Changelog
Running list of updates to the style guide
08.26.22
disabled: Added new paragraph: In an interview with NPR, Cara Reedy, the director and founder of the Disabled Journalists Association, and Rosemary McDonnell-Horita of LaVant Consulting, a disability-focused communications firm, advise writers to avoid inspirational narratives about people "overcoming" their disabilities. McDonnell-Horita explains in the article, "It's not really necessarily my disability that I've had to overcome. It's the negative attitudes and stereotypes that come with being a disabled person. That is more exhausting." Instead, Reedy and McDonnell-Horita say, articles related to disability should center the voices of disabled people; "recognize that disability is a culture and an identity, not a problem"; and consider the diversity of experiences of disability, as "[d]isability crosses every other community and marginalized identity group."
Added "How to talk about disability sensitively and avoid ableist tropes" to References for writing about aging and disability.
03.29.22
pronouns: Added new paragraph: The GLAAD Media Reference Guide - Transgender points out: "Some people may use both a gendered pronoun and they/them. For example, 'My name is Jose and I use he/they pronouns.' People who use multiple pronouns may wish you to choose one of those pronouns and use it consistently, or they may wish you to use both pronouns interchangeably when referring to them. For example, 'Jose is an excellent co-worker. He always turns in projects on deadline, and they also volunteer to organize the office holiday party every year.'"
01.13.22
aging: Added new paragraph: The American Psychological Association advises: "Do not use language that implies that all older adults are experiencing perceptual or cognitive decline or have health problems, or that all older adults are frail." If you are writing about an individual with dementia, APA recommends against using the word 'senile,' which it describes as "an outdated term with no agreed-upon meaning." APA says to "specify the type of dementia when known (e.g., dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease)."
Added APA Style to References for writing about aging and disability.
dual heritage, compound nationalities/ethnicities: Updated the sentence "Do not hyphenate terms such as African American or Asian American when using them as a noun." Now "Do not hyphenate terms such as African American or Asian American when using them as a noun or adjective."
Middle East/MENA: Added the paragraph: The American Psychological Association recommends: "When writing about people of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) descent, state the nation of origin (e.g., Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon, Israel) when possible. In some cases, people of MENA descent who claim Arab ancestry and reside in the United States may be referred to as 'Arab Americans.' In all cases, it is best to allow individuals to self-identify."
Added APA Style to References for writing about culture, ethnicity and race.
race: Added the paragraph: The American Psychological Association recommends against using "nonparallel designations" (by, for example, grouping or comparing "African Amercans and Whites" or "Asian Americans and Black Americans"), as "one group is described by color, whereas the other group is not."
transgender and References for writing about gender, sex and sexual orientation: Updated link to The Trans Language Primer