When French President Jacques Chirac threatened a non-conventional response to terror in France, Reuters discovered the T-word:
France defends right to nuclear reply to terrorism
France said on Thursday it would be ready to use nuclear weapons against any state that carried out a terrorist attack against it, reaffirming the need for its nuclear deterrent.
What happened to the news service’s policy not to use the word “terror?” Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, Washington Post media columnist Howard Kurtz broke the story of an internal memo by Reuters’ head of news, Stephen Jukes, spelling out why not to use “terror” in coverage. Wrote Jukes:
We all know that one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter and that Reuters upholds the principle that we do not use the word terrorist. . . . To be frank, it adds little to call the attack on the World Trade Center a terrorist attack.
Has Reuters decided that it’s admitted policy of appeasing terrorists on this issue just doesn’t hold water?
