The Star Tribune would drop its 9-year-old ban on American Indian nicknames in sports pages under a tentative policy being circulated among staff and American Indian groups for comment.
In a memo to staff on Friday, Editor Anders Gyllenhaal characterized the planned shift as a matter of accuracy in reporting.
``At a time when newspaper accuracy and balance are constantly challenged, our commitment to direct and straight-forward reporting has to be the priority,'' Gyllenhaal wrote.
Did it ever occur to the media that political correctness is the opposite of freedom of speech? Their policy of making people feel good was actually at the expense of describing something in already understood terms. What’s the difference between American Indian and Native American. Why is one correct and the other potentially offensive? American Indian doesn’t mean American Savage.
What? They are not really Indians? The Pennsylvania Dutch aren't Dutch. And Latinos don't speak Latin. All that matters is that we as a people understand what the terms mean. Being angry with the Cleveland Indians or the Washington Redskins is misguided. I'm 1/16th Indian and I am not the least ashamed of being so and I am not angry that those terms are still in use today. I find it a tribute that those teams are named after Indians. I’ll be sad if we lose that part of our history to be self-congratulatory.
How can a newspaper claim to be objective in its reporting when they restrict words they find objectionable? I hope more papers follow the route of the Star Tribune.
No comments:
Post a Comment