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- The Conscious Language Newsletter: September 2021
The Conscious Language Newsletter: September 2021
From the World of Conscious Language
Note: The authors’ viewpoints are not necessarily shared by Conscious Style Guide.
How the AP Stylebook Considers Language on Disability | Publishers Weekly
“We can’t allow style guides to be the ultimate deciders of writer morality. We have to ask better of ourselves.”
6 Tips for Covering COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy | The Journalist’s Resource
Angry pro-vaccine comments “will not motivate other people to get vaccinated and may even have the opposite effect,” says Dr. Cindy Prins, associate professor of epidemiology, University of Florida.
Guidance on Coverage of Sept. 11, 20 Years Later | Asian American Journalists Association
“To help journalists and newsrooms more accurately and critically cover the commemoration, impacted communities, and policies that resulted from 9/11,” a collaboration of journalists organizations (AMEJA, AAJA, NABJ, and SAJA) provided guidance that includes story tips, commonly misused terms, and help for reporting on Islam and Muslims.
Words Matter. So These Journalists Refuse to Call GOP Election Meddling an “Audit.” | The Washington Post
“The words that a news organization chooses to tell a story make a difference…Acknowledging this power and being transparent about those choices is exactly what the Inquirer did the other day.”
Alabama Begins Removing Racist Language From Its Constitution | The New York Times
“The effort will start by extracting passages like Section 256, which still says that ‘separate schools shall be provided for white and colored children, and no child of either race shall be permitted to attend a school of the other race.’”
#BAMEOver: A Statement for the UK | What Next?
New in Conscious Style Guide’s Ethnicity, Race + Nationality section. “We choose not to be reduced to an inaccurate grouping [BAME]. But what we have in common is that we are…‘People who experience racism’. This term will require you to then articulate who you are referring to.”
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“Every time I post an awareness piece on Instagram about my pain, without fail, a personal trainer/life coach/amateur nutritionist will suggest a new diet or supplement to cure my pain.”
Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine Recommends Use of Gender-Neutral Terms Like “Chestfeeding” | Babygaga
Examples include “parent’s milk” instead of “mother’s milk” and “lactating person” instead of “lactating mother.”
“If you type the word ‘stammering’ on an iPhone, the suggested emoji is the ‘woozy’ face, which also comes up for the word ‘drunk.’”
How the Gender Debate Is Dividing Germany | The Spectator
“Recent attempts to make these gender-specific forms more inclusive have resulted in a variety of new, and ever-more imaginative, uses of capital letters and punctuation within the nouns themselves.”
“The best way to be a good ally is to do the work without talking about the work.”
Until I’m Told Otherwise, I Prefer to Call You “They” | The Washington Post
“Starting with the inclusive default ‘they’ is less likely to cause offense than using harmful stereotypes to guess at someone’s pronouns.”
Why the Term “JEDI” Is Problematic for Describing Programs That Promote Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion | Scientific American
“Put simply, the baggage of Jedi and Star Wars is too heavy to burden our justice-oriented initiatives with and may actually undermine these efforts.”
CSG in the News
5 Websites for Writers to Bookmark Right Now | The Writer
Conscious Style Guide tops the list of suggested websites for writers.
From the Archives
From Bias and Blame to Balance: Sensitive Style for Covering Sexual Violence | Conscious Style Guide
“Resist automatically replacing victim with survivor. Some victims don’t survive, and some survivors prefer victim.”
In Case You Missed It
How autistic people are showing the limits of first-person language, how misinformation can be addressed without deplatforming, how inclusive communities can be built through conscious storytelling, and more.
Spread the Word About Editors of Color!
The Editors of Color Database, a project of Conscious Style Guide, is a free service that connects employers and recruiters with editors, proofreaders, and sensitivity readers of color in the U.S. and Canada. It’s also free to submit job listings for distribution to our private network of editorial pros. The Editors of Color website is home to the Database of Diverse Databases, now with 100 resources featuring underrepresented communities. Diversify your staff and sources now!
Conscious Language in Fiction
Follow @consciousstyleguide on Instagram for examples of how context can support sensitive content, with a focus on children’s books, including young adult.
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].
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