‘Illegal immigrant’ no more

[LooseWilly]

73. It's not political correctness, in the context of the AP style guide, to "nix" a term

The AP style guide has also deemed referring to people as "communists" to be borderline slanderous and therefore "nixed", unless the person or people self-refer as communists. This is because of the understanding of the connotations and contexts that the label created.

Likewise, the AP style guide frowns upon, and borderline outright proscribes, the use of terms like "explained", "felt", etc. when referring to the expostulation of a quote... because the inherent connotations of the verbs "colors" the reading of the quotes.

In the context of that understanding encompassed by the AP style guide ... the assertion that this is somehow some sort of "political correctness" (a term which has been so bandied about and loaded with connotative BS by the resistors of any sort of recognition that simple habit of use of offensive speech does not, in fact, make offensive speech less offensive, just less apt to be recognized as offensive by those who have become habituated to using it without any regard for how it may offend some who hear it)... is actually a sign that the AP is ahead of the curve on this and is recognizing and phasing out phrases which add a bias to whatever sentences may happen to contain said phrases.

One of the major aims of the AP style guide is to avoid the use of language which would tend to undermine the "objectivity" with which they try to communicate a story, which is a point of journalistic integrity.

I'm afraid that, if you want your stories to include language which undermines "objectivity" and instead inserts connotative judgements surreptitiously into the language itself, then you will have to stick with FOX News... as I'm sure they will not be observing this latest stylistic judgement by AP.

As for "naming a replacement", I'm sure that a standard will be decided upon, once it is stumbled upon... most likely when a writer comes up with a brilliant and pithy phrasing. In the meantime, however, we should all be able to "endure" some specificity in order to avoid the negatively-connotated, borderline-pejorative, short hand that seems to have evolved and been doubly loaded thusly by commentators whose aim appears to be to villify immigrants who may or may not have skirted the technicalities of the laws.

(I'll just add a note here that it is ironic that, while workers are not free to cross borders to work, owners are free to cross borders to setup factories and hire workers wherever they want, globally.)