'Adjusting Appropriately' To Words That Hurt
In recent weeks, the Ombudsman's Office received complaints from listeners and readers about a handful of specific words used by the newsroom. These listeners and readers argued that the words have racial histories that made them inappropriate.
This is an ongoing concern of NPR audience members: words that are in common usage, but that a growing number of people now understand have racial or ethnic roots that make them offensive to some, at least in some situations.
What is NPR's obligation here, when language that may seem innocuous to some, or is being used by people in the news, also turns out to be language that others might find harmful?
We should acknowledge that there is a difference between language that might be questionable and words that are widely perceived as patently offensive. Occasionally, the latter slip into NPR's reporting. A few weeks back an editor used the word "scalp" in describing a.
