An infusion of inclusion into the news
This Public Editor Newsletter published Feb. 17, 2022
News consumers often note NPR's track record on inclusion, and their perceptions aren't all the same. In one comment this week, a listener was disappointed that NPR overlooked a historic Academy Award nomination for a deaf actor. In another critique, a listener dismissed NPR's use of the gender-inclusive term "pregnant people" as an unnecessary verbal backbend.
The opposite of inclusion is erasure. If daily journalism is the first draft of history and also the aggregate of the most important things happening in the world right now, a failure to be inclusive causes harm to people and groups who are cut out of the coverage. When we can't see a person, it's easier to ignore their suffering and dismiss their accomplishments.
The stories we tell and the language we use both reflect the world that we know and open the door to a wider view. There was a time when gender-neutral terms weren't as ubiquitous as they are now. But today, we probably wouldn't think twice of saying "firefighters" instead of "firemen," or "spokespeople" instead of "spokesmen."
It's not surprising when a listener notices a new phrasing like "pregnant people" and questions if it's necessary. And it's also understandable when a listener expresses disappointment over a missed opportunity to be
