Our Voice

At The Colonnade, much of our time is spent choosing the right words. We are careful and spend much effort editing to ensure that our intentions are clear and that our language is precise.

In our changing culture, we are learning that it is necessary to be sensitive with our language and to have discernment in the words we use. Sometimes we fear this concern could become a burden to our work, though. At what point do we – the media – become too concerned with offending others and thus do a disservice to our readers by avoiding certain topics.

Janet Napolitano, the current chief of Homeland Security, has avoided the word “terrorism” in speaking before the House Homeland Security Committee. She claimed that she was trying to evade a “politics of fear” and preferred the phrase “man-caused disaster” in exchange. She has been criticized for not calling terrorism what it truly is.

While the phrase “man-caused disaster” may succeed in preventing fear, it may be even more successful in creating a culture of apathy. In this case, couldn’t “man-caused disaster” mean anything to us? One of the reasons that the word terrorism does scare people is because that is its nature – to provoke fear. That significance is lost when we replace the term.

Also, as we are about to “willingly” or “unwillingly” enter the holiday season, our society’s affinity for political correctness is becoming even more obvious.

People have personal attachments to traditions that include those with specific religious or cultural significance that are being homogenized as “winter festivals” or “holiday parties.” Tip-toeing around religious terms provides comfort to some – which is important – but how do you balance re-labeling traditional titles to be respectful to one group with providing information that is understood by the masses?

It is possible that we are instead demeaning a multicultural society by assuming that we are all insulted by each other’s preferences, whether they be religious or cultural in nature? Is this creating a less-offensive atmosphere?

At your student newspaper we think it’s probable that over-sensitivity can in some cases do more harm than good. We strive to serve you to the best of our abilities by being careful and sure while also remaining true to our point so that you, our readers, are getting the information you deserve.

Please send responses to
ColonnadeLetters@gcsu.edu.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Nov 13 2009. Filed under Our Voice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry