The Associated Press rolled out their 2017 “stylebook”; the stated goal is to provide a “universal” guideline for journalistic practices. Instead, it is an attempt to indefinitely marginalize conservative reporting.
The 2017 ‘stylebook’ tells writers to AVOID words like “pro-life”, “migrant”, “refugee”, “Islamist”, and “terrorist”. Opinion contributor for The Hill, Rachel Alexander, commented on “Fox & Friends” that this is “an attempt to promote language that liberals tend to favor”.
The ‘stylebook’ demands that writers use the term “anti-abortion” instead of “pro-life”, a clear slap in the face for those fighting for the lives of the unborn. Instead of “migrant” or “refugee”, one should instead use the phrase “people struggling to enter Europe”. Rather than say “terrorist” or “Islamist”, AP wants writers to sugarcoat things and say “militant”, “lone wolf”, or “attacker”.
This is DANGEROUS language policing and not too far off from the political correctness of Stalin.
What is even more frightening is the fact that, as Alexander points out, if a writer wishes to submit their work to a mainstream outlet and they think that they can avoid the tightening fist that is the AP’s ‘stylebook’, their work will undoubtedly be edited to conform.
“The mainstream media claims that it’s not biased, but it’s got this bias built into its own words,” Alexander said. “And we’re seeing these words increasingly scrubbed from news articles and replaced by politically correct words instead.”
She said it’s ridiculous to sanitize the English language and censor “conservative words.”
“It’s a bias against conservatives, and it’s getting worse every year,” Alexander said.
The guide advises against using the terms “illegal immigrant” and “undocumented” years after “illegals” and “aliens” were thrown out.
Alexander noted in her piece that the stylebook includes an entry on climate change that “includes an extensive discussion with seemingly authoritative evidence of manmade global warming.”
