AP Language Cops: DON'T Use 'Crisis' to Describe the Border Crisis

Tim Graham
March 28th, 2021 3:46 PM

Text to Speech

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Fox News media reporter Brian Flood reported that once again the "Stylebook" czars of the Associated Press are displaying a remarkable sensitivity to liberal demands. An internal memo from John Daniszewski was leaked and posted on Twitter by Julio Ricardo Varela. It urged AP reporters to avoid the word "crisis" to describe the border "challenge" for Joe Biden. 

“Crisis” The current event in the news — a sharp increase in the arrival of unaccompanied minors — is a problem for border officials, a political challenge for Biden and a dire situation for many migrants who make the journey, but it does not fit the classic dictionary definition of a crisis, which is: “A turning point in the course of anything; decisive or crucial times, state, or event,” OR “a time of, or a state of affairs involving, great danger or trouble, often one which threatens to result in unpleasant consequences [an economic crisis] — SYN. Emergency. Therefore, we should avoid, or at least, be highly cautious, about referring to the present situation as a crisis on our own, although we may quote others using that language." (Bold type in the original.)

I think it's obvious that liberals at the AP think like Yamiche Alcindor, that Biden is perceived as a "moral and decent man" by the illegal immigrants and so they should tone the language down. Daniszewski is the same Language Cop who insisted AP will capitalize "Black" but not "white." 

Once the Language Cop memo was leaked, Daniszewski posted a similar blog post the next day, which began in large type: "With immigration and the U.S. border back in the news, it is especially imperative for the AP to consistently use accurate and neutral language in its coverage along with giving proper context to border numbers given the political rhetoric on the topic."

He added: "Because migration is such a hot-button issue, we also should try to avoid imagery conjuring war or natural disaster, which could portray migrants as a negative, harmful influence. Avoid emotive words like onslaught, tidal wave, flood, inundation, surge, invasion, army, march, sneak and stealth. Rather, let’s be as neutral as possible while backing up our characterizations with numbers and facts." (Bolding in these quotes is mine.)

Fred T. at The Right Scoop dug out some embarrassing tweets that demonstrated how aggressively the AP used "crisis" at the border under Trump. 

Tweeting out a "searing photo" of two dead migrants is not avoiding "emotive words" or the reinforcement of Trump as a "negative, harmful influence."

And Omri Ceren really underlined the hilarity that AP is all about neutrality and accuracy:

AP now routinely stands for Advocacy Press or Activism Press, whichever you prefer.