Being mindful of words.
‘Language is the brick and mortar of the profession, transmitting in a single word, phrase, or juxtaposed fact countless intended and unintended messages to readers, listeners, and viewers. A sports headline declaring that "Indians extend Boston’s massacre" may not have intended to evoke the racist stereotype of the savage American Indian, but it hurts just the same.
Excellent journalism starts with an understanding that language has power. It demands clear writing. It leaves little to chance interpretations.
But the mangled language of race is punctuated with descriptions that underscore ethnicity but describe nothing. It is mired in euphemisms and the tortured, convoluted syntax that betray America’s pathological avoidance of straight talk about race relations.
Put it all together and you get stereotypes, dangerous misinformation, half-truths, and daily proof that when it comes to race, journalists are chained to habits that defy the cornerstone principles of solid journalism.
And that’s the point. Journalists who can’t connect with the myriad moral reasons to reform the way they write and report about race and race relations don’t have to look further for their motivation than some of the core values that undergird the profession: Accuracy. Precision. Context. Relevance.
You won’t find euphemisms on that list.’
- Keith Woods, 2002