PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE:  This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

The phrase in the headline is one of my favorites, in part because my style over the years has favored words over charts, graphs and lists of numbers.

All of those, of course, have their place, not just at the top of my list.

Two developments caught my attention yesterday.

• First, the Biden administration says it plans to order U.S. immigration enforcement agencies to stop using terms such as “alien,” “illegal alien” and “assimilation” when referring to immigrants in the United States.
• Second, Oregonian newspaper editor Therese Bottomly used her memo to readers to say this:  “I’ve written before about the evolving language and how newspapers are often slower to adjust than society at large.  We now use the singular “they” when subjects prefer it and capitalize the “B” in Black.  Other choices are more subtle, and sometimes the change occurs without notice or comment.”

Both developments indicate an inherent truth about language.  Things change.  Consider capitalizing the “B” in Black; I do it now, too, as one way to verify that I don’t want to leave any hint of racist tendencies on my part, even subtle ones.  I also want to emphasize Black ethnic heritage.

Bottomly went on in her memo to discuss tough language issues for journalists these days.

“Prison guards, for instance,“ she wrote, “prefer to be called ‘correctional officers,’ which they believe better reflects their role.  I’d say we use both, depending on context.

“Some changes reflect changing societal norms:  Newspapers nowadays typically don’t use words like ‘cripple,’ for example.  The word ‘handicap’ has similarly fallen by the wayside.

“Journalists have a responsibility to bust through jargon of any kind to ensure clarity and accuracy.  News organizations have moved away from ‘officer-involved shooting,’ which means plainly a police officer shot someone.

“We translate police jargon, changing ‘adult males’ to ‘men,’ ‘juveniles’ to ‘teens,’ ‘canine unit’ to ‘police dog.’”

Bottomly also commented on the unintended harm that can be done by using labels, a challenge which can befall journalists, as well as all of us.

For instance, the Associated Press Stylebook says this as it relates to the word “disabilities:”

“When possible, ask people how they prefer to be described (when the description is relevant).  Some people, for example, refer to themselves as a disabled person or simply disabled, using identity-first language.  Others prefer person with a disability, using person-first language.  In describing groups of people, use person-first language.”

Further, last week, the Marshall Project, a non-profit journalism organization focused on criminal justice, introduced a style guide of sorts, a primer on how news organization would refer to people going forward.  In a preamble to its guide, it said:

“Reporters and editors have long believed that terms such as ‘inmate,’ ‘felon’ and ‘offender’ are clear, succinct and neutral.  But a vocal segment of people affected by the criminal justice system argue that these words – and any other words that define human beings by their crimes and punishments – are dehumanizing.”

Sometimes, “the stigma and material consequences of incarceration are so deep that what seems like a basic descriptor to journalists becomes a permanent, potentially life-altering label.”

Labels in journalism also relate to terms like “conservative” and “liberal.”  Often, conservative is used more than liberal, but both end up being generalizations that probably don’t convey a person’s overall political leanings.

And, consider words in common usage that are not really words at all.  The best example:  Irregardless.  Its definition:  Regardless.

Finally, think of words that are nouns, but end up being used as verbs.  One of the ones used more and more these days is helm.  It is a noun, but often I see it used in this way – “The legislator helmed a group.”  No, the word should be “led” or something close to it.

Or, one more.  The word golf.  It often said that someone “golfed” their ball.  No.  It should be hit their ball.

What all of this indicates to me is the need is to use words carefully… for several reasons:

• To avoid unintentional stigmas that could result from using words poorly.

• To cut through jargon by using simple, straightforward words.

• To strive for accuracy in the use of words.

As I said, words matter to me.  One risk is that, when I write, I might use a wrong word from time to time, which, I think, is a risk worth running.  Because, when a wrong word turns up, I might avoid making the same mistake again.