Consider Debra Saunders’ San Francisco Chronicle column on recent changes to the Associated Press stylebook.
The Associated Press announced last week that it no longer sanctions the term “illegal immigrant” in its stylebook. Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll explained that the AP has decided it is wrong for reporters to use the word “illegal” to describe a person, but it’s OK to use the word to “describe only an action, such as living or immigrating to a country illegally.”
Make no mistake about this decision. Whatever prompted the change, its practical effect is to delegitimize those who have called for tougher enforcement of U.S. immigration law. The AP just erased from journalism’s lexicon the important distinction between legal and illegal immigrants.
The racial justice website Colorlines launched its “Drop the I-Word” campaign with the argument, “No human being is illegal.” That argument has penetrated my thick skull when it comes to using the I-word as a noun for illegal immigrants, “illegals.” I get it. It’s rude.
But if no human being is illegal, some human beings are illegal immigrants. They overstayed their visas or crossed the border illegally. They’re not legal immigrants; they’re illegal immigrants. It doesn’t speak well for journalism when the AP Stylebook directs reporters to write in a way that obscures reality.
Perhaps it’s time for mainstream media outlets to drop the pretense of objectivity and embrace the return of openly ideological media.
