Immigration

--WashPost Ombudsman Andrew Alexander, "The debate over immigration language": "Many [newsrooms] adhere to the ... guidance of the Associated Press, which prefers 'illegal immigrant.' The Post's internal stylebook says 'undocumented immigrant' also may be used. Discussion was renewed recently when Leo E. Laurence, a San Diego journalist and member of the diversity committee of the Society of Professional Journalists, wrote a column for the organization's magazine urging 'undocumented' rather than 'illegal.' 'Simply put, only a judge, not a journalist, can say that someone is an "illegal,"' he wrote. Laurence ... soon ended up in a spirited on-air disagreement with Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly, who suggested that refusing to use the term 'illegal' is 'political correctness gone mad.' ... A review of Post terminology in stories during the second half of 2010 shows that 'undocumented immigrant' was used about six times more frequently than 'illegal immigrant.'" http://wapo.st/hkxr5s

Language is important and is a driver in how our culture treats people.