BBC Warns on Use of the Word 'Terrorism'

The staff at the BBC has been issued new management guidance regarding the use of the terms 'terrorist' and 'terrorism.' The BBC's governors believe that the Internet has eliminated differences between domestic and overseas audiences and, therefore, it's essential that the terms be used carefully.

From MediaGuardian.co.uk:

The new guidance has been sent out internally and tells journalists: "The guidelines do not ban the use of the word. However, we do ask that careful thought is given to its use by a BBC voice. There are ways of conveying the full horror and human consequences of acts of terror without using the word 'terrorist' to describe the perpetrators."

So, apparently it's okay to describe the terrorism as long as the word 'terrorism' isn't used. Also, whoever is responsible for bad stuff that happens shouldn't be described as 'terrorists.' Therefore, instead of stating, "A terrorist bombed the crowded school bus," it's more appropriate to state, "A man created full horror and human consequence on a crowded school bus." And, the guidance continues.

"Careful use of the word 'terrorist' is essential if the BBC is to maintain its reputation for standards of accuracy and especially impartiality ... that does not mean we should emasculate our reporting or otherwise avoid conveying the reality and horror of what has occurred; but we should consider the impact our use of language may have on our reputation for objective journalism amongst our many audiences ... we must be careful not to give the impression that we have come to some kind of implicit - and unwarranted - value judgement."

Blah ... blah ... blah. That last paragraph reads like gibberish. However, that's not all there is.

The edict reminds BBC staff of the existing BBC editorial policy, which states: "The word 'terrorist' itself can be a barrier rather than aid to understanding. We should try to avoid the term without attribution. We should let other people characterise while we report the facts as we know them."

"We should not adopt other people's language as our own. It is also usually inappropriate to use words like 'liberate', 'court martial' or 'execute' in the absence of a clear judicial process. We should convey to our audience the full consequences of the act by describing what happened. We should use words which specifically describe the perpetrator such as 'bomber', 'attacking', 'gunman', 'kidnapper' 'insurgent' and 'militant'."

The new guidance suggested using words such as "bomb attack" instead, or "bomber" or "assassin". [sic all]

Boiled down, the substance of the new policy is to avoid using the term 'terrorist' and practice hedging the wording of all reports. My interpretation? "Forget accuracy, be political."

Of course, this announced new guidance begs the question of what exactly is different from the way the BBC currently reports the news?

Companion post at The Jawa Report.