The Australian Jewish News notes that one of the local media watchdogs, Issues of Concern for Justice and Society (ICJS), is challenging the Australian Broadcasting Corp. over the network’s style guide. The guide specifically instructs ABC journalists not to use the word “terror.” Why not?
The guide states: “Remember, one person’s ‘terrorist’ is usually someone else’s ‘freedom fighter’. ‘Terrorism’, ‘terrorist’, ‘militant’, ‘gunman’, etc., are all labels.”
Actually, the ABC’s style guide merely rehashes an old quote by Reuters editor Stephen Jukes. Jukes was defending Reuters’ decision not to describe 9/11 as a terror attack. Unfortunately, the ABC isn’t the only style guide echoing Jukes’ faulty logic. While researching ABC, we discovered that the Times of London and the CBC style rules give the same instructions for the same reason.
