Associated Press Finally Drops the “I” Word

Victor Landa, NewsTaco

Finally. There’s something decidedly sarcastic in writing that.

Yesterday, late in the afternoon, my Twitter feed fluttered a little about an Associated Press announcement. The AP has decided to drop the “I” word. No longer will the term “illegal immigrant” be used to describe a person.

The period at the end of the last paragraph is forcefully intentional. It doesn’t matter what type of person is being described, or how such a person came be in a given geographic location. What matters is that the person is a human being and the AP has decided that “illegal immigrant” will no longer be used to describe a human being.

So I checked, double checked and posted the news quickly on NewsTaco and shared the post on Twitter and Facebook (I got a few nibbles, but it was late on a Tuesday afternoon…).

At long last the sleeping AP giant has awakened. It’s about time. Thirty years too late by my count.

I’ve been churning news and content for that long and have never used the “I” word intentionally – in quotes, as rule, yes. But as a reporter I was lucky enough to work in newsrooms where my personal choice to not use the word was respected and mirrored. And as a news director it was my newsroom policy to never use the word to describe a person – the word was banned form use.

For 20 years I wrote an opinion column for a Hearst publication and never used the word. What the AP thought or didn’t think was of no concern to me. But still, it matters.

It matters because language is politics, and because the AP stylebook is akin to stone tablets from Mount Sinai when it comes to journalists’ rules of the road. It matters because now that the AP has so decreed you will not read the words “illegal immigrant” again in reference to a human being – at least not in a reputable publication that follows the highest standards of journalism.

The AP’s “I” word decision is part of a wider turn. It comes along with a decision to not use behaviors to label people. As I wrote yesterday, “…a person is no longer schizophrenic, they are instead “diagnosed with schizophrenia.” And a person is no longer and “illegal immigrant.” They may be referred to as “without legal permission.”

For your reference, here’s the AP official stylebook entry:

illegal immigration Entering or residing in a country in violation of civil or criminal law. Except in direct quotes essential to the story, use illegal only to refer to an action, not a person: illegal immigration, but not illegal immigrant. Acceptable variations include living in or entering a country illegally or without legal permission.

Except in direct quotations, do not use the terms illegal alien, an illegal, illegalsor undocumented.

Do not describe people as violating immigration laws without attribution.

Specify wherever possible how someone entered the country illegally and from where. Crossed the border? Overstayed a visa? What nationality?

People who were brought into the country as children should not be described as having immigrated illegally. For people granted a temporary right to remain in the U.S. under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, use temporary resident status, with details on the program lower in the story.

I have to send a heartfelt congratulations to the folks at Colorlines.com who have been relentlessly fighting to have the “I” word stricken from official use. Their Drop The I Word campaign has been excellent! And also Presente.org and Roberto Lovato. Always pushing…

So now everyone turns their collective glances towards the New York Times. We’re waiting  for you to catch up.