AP Suppresses the Truth

For John, BLUF:  If we can't use correct terms we can not effectively communicate ideas.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Bipartisan House Coalition Urges AP to Change Stylebook Rule Advising Against ‘Terrorist’ Term for Hamas

Here is the sub-headline:

“The decision by the AP to avoid using terms such as ‘terrorism’ and ‘terrorist’ due to their perceived politicization is deeply unsettling.”

From Legal Insurrection, by Blogger Stacey Matthews, 23 December 2023 at 06:00pm.

Here is the lede plus two:

For several decades now, the Associated Press Stylebook has become the gold standard among many mainstream media organizations for, among other things, guidance on terminology that they suggest journalists should either use or avoid using when covering stories.

Unfortunately, this has meant that these same outlets over the years have willingly subjected themselves to falling in line with the AP‘s politically motivated evolution on the use of words like “abortion,” “riots,” “man” and “woman,” and even “the,” an evolution that conveniently almost always seems to match up with whatever Democrats and their affiliated special interest groups happen to be calling for at any given time.

As Legal Insurrectionc reported in October, the AP was, per their Israel-Hamas Topical Guide, only allowing their reporters to refer to Hamas terrorists as “militants,” “fighters,” “attackers,” or “combatants” despite confirmed reports of the atrocities committed against 1,400 Israeli civilians, including kidnapping, torture, rape, murder, and the beheading of infants.

At the risk of appearing arrogant, I would posit that the Hamas strategy is to evoke an over reaction from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamib "Bibi" Netanyahu, thus garnering condemnation on the part of other nations, isolating Isreal on the international stage.  How would one provoke Bibi?  Through acts of depravity against the Israeli People.  In common parlance this is terrorism.

So, why is the AP (and others, like the BBC) avoiding words like "terror"?  I would say it is a way to clean up Hamas and make them more attractive to the West.  Change them from the ruthless fighters they are into peaceful people yearning ot be free and forced by circumstaances to kill their oppressors.  It is a much better sounding story.  Yes, it is a distortion of the truth, but for a "good cause".

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff