Redundant Reporters

[Peg Herring]

Is it just me or are news reporters using more and more redundancies these days? I groan but accept the fact that local news reporters speak of "a poor family with no money" or "abused animals that have been mistreated by their owners." They're local, and the ones who speak that way will likely stay local. But the other night a woman on the national news actually said, “an underground tunnel runs under this road.” I guess that's opposed to an overground tunnel.

Then there are “armed police with guns.” So...they have arms and guns? I guess that works out nicely when a policeman needs an appendage with which to point that gun.