The Using, Use, and Usefulness of Passive Voice

Yeh, there’s a bunch of articles already. But here’s the authoritative piece on the matter. This was taken from one of those things you might see old people flipping, flapping, and fussing with on a train. I’ll take the risk of offending the publisher.

“…when what is being done is more important than who is doing it, passive language is not only acceptable — it’s preferable.” — Gary Blake, The Wall Street Journal, many years ago, perhaps the 1990’s.

I notice he conditions it with “in technical writing.” Interesting. I think it applies irrespective of the genre. And I’d maintain that it is not merely preferable, but necessary.