The AP suggested avoiding the use of “labels” that are so generic that they can “dehumanize” the population they refer to, including “the French.” He then deleted the tweet and explained the recommendation.
The Associated Press, whose style guide is seen as a benchmark in journalistic writing, posted a series of tweets with advice to avoid using “generic labels” which it says can be “dehumanizing.” And he gave some examples of expressions to avoid: “the poor, the mentally ill, the French, the disabled, the most qualified”. But the inclusion of the “Frenchman” reference, and the rationale that followed, did not go down well with Twitter users, who ridiculed the AP choice.
On the Twitter page dedicated to the style book, AP suggested avoiding the use of “labels” that, being so generic, could “dehumanize” and offend the population they refer to, including “the French.” Shortly after, she deleted the tweet.
“We removed a tweet due to an inappropriate reference to the French. It was not our intention to offend. Write French, French citizens, etc. it’s good“He began by justifying the AP, considering that the use of the article “the” or “the” can “sound dehumanizing” and presuppose a homogeneous population instead of “diverse individuals”. “This is why we recommend avoiding generic labels like poor, mentally ill, rich, disabled, more qualified,” he wrote, this time without the reference to the “French.”
We removed a previous tweet due to an inappropriate reference to the French. We did not mean to offend.
Writing French, French citizens, etc., is good. But “the” terms for any people can sound dehumanizing and imply a monolith rather than diverse individuals.
— APStylebook (@APStylebook) January 27, 2023
The reaction on social networks was immediate and even the French embassy in the US joked about the situation, simulating the change of the name of the page “Embassy of France in the US.” to “Embassy of ‘Frenchness’” (free translation of the invented expression “Frenchification”).
I guess that’s us now… https://t.co/YFybgfI2AB pic.twitter.com/LrKvgjiw1X
— Embassy of France in the US (@franceintheus) January 26, 2023
The AP suggests that instead of such “generic labels” expressions like “people with mental illness [em vez de ‘os doentes mentais’] or rich people [em vez de ‘os ricos’]”. Still, “Use these descriptions only when clearly relevant, and when that relevance is clear from the story.”
Edward Luce, editor of the Financial Times, questions the adaptation of this logic to references to a nationality. “So, people who are French? There’s no way.’” “People who suffer from ‘Frenchness’ [frenchness]” was also an option suggested by Twitter users.
So “people who are French”? This seems awkward.
—Edward Luce (@EdwardGLuce) January 26, 2023
In Le Monde, AP’s Lauren Easton justified the suggestions. “The reference [para que não se use a expressão] ‘to the French’ as well as to the ‘highest qualified’ is an effort to show that labels should not be used by anyone”, whether they are “traditionally” seen as positive, negative or neutral.
Source: Observadora
