The Conscious Language Newsletter: January 2022

January 24, 2022

From the World of Conscious Language

Note: The authors’ viewpoints are not necessarily shared by Conscious Style Guide. 

“In journalism, in entertainment, in sports, in business—seeing and hearing from disabled people over and over again is how broader culture is changed.”

“Disability is a neutral, factual word that does not need to be replaced by anything.”

“Review your word choice carefully, but don’t obsess over finding the ‘right’ terminology—focus on creating respectful content that portrays people accurately.”

“Transcripts can be a helpful resource for people with hearing disabilities, people with attention-related cognitive conditions, and people who just don’t want to listen to audio to find information.”

Scripted TV programs can bring awareness to economic justice issues by “providing a larger vision of what the world could look like if we had real solutions in place.”

“The vast majority of people in Turkiye feel that calling the country by its local variation only makes sense and is in keeping with the country’s aims of determining how others should identify it.”

On a sky-blue background is the text

“In a recent podcast he noted quite reasonably that the goblin characters in the ‘Harry Potter’ movies resembled antisemitic caricatures.”

“For every burger recipe we didn’t publish, we put a vegetarian recipe into the world instead.”

“How many times have you seen the busy-ness and stress of women being addressed on toiletries?”

“The Sims community has been campaigning for pronoun options for years.”

Why jabs like “You can’t afford us” are classist.

 Writing With Respect | UX Collective

UX design tips, including subtle shifts in wording to “completely change the way a user feels.”

 CSG in the News

“Inclusive design is not charitable; it is our responsibility if we genuinely believe that we create products for everyone.”

“Do not say ‘poverty-stricken’ or ‘poverty-ridden.’ Poverty is not an infectious disease or an affliction.”

From the Archives

A tip sheet from Journalist’s Resource to help journalists think more deeply about how they select and cover stories.

In Case You Missed It

New in CSG’s Ability + Disability section: Microsoft’s step-by-step instructions and best practices for making PowerPoint presentations accessible.

New in CSG’s Age section: Guidelines for avoiding ageist terminology, imagery, and storylines.

Choosing between “plant-based” and “vegan,” getting alt text right, avoiding headline mistakes when covering health and medical research, and more.

Buy Books, Support CSG

On DiversePictureBooks.com (our Bookshop.org storefront), find exceptional picture books that spread understanding, compassion, and joy through diverse representation. We earn a commission on all orders.

Graphic illustration of a child with two pigtails reading a book, with a rainbow in the background.

Connect With Editors of Color

CSG’s Editors of Color Database helps recruiters connect with editors, proofreaders, and sensitivity readers of color in the U.S. and Canada. On the website, you can submit job listings for distribution to our private network of pros and explore the 100+ resources in the Database of Diverse Databases, which highlights underrepresented groups. Diversify your sources now!

Transparent white strip on top of blood-red background has EDITORS {OF COLOR} knocked out. Below, reads "Tools for Diversifying Your Staff and Sources," followed by editorsofcolor.com.

 Follow CSG on Instagram for Writing Tips 

Follow @consciousstyleguide on Instagram for examples of how context can support sensitive content, with a focus on children’s books, including young adult.

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The Conscious Style Guide newsletter rounds up the best news and blog posts from the world of kind, compassionate, mindful, empowering, respectful, and inclusive language. Note: Spotlighting an opinion is not intended as an endorsement. Please send news tips to [email protected].