How Biased Language in News Reporting Serves Propagandists, From 'migrant' to 'gender-affirming care'
By prioritizing clarity and precision, newsrooms could better serve the public’s desire for facts without the bias.
Today, major news outlets often promote language that prioritizes advocacy over neutrality. These editorial decisions have an impact far beyond the audience consuming news produced by any one newsroom. They shape public perception, advance ideological agendas and, at times, mislead on a grand scale— whether intentional or not.
Advocates and propagandists have learned that to have an outsized impact on national debates and controversies, all they need to do is co-opt key or create news influencers that establish standards and policies. This includes Associated Press (AP), online dictionaries, fact-checking groups, journalism schools like Columbia, and journalism resources like Poynter Institute.
AP’s Stylebook is widely adopted in journalism and used to standardize terminology for news organizations worldwide. Initially designed to ensure clarity and consistency in reporting, the AP Stylebook has become a cornerstone for journalistic language, with most newsrooms adhering to its guidelines to standardize things like grammar, abbreviations, and titles.
However, in recent years, critics argue that the AP has veered from its tradition of neutrality, incorporating advocacy-driven terms in debates over race, gender, and politics—terms sometimes deemed inaccurate or polarizing. Detractors contend that by prioritizing ideological language over objective precision, the AP has…
I'm pretty sure the term "crimigrant" says everything necessary about the invaders.
Onward, Christian soldiers!