Friday, November 28, 2008

News Rules?  The Cincinnati Enquirer, Gannett’s Newsroom Code, The AP Stylebook, and Obama’s Race

Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati

Photo courtesy of here.

Shortly after the election, we submitted a corrections request to The Cincinnati Enquirer about their headline calling Barack Obama the first “African American” president.  Because Obama is multiracial, the headline is incorrect.  Since that time, The Enquirer’s Tom Callinan (pictured to the right) has not pursued a correction, and after sending our fourth request for details he offered a one line explanation:  “Copy desk chief advises that she followed Associated Press Stylebook on this.” However, a closer examination of both the AP Stylebook and the Gannett Newspaper Division Principles of Ethical Conduct suggests that The Enquirer still has a responsibility to correct their erroneous headline.

Let us separate the issue of The Enquirer following accepted newsroom guidelines from our own individual social perspectives on the ethnic identity of Barack Obama.  While some of us may desire to classify Obama as “African American,” such inclinations have nothing to do with either accuracy or the newsroom principles to which we should expect a major daily paper to adhere.  It is not the business of major professional news organizations to pontificate a social agenda.  They should merely report the news in an accurate manner, especially when we’re talking front page headlines the day after a major US election.

The following comes from Gannett’s policy for correcting errors (my emphasis placed in bold):

Correcting errors

When errors occur, the newspaper has an ethical obligation to correct the record and minimize harm.

* Errors should be corrected promptly. But first, a determination must be made that the fact indeed was in error and that the correction itself is fully accurate.
* Errors should be corrected with sufficient prominence that readers who saw the original error are likely to see the correction. This is a matter of the editor’s judgment.
* Although it is wise to avoid repeating the error in the correction, the correction should have sufficient context that readers will understand exactly what is being corrected.
* Errors of nuance, context or tone may require clarifications, editor’s notes, editor’s columns or letters to the editor.
* When the newspaper disagrees with a news subject about whether a story contained an error, editors should consider offering the aggrieved party an opportunity to express his or her view in a letter to the editor.
* Corrections should be reviewed before publication by a senior editor who was not directly involved in the error. The editor should determine if special handling or outside counsel are required.
* Errors should be corrected whether or not they are called to the attention of the newspaper by someone outside the newsroom.
* Factual errors should be corrected in most cases even if the subject of the error does not want it to be corrected. The rationale for this is rooted in the Truth Principle. It is the newspaper’s duty to provide accurate information to readers. An exception may be made – at the behest of the subject – when the correction of a relatively minor mistake would result in public ridicule or greater harm than the original error.

As this code of conduct makes clear, The Enquirer should have corrected its headline calling Obama an “African American” due to the “Truth Principle.” The truth is that Obama is multiracial, and accurate reporting means calling him that.

Additionally, as stated in the code, the “Truth Principle” trumps the desires of the subject in question, so long as the correction does not cause ridicule or harm.  Callinan would be hard pressed to show that Barack Obama will be harmed with the truthful and accurate label “multiracial.”

But what about the Associated Press Stylebook?  After all, this is the defense Callinan provided, allegedly crafted by the copy desk chief.

The 2008 AP Stylebook defines when the term “African American” should be used:

African-American

Acceptable for an American black person of African descent. Black is also acceptable. The terms are not necessarily interchangeable. People from Caribbean nations, for example, generally refer to themselves as Caribbean-American. Follow a person’s preference.

The term “black” is acceptable for a person of the black race. (Use Negro only in names of organizations or in quotations.) Do not use colored as a synonym. See colored, nationalities and races, and race entries. (2/20/08)

Barack Obama is not an “American black person.” He is an “American multiracial person.” But to be clear on what “black” means in the context of the AP styleguide, let’s just look at the 2008 entry for “black”:

black

Acceptable for a person of the black race. (Use Negro only in names of organizations or in quotations.) Do not use colored as a synonym. See colored, nationalities and races, and race entries.

Barack Obama is not a “person of the black race.” He is a person of mixed racial ancestry, and as such he is “multiracial.”

In the interests of being thorough (a lesson I suggest for Callinan and The Enquirer), here is the AP Stylebook entry for “race”:

race

Identification by race is pertinent:

—In biographical and announcement stories, particularly when they involve a feat or appointment that has not routinely been associated with members of a particular race.

—When it provides the reader with a substantial insight into conflicting emotions known or likely to be involved in a demonstration or similar event.

In some stories that involve a conflict, it is equally important to specify that an issue cuts across racial lines. If, for example, a demonstration by supporters of busing to achieve racial balance in schools includes a substantial number of whites, that fact should be noted.

Do not use racially derogatory terms unless they are part of a quotation that is essential to the story.

While Obama’s election is “a feat” that has “not routinely been associated” with non-whites, this aspect of the stylebook supports the accurate labeling of Obama as “multiracial.” The fact that Obama’s mixed racial ancestry is so widely known makes the conclusion even more obvious.

