The Associated Press Stylebook, the traditional journalist stylistic handbook for decades, has sparked controversy over new updates that have right-leaning journalists and politicians concerned about potentially biased language.
The AP annually updates its stylebook in the spring to give journalists guidance on style and grammar. These changes are often analyzed and publicized, but the most recent updates have some observers particularly concerned.
Fox News host Shannon Bream on Tuesday listed changes that have some people questioning if the intent is to censor words more likely to be used by conservatives.
“The AP Stylebook tells people to change ‘pro-life’ to ‘anti-abortion,'” Bream reported. “‘Militant,’ ‘lone wolves,’ or ‘attackers,’ those are the preferred terms rather than ‘terrorist’ or ‘Islamist.’ And ‘illegal immigrant’ or ‘undocumented,’ well those are no longer considered acceptable words.”