Words Only Journalists Use: Bolster

I almost spit out my coffee while reading a New York Times article this morning.  The provocation was this sentence in a story about a book recently pulled by Penguin Books India from sales in that country:

      "Its fortunes in the United States have been bolstered by the recent controversy."

When I see the word "bolster" I think immediately of a largish pillow on a daybed.  Except among seamsters and furniture salespersons, the word virtually never comes up in daily conversation.

But "bolster" is an unfortunate constant in journalism, ebbing and flowing like a dark current in a clear pool.  A brief internet search convinces me that its tide is rising again.

Here are some headlines:

     "New Technologies Bolster Shoe-Leather Journalism," a Stanford website, 2/5/20214

     "Split vote kills plan to bolster farm rights," Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 2/5/2014

     "State should bolster law about neglect and abuse," The Olympian, 2/1/2014

     "UN climate chief urges investors to bolster global warming fight," Yahoo News, 1/15/2014

     "Colorado bill would bolster reporter's(sic) shield law," The Coloradoan," 1/10/2014

                (Extra points should be docked for the misplaced apostrophe)

     "Portland-area high schools will gain equipment, teachers, industry contacts to bolster

       career and technical education," OregonLive, 1/8/2014 

I could go on, but you get the picture.  

Please, please contact all journalists of your acquaintance and share with them these helpful and more appropriate synonyms from a Google dictionary:  strengthen, reinforce, boost, fortify, renew, support, sustain, buoy up, prop up, maintain, aid, help, augment, increase.