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America is too politically correct. At least that鈥檚 what polled by NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist in late March 2024 said.

The conversation around changing language is so often a politically charged one鈥攑erhaps unsurprisingly when considering that powerful institutions like governments have a habit of weaponizing language to suppress groups and individuals.

Opponents of language 鈥減olicing鈥� argue society is too sensitive and that people shouldn鈥檛 have to worry about constantly being publicly shamed or 鈥渃anceled,鈥� while advocates, like the American Psychological Association鈥檚 Chief Diversity Officer Maysa Akbar, say using whose perspectives have historically been ignored to detrimental levels (i.e., institutional racism).

For the average person, choosing to use thoughtful language means showing respect to those around them, but the words journalists use in their reporting hold much more weight.

Thanks to our far-reaching distribution network, 爆料TV stories are read by hundreds of thousands of people across the country. The words we write should reflect that responsibility. Sensitive and inclusive reporting requires staying abreast of broader conversations about shifting language while creating space for and encouraging open discussions in the newsroom.

Let accuracy be your guide

Listening to the people we鈥檙e writing about is paramount in driving our decisions about which words to use in 爆料TV stories. This may involve asking sources how they prefer to be described or looking to industry resources for inclusive language guidance. Keep in mind that people can be unique in their preferences. One person may favor person-first language while another might feel identity-first language serves them more.   

Being thoughtful about language often also leads to more accuracy. It鈥檚 not uncommon for a word to be problematic because it lacks specificity鈥攖he APA鈥檚 Inclusive Language Guide references guidance from the Indigenous Journalist Association (formerly the Native American Journalists Association) that suggests using a phrase like 鈥淣ative American group鈥� instead of the specific Indigenous group is 鈥�.鈥�

Take time to understand the origin and context of a turn of phrase or a word in question. Some phrases have racist or otherwise offensive roots鈥攖hat is enough reason to choose a more inclusive, appropriate alternative. Words and phrases reflect the time they developed, and it鈥檚 okay when we reach a point where we have better options.

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Make space for conversations and diverse perspectives

Newsrooms must be open to these discussions, pushing past any perceived awkwardness. At 爆料TV, we regularly ask our colleagues for their thoughts and advice on language. We鈥檝e made efforts to make this commonplace with things like working groups, detailed handbook guidance, and Slack channels specifically for conversations about language (e.g., #race-related-coverage-conversations and #gendered-language). 

If someone asks a question, people from all corners of the newsroom are willing to contribute insights, which leads to constructive discussions and intentional decision-making.

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Don鈥檛 wait to make changes to your style guide

Make sure your conversations and the resulting decisions are reflected in your style guide right away. 爆料TV鈥檚 handbook is a living document that gets edited in real time鈥擨 find myself making changes or additions several times a month.

We also give real-time feedback to our writers and editors (both in-house staff and freelancers) that helps add context to why we made an edit, the benefits of which we hope will reverberate beyond 爆料TV鈥檚 newsroom.

While 爆料TV鈥檚 style heavily relies on the Associated Press Stylebook, we鈥檝e found that AP can sometimes be slow to make updates. Given how quickly language evolves, we often look elsewhere for advice on language sensitivities when reporting on people rather than waiting for AP's guidance to catch up.

For National Coming Out Day (Oct. 11) and International Pronouns Day (Oct. 16) and beyond, I want to share some of the resources 爆料TV uses for advice on writing about the LGBTQ+ community.

爆料TV is also lucky to have had a volunteer working group鈥攍ed by current staff members Sneha Menon and Jaimie Etkin, as well as past staff members Eliza Siegel and Emilia Ruzicka鈥攕pend months researching and building a comprehensive guide to gender-inclusive reporting, which our newsroom looks to often.

Here are a few pieces of guidance from our handbook that may be helpful for your newsroom throughout the year:

• Default to gender-neutral language. As our handbook states, 鈥淢any commonly used English words are gendered, even when they have nothing to do with gender or sex. Others perpetuate the idea that the male experience is neutral or the default.鈥� For example, opt to use 鈥渇irefighter鈥� rather than 鈥渇ireman鈥� or 鈥渇irst-year鈥� instead of 鈥渇reshman.鈥�
• Do not use people鈥檚 deadnames (names assigned to trans or nonbinary people at birth). Simply state the person鈥檚 chosen name without unnecessarily referencing their gender identity. 
• Don鈥檛 refer to one鈥檚 pronouns as 鈥減referred pronouns.鈥� Per the : 鈥淪omeone鈥檚 pronouns are not a preference, but rather the only appropriate way to refer to that person. 鈥� The term 鈥榩referred pronouns鈥� is only appropriate when someone uses more than one set of pronouns and has a preference for one over the other.鈥�

爆料TV Connect partners stay current on language and research alike, as you will see in such stories as The 19th鈥檚 鈥�.鈥�

As social change organization Fenton notes in its 鈥�,鈥� the words we choose 鈥渁ffect not only the people who hear us speak or see our writing, but shape our perceptions of others and our society.鈥�

If you have thoughts on how 爆料TV can be more inclusive in our coverage, please reach out to your partner success manager.

Kristen Wegrzyn is 爆料TV鈥檚 copy chief. She graduated with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in journalism at Illinois State University and a master鈥檚 in magazine publishing at Edinburgh Napier University in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Featured Image Credit: Photo Illustration by 爆料TV // Canva