Tell me please which of the following sentences is correct. 1 "Advocates of responsible journalism tend to do their work properly." 2 "The advocates of responsible journalism tend to do their work properly." Although those sentences is not about some specific journalists, they are about journalists in general, I thing that "the" is needed because "responsible journalism" describes which advocates. Tell me please if I am wrong.
asked Dec 29, 2017 at 19:52
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You wrote "not about some specific journalists", so don't use the. "of responsible journalism" defines the kind of "advocates", but does define the quantity or any grouping.– user3169Commented Dec 30, 2017 at 1:23
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1 Answer
I think that sentence (1) would be preferred. My rationale is that the first sentence may be referring the group in question (advocates of responsible journalism) in whole or in part, while the second sentence refers to the entire group only.
I see no indication in the text presented that the more specific, lexically stronger meaning is intended, and therefore it is not appropriate to express that degree of specificity. Instead, the lexically weaker expression should be preferred.
