duty to inform and educate your readers requires that you show them the successes achieved by other honest, hardworking and diligent business people like us.

— Daniel Muchiri, Pinnacle Projects International Ltd

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Dongo Kundu and TV anchors

I find the Daily Nation coverage good. I am especially fond of John Kamau’s well-researched articles. But I’m unhappy with the way the Dongo Kundu project in Mombasa has been covered.

The articles have been almost exclusively about the establishment of the special economic zone and hardly about other things, it’s dependent on—such as the construction of the Mwache bridge and, to a lesser degree, the road connecting South Coast to the airport area, the port and road to Nairobi.

Further, while the Nation did a good job covering the death of Catherine Kasavuli, it carries little or no news about TV anchors, actors, musicians and singers.

— Lars Asker

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Grandaunt took over Blue Post

Some time ago, you ran a brief history on Blue Post Hotel (“A fantasy drive to the Blue Post Hotel” by John Fox, November 7, 2021). It did not include the fact that my grandaunt Viola and her husband, Percy Flint, took it over in 1928. They ran it for some years before her husband died. 

Flint was a surveyor and is buried in Nairobi, I believe. Viola received an OBE for her work. She returned to Australia with her children.

— Peter Pritchard, Bendigo, Australia
 

The Public Editor is an independent news ombudsman who handles readers’ complaints on editorial matters including accuracy and journalistic standards. Email: [email protected]. Call or text 0721989264