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- The Conscious Language Newsletter: June 2025
The Conscious Language Newsletter: June 2025
Consequence-minded journalism.
Karen Yin
June 27, 2025
From the World of Conscious Language
Note: The authors' viewpoints are not necessarily shared by CSG.
JOURNALISM
“Attacks on Trump’s persona simply don't work. But attacks on the consequences of his policies might.”
JOURNALISM
“Steven Springer, who was for years the editor of standards and best practices at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, notes that while it’s difficult for news organizations to counter the quantity of misinformation found on social media, this is now also a vital part of a journalist’s work.”
JOURNALISM
“While such weapons—rubber bullets, Tasers, pepper spray, tear gas—are meant to subdue individuals without causing death, they still can be dangerous and even deadly.”
JOURNALISM
“Sometimes it is necessary to include an expletive to convey the severity of a moment to the audience.”
HEALTH
“Because the old rules didn’t include limits on added sugar, low-fat junk foods, such as sugar-sweetened cereals and sweetened juice drinks, could carry the word ‘healthy’ on their labels if the manufacturer added vitamins.”
TRANSPARENCY
“It’s valuable and crucial to identify AI features and generated content to users, so they can better understand what’s being shown to them, as well as trust the product.”
ETHNICITY, NATIONALITY + RACE
“The origin of the word [‘Middle East’] clearly lies in western contexts along with which it relates with various regional biases, stereotypes and modern political implications which are difficult to disassociate from the term.”
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GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY
“Even before someone comes out, you can make it clear that you’re a safe person to confide in, says Zachary Zane, sex and relationship expert with Grindr…Do that by using gender-inclusive language, and avoiding assumptions about gender or relationship norms.”
HEALTH
“Removing the link to hysteria and renaming hysterectomy to uterectomy would be a simple but symbolic change.”
GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY / RECLAIMING
“Like all language related to identity, which label feels best is deeply personal and never one-size-fits-all.”
GENDER, SEX + SEXUALITY
“Vernacular expressions often prioritise fluidity over fixed categories, community specificity over universal labels, and lived experience over theoretical frameworks. The insistence on translating these into English equivalents strips away their cultural resonance and political power.”
CREATIVE WRITING / ABILITY + DISABILITY
“Often non-disabled people and writers think the disability itself is the struggle. But it’s just an extra identity to the character.”—Mari Sanders, filmmaker
CREATIVE WRITING
“Erasure, tokenism, appropriation—these happen more often in speculative fiction than we think, and it’s up to us to be mindful and present of those potential pitfalls even when it’s done under the premise of ‘making things up’.”
CREATIVE WRITING / ABILITY + DISABILITY
“We [disabled writers] must remember that crafting our stories accurately is the ultimate act of agency. Resisting pressures to perform illness for others is a reclamation of our power.”
CSG in the News
“When police narratives intentionally obscure police violence, and newsrooms repeatedly adopt the same wording, this normalizes passive voice to the point where active voice and naming the doer can start to feel unnecessarily harsh.”—Karen Yin, author, The Conscious Style Guide
New and Notable on CSG
MISCELLANEOUS > JOURNALISM
It’s Time to Change the Way the Media Reports on Protests. Here Are Some Ideas.
“A 2010 study that analyzed 40 years of protest coverage in five major newspapers…found that the papers depicted protests—even peaceful ones—as nuisances rather than as necessary functions of democracy.”
In Case You Missed It
• Four Essentials for the Press Right Now
• You Can’t Post Your Way Out of Fascism
• Medical Journal Editors Must Resist CDC Order and Anti-Gender Ideology
You Need This!
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 | New Ghoul at School: Mimi doesn’t look like the other ghosts—but she wishes she did. “A pun-tacular ghost story.”—Booklist. Themes in So Not Ghoul: new student, blending in, bullying, cultural misappropriation. For a free 12-page activity guide, a signed bookplate, or ways to buy, visit KarenYin.com/Books. |
More Resources
Join Our Online Community: Are you on Facebook? Join the Conscious Language + Design Facebook Group to learn, share, and chat with others who are curious or serious about conscious language.
Find Editors of Color: The Editors of Color Database, one of Writer’s Digest’s 101 Best Websites for Writers, helps recruiters connect with editors, proofreaders, and sensitivity readers of color in the U.S. and Canada. You can submit job listings for distribution to our private network and explore the 100+ resources in Diverse Databases, which highlights underrepresented groups. Diversify your sources now!
Shop for Diverse Picture Books: On DiversePictureBooks.com, find exceptional picture books that spread understanding, compassion, and joy through diverse representation.
Get More Tips on Instagram: Follow @ConsciousStyleGuide for examples of context that supports sensitive content.
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