Some may indicate that Obama has, in the past, referred to himself as black—like when he said, “If I’m outside your building trying to catch a cab, they’re not saying, ‘Oh, there’s a mixed race guy,’” or when he referred to himself as “a skinny black man with a funny name.” But he has also referred to himself as a “mutt,” specifically:  “our preference would be to get a shelter dog ... a mutt, like me.”

Obama may have as many ways of describing himself as he desires, but a professional news organization adhering to a stylebook and a code of conduct should be held to their own professional standards. 

I still await a timely correction.

• Share This Article!
Listen to this article

Socializer!

Username

Password

Auto-login on future visits

Show my name in the online users list

Forgot your password?

Register

Anonymous comments are allowed, but you can create an account above to stamp your name and to avoid typing the anti-spam code.

If you are not familiar with our rules for leaving comments, click here! The Cincinnati Beacon is not responsible for the contents of any comments. Comments do not represent the views of the moderators of The Cincinnati Beacon.

cincysuz says:
28 Nov 2008  at  06:32 pm | #

Noam Chomsky said about the presidential election, “The two Democratic candidates were an African-American and a woman.” Will you also be sending a request for correction to the world’s leading linguist and arguably the most important intellecutal in the world? It’s going to take up a lot of your time to challenge everyone that disagrees with your multi-racial theory.

says:
28 Nov 2008  at  07:59 pm | #

Noam Chomsky, to my knowledge, does not work for Gannett and does not follow the AP Stylebook.

The Enquirer is a daily Cincinnati paper, and I live in Cincinnati.  Please stay focused.

Bearman says:
28 Nov 2008  at  10:53 pm | #

Follow a person’s preference.

If Obama has referred to himself as an “African-American” on some occassions and a “mutt” (or biracial) on others then neither would be wrong for the press to use.  This is not someone else putting labels on him.  It is what he chooses to refer to himself. 

According to dictionary.com the term simply means “noun
1.  an American whose ancestors were born in Africa”
In the truest sense given his African father and American mother he is African American.

says:
29 Nov 2008  at  06:25 am | #

Bearman, you are not reading carefully.  The line you quote comes from the entry “African American,” and it refers to the preference that a black person has.  Here is the whole quote again:

African-American

Acceptable for an American black person of African descent. Black is also acceptable. The terms are not necessarily interchangeable. People from Caribbean nations, for example, generally refer to themselves as Caribbean-American. Follow a person’s preference.

So, if a Caribbean-American wants to be “black,” then the AP Stylebook says to follow their preference.

However, it says absolutely nothing about the case of multiracial individuals being inaccurately called “black.”

Remember, this is about the AP Stylebook, and Gannett’s code of conduct.  You may have a differing social agenda, but that is not the subject here.

cincysuz says:
29 Nov 2008  at  09:03 am | #

The differing social agenda is yours. I’ve become ultra observant to this terminology since you started taking such offense at the term Black or African American being applied outside of your strictly defined terms.  Or actually how offended you are when partially white people are labeled Black or African American. Accounting for slavery, you’d probably be had pressed to find any American with a long family history in this country that isn’t multi-racial. Maybe there’s so such thing as an African American in your book. Some of my friends that call themselves that readily admit to white relatives in their lineage. It sounds like you’re the only guy insisting on the one- or hundred-drop rule

Watching Tavis Smiley last night, he also referred to Obama as African American. I’ll let you know if I ever hear or read of some prominent personal calling Obama by your preferred term, multi-racial (don’t know if that gets a capital “m"). So far, haven’t seen it.

Do you know how Aryan nation it sounds when you say that regardless of what Obama calls himself, this is what he really is? That YOU get to decide, not him. You seem to think that because you are you, you’re exempt from the logical conclusions that would arise were it anyone else having this conversation.

says:
29 Nov 2008  at  09:36 am | #

What are you talking about?  Obama called himself a “mutt.” Have you conversed with him personally about his thoughts on the term “multiracial”?  Didn’t think so. 

I didn’t, either—but I did read the AP Stylebook and the Gannett code of newsroom conduct.

The Enquirer is wrong.

Bearman says:
29 Nov 2008  at  03:54 pm | #

I don’t have any agenda.  I tend to agree with you on this issue but I see this as an exception.  Obama has referred to himself as both black and biracial.  If Obama had only referred to himself as biracial, I would agree with you 100% but he hasn’t.  You refer to yourself as Jason or The Dean.  If the Enquirer chose one of them in an article about you, neither would be wrong.

Axinar says:
29 Nov 2008  at  04:51 pm | #

"Follow a person’s preference.”

I think this is the most relevant part of the guidelines.

However, have you submitted your question to change.gov as to what Obama would like to be called if anything?

says:
29 Nov 2008  at  05:46 pm | #

Axinar, see comment #4 above.  I’m surprised you’re having trouble reading that paragraph…

Bearman, this is not about the social aspect.  Can you cite anything from the AP Stylebook or the Gannett Code of Newsroom Conduct which indicates that multiracial people should be called black?

As for your analogy, it doesn’t hold.  “The Dean” is a title.  Ethnic designations are not.

JFD says:
29 Nov 2008  at  08:08 pm | #

Maybe, the Enquirer is waiting for you to follow your own guidelines, before they recognize any of your complaints. As for me, I’m simply going to call him Mr President and sidestep the whole issue.

says:
29 Nov 2008  at  08:57 pm | #

I follow all of my guidelines.

More on the phrase “Follow a person’s preference”:

I don’t want to repeat the point unnecessarily, but it seems people are really misreading that line.  Remember, it is a line in the entry “African American.” The example given uses a Caribbean American.  Caribbean Americans and African Americans may both be “American black persons of African descent,” and the Stylebook here says that, in those cases, a person’s preference should be observed.  In other words, if a Caribbean American wishes to be called an African American, then that is how said individual should be described.

This does not mean, according to the AP Stylebook, that Asian Americans should be called white because it is their “preference.” They are not white.  They are Asian Americans.

So, to sum:  you may personally find it acceptable for multiracial people to call themselves black.  But that has nothing to do with the AP Stylebook, accuracy in reporting, the Truth Principle, Gannett’s Code of Ethics, and so forth.

Otherwise, if this line from the African American entry in the AP Stylebook can be appropriated to whatever situation we desire, to suit our personal whim at any time, then from now on I wish to be considered an Appalachian Jew.

cincysuz says:
29 Nov 2008  at  09:48 pm | #

You’d be hard pressed to find any publication in the country that hasn’t referred to Barack Obama as Black or African American or the first African American president. Here are a few below. I could continue to search every major newspaper but why bother. Same with TV media. 

Black President - new single by Nas
First Black President of the Harvard Law Review - New York Times
First African American President - New York Times multiple references
First Black President of the Harvard Law Review - Harvard Law Review
First African American President - Washington Post - Alvin Poussaint
African American Barack Obama - Los Angeles Times
African American President - Seattle Times
African American President - Tavis Smiley
African American President = The Nation
African American candidate - The Village Voice
An African American won the presidency by a landslide - Jet Magazine

I can’t find any that has referred to him as multi-racial. Is everyone but you wrong? Should everyone bend to your will?

JFD says:
30 Nov 2008  at  05:48 am | #

Comment, #11 violates Rule #6.

says:
30 Nov 2008  at  06:17 am | #

JFD, the rule states that such behavior may “subject” a comment to deletion.  I am one of the people who decides if it will get deleted.  I decided that comment was relevant.  So I followed the rule.  Get it?

cincysuz, the number of publications you find saying one thing has no bearing on this very particular isssue—that issue being The Cincinnati Enquirer, the AP Stylebook, and their Code of Conduct.

I am not familiar with the corporate code of conduct for any of those other publications, nor do I know if they have a policy of following the AP Stylebook.

What I do know (and what I have shown above, with no one making a logical refutation) is that the AP Stylebook and the Gannett Code of Newsroom Conduct do not allow for The Enquirer to call a multiracial person “African American” because it violates the Truth Principle.

says:
30 Nov 2008  at  07:35 am | #

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/world/-/1068/493874/-/s0dwlt/-/index.html

On the 2000 census in Obama’s neighborhood:


Asians account for 11 per cent of the local population, with Hispanics making up four per cent. Another three per cent of Hyde Parkers described themselves as “other” on the part of the census form that lists racial groups.

Special prize for whoever finds me Obama’s census form.  I wonder what he checked?

says:
30 Nov 2008  at  08:35 am | #

Anyways Tom Callinan is turkey.
I’m not going to jump into the black/bi-racial debate.
But from personal dealings with TC, I know that he’s a real turkey.

JFD says:
30 Nov 2008  at  09:27 am | #

From #14:

JFD, the rule states that such behavior may “subject” a comment to deletion.  I am one of the people who decides if it will get deleted.  I decided that comment was relevant.  So I followed the rule.  Get it?

I am well aware of the double standard for comments here at the Beacon. Your unnecessary repetition was a violation, and the lack of self censuring was a result of the double standard. How does your name calling, and insults aimed at commenters, fit into the rules?

From #14:

What I do know (and what I have shown above, with no one making a logical refutation) is that the AP Stylebook and the Gannett Code of Newsroom Conduct do not allow for The Enquirer to call a multiracial person “African American” because it violates the Truth Principle.

Logical Refutation: An exception to the rule, based on a double standard, that you use yourself.

says:
30 Nov 2008  at  09:36 am | #

What you are doing right now, as I presume you know, is unnecessarily repeating things of no consequence to this strand.  Your perception of me being hypocritical in commenting rules at my own website has no bearing whatsoever on The Enquirer, Gannett’s Code of Ethics, the AP Stylebook, and the issue at hand.

Therefore, I will have no more comments on that.  We all hear you loud and clear:  you think my enforcement of my own rules on my own website is hypocritical.  Fine. 

Now, back to the topic of Obama’s ethnicity and how the media reports it