And then there's the matter of how to spell the surname of Ukraine's president. AP recommends that editors and journalists use "Zelinskiy." But the common usage in English has been Zelensky. A google search with that latter spelling netted 15,100,000 hits. For "Zelinskiy" it is only 64,700.
Unlike the capital city name, this spelling issue really is a matter of transliteration. And AP seems to be going with the wrong choice. AP claims that Zelensky himself requested AP to use the "Zelinskiy" transliteration. But when I asked them to substantiate that claim they failed to respond. Incidentally, the president himself on his official English language website spells it "Zelenskyy." That nets 44,000 hits on google.
There are still additional signs of bias in AP's Guide that are more serious than spelling. They seem to indicate a persistent application of bias. It makes frequent use of loaded terms.
For instance, it says that "Russia tried to intervene in the election" of 2016. By any common definition of the word "intervene" AP's usage is inappropriate. There was no force or threat of force, there was no demonstrable hindrance or modification, there was no demonstrable interference in an outcome. At worst, what Russia has been alleged to have done is what is commonly called propaganda. Given all the distortions in AP's guide it seems likely that its use of "intervene" is a deliberate provocation of fear.
At this point it is necessary to reflect upon what AP is up to. What kind of role is it playing in bringing vital political news to American voters? A quote from Walter Cronkite can help put this into perspective:
"We all have our likes and our dislikes. But... when we're doing news -- when we're doing the front-page news, not the back page, not the op-ed pages, but when we're doing the daily news, covering politics -- it is our duty to be sure that we do not permit our prejudices to show. That is simply basic journalism."
I can't think of a rational argument that would support a notion that AP is practicing even basic journalism. It has exploited the presumptive trust enjoyed by its Stylebook -- a bible in the journalism field -- to covertly propagate one-sided "background" to its unsuspecting readers.
If one accepts Cronkite's concept of journalism, there no longer seems to be reason to trust AP's Stylebook. It's wrong on the political issues. It's even wrong on the simple matter of how to spell the Ukrainian president's name. The Stylebook might more honestly be termed a political document that manifests an insidious propensity to propagate false and misleading information.
What a sad and troubling conclusion that is.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
1
1
