Federal Insider: Plain Writing Act a work in progress for federal agencies

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The Washington PostMonday, April 09, 2012
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News from the Fed Page

Annetta Cheek is interviewed by the Associated Press at her home in Bailey's Crossroads, Va., Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2011.  For much of her career in the federal civil service and now as a founder of the Center for Plain Language, Cheek has led efforts to make the government communicate with the public in ways average people can understand.  The federal government is rolling out a new official language of sorts: plain English. A communications overhaul is  under way as federal employees learn how to make more sense in their writing to the public. Their guide is the Plain Writing Act signed by President Barack Obama in the fall after decades of effort by passionate grammarians in the civil service to jettison the jargon.  (AP Photo/Calvin Woodward)      And her official bio:  Dr. Cheek is an anthropologist by training, earning a PhD from the University of Arizona in 1974. She worked for the US Federal government from 1980 until early 2007.

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