But the e AP decided to take “homophobia” out of its stylebook this year. The concern is that calling people homophobic suggests they have a fear that does not make sense, but reporters may not know why someone is anti-gay. News reporters are supposed to be neutral and use exact words that do not suggest support for any side on an issue.
Paul Colford, the AP's chief of media relations, said many words in the stylebook change. For instance, AP’s latest version also advises against using the world “Islamophobia.”
Linguist Ben Zimmer writes about language for the Boston Globe newspaper. He says words can always be rethought. But he says he is not so sure that AP's reasoning about “homophobia” makes sense.
“Words ending in ‘phobia’ are commonly used outside of clinical contexts. You can think about a word like ‘xenophobia,’ which has been around more than a century to refer to a hatred of foreigners. That’s not a clinical condition in the same way that homophobia isn’t necessarily a clinical diagnosis.”
Many news organizations follow the advice of the AP Stylebook. Even so, Ben Zimmer says every organization can make its own decisions. That means that even if AP takes “homophobia” out of its reports, the word will not disappear so easily.
The Smithsonian Institution has a new star in its mineral collection at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. Visitors and reporters watched museum director Kirk Johnson present the large, blue-green jewel.
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2013-11-25
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25