Tuesday, July 12, 2005
NOT "TERRORISTS", BUT "BOMBERS" PLEASE
From the Telegraph (via my wife):
No comment.
Incidentally, I had not planned on this being a "BBC morning".
Harry's Place has examples of re-writes.
To be a bit fair here, on an early post I had screen captured what I considered a reporting improvement, when they had headlined on the 8th: Massive hunt for London bombers, and not 'Massive' 'hunt' for London 'bombers', or some similarly equivocating rubbish. ¶ by Robert, Tuesday, July 12, 2005
From the Telegraph (via my wife):
The BBC has re-edited some of its coverage of the London Underground and bus bombings to avoid labelling the perpetrators as "terrorists", it was disclosed yesterday.
Early reporting of the attacks on the BBC's website spoke of terrorists but the same coverage was changed to describe the attackers simply as "bombers".
The BBC's guidelines state that its credibility is undermined by the "careless use of words which carry emotional or value judgments".
Consequently, "the word 'terrorist' itself can be a barrier rather than an aid to understanding" and its use should be "avoided", the guidelines say.
Rod Liddle, a former editor of the Today programme, has accused the BBC of "institutionalised political correctness" in its coverage of British Muslims.
A BBC spokesman said last night: "The word terrorist is not banned from the BBC."
Early reporting of the attacks on the BBC's website spoke of terrorists but the same coverage was changed to describe the attackers simply as "bombers".
The BBC's guidelines state that its credibility is undermined by the "careless use of words which carry emotional or value judgments".
Consequently, "the word 'terrorist' itself can be a barrier rather than an aid to understanding" and its use should be "avoided", the guidelines say.
Rod Liddle, a former editor of the Today programme, has accused the BBC of "institutionalised political correctness" in its coverage of British Muslims.
A BBC spokesman said last night: "The word terrorist is not banned from the BBC."
No comment.
Incidentally, I had not planned on this being a "BBC morning".
Harry's Place has examples of re-writes.
To be a bit fair here, on an early post I had screen captured what I considered a reporting improvement, when they had headlined on the 8th: Massive hunt for London bombers, and not 'Massive' 'hunt' for London 'bombers', or some similarly equivocating rubbish. ¶ by Robert, Tuesday, July 12, 2005
