Checking Language at the Door to a Story
A colleague of mine, Laura Laing, who writes at times for the blog of the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA), posted yesterday regarding coverage of South African middle distance runner Caster Semenya being intersex -- that is, possesses both male and female reproductive organs. Laing's point was that the much of the press used the term hermaphrodite, "an outdated medical term that is no longer considered appropriate by U.S. journalistic standards."An interesting discussion, as Laura's posts generally are. I found it raised a troublesome more general question. When language becomes obsolete but you don't regularly report on the topic, how do you know it? I've never even heard the term intersex before. That is unsurprising because I run into the topic about as often as discussions of lacrosse. (I'm fairly certain that I've even thought of curling, as in the team sport played on ice, more often.)
Just a moment's thought shows that the linguistic considerations go far beyond gender issues. Any time a journalist is in unfamiliar water, potential mines lie about. What if the topic is business? Technology? Art? Music? Construction? Cooking?
Curling?
Other than the transitory verbal fad -- whether groovy or rad -- language develops slowly enough that the changes come like a meandering tide. You look down and suddenly realize that the dry beach sand is covered with a thin sheet of sea water. However, if you're off in the mountains, you don't notice.
So how do journalists know that language has changed when they haven't paid attention? There's no office memo, particularly if, as is true of many of us, you don't work out of a news room. I don't have an answer, but then until this morning I didn't even realize that I had the question. Perhaps all journalists need to add one more type of fact-checking, taking a moment when using terms that we rarely employ to see whether they are still in play in their respective fields.
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posted by Erik Sherman | 8:12 AM
2 Comments:
Talking to experts -- real experts, who are doing up-to-date research and writing in their fields -- helps. When everyone is repeating what other writers have written, it's easy for a misnomer/outdated term to continue floating about.
I have had the occasional outdated terminology gently corrected when I've gone to an expert for background. Doing your own research can help make sure you don't stumble like this.
As usual, another good, thought-provoking post, Erik.
Great question, Erik. (And thanks for the link to my blog post.) Interestingly enough, I've had this conversation with a friend of mine who is a pediatric plastic surgeon. He does reconstructive surgery for intersex children, and he still uses the term hermaphrodite. The reason he has not heard of "intersex" is that he does not work with intersex adults, who have formed a loosely knit community that advocates for sensitivity and careful language.
But I digress...
I would expect that if you were to do a story about lacrosse, you would consult experts and even guides to help you describe the sport. You wouldn't assume that the positions are the same as soccer, for example. You wouldn't be careless with the names for the equipment used.
It's safe to say that relatively speaking there are few people who regularly report on GLBTI (the "I" stands for intersex) issues. Therefore, organizations like NLGJA have created style guides to help reporters get things right. GLAAD is another resource for this information, and even the AP Stylebook has updated its guide to include reporting on GLBT community, though "intersex" and "hermaphrodite" are not included there. I would expect a reporter reporting a GLBTI story to consult these guides for clarification on the most sensitive and descriptive terms. Editors should also be aware of these resources. (It should be noted that "hermaphrodite" appeared in headlines of some stories, which may mean that the reporter is not to blame.)
In fact, that's one reason that the NLGJA blog and RE:ACT project were created. We are there to help news organizations and their staffs keep track of these changes. Language is ever evolving, and it is difficult to keep up. As I mentioned in my blog post, even the NLGJA's style guide doesn't include an entry for "hermaphrodite."
Anyone who is GLBTI likely has some measure of patience with reporting on these issues. All I ask is that reporters be as sensitive as possible -- and as thorough as possible -- correcting missteps when they make them.
Laura
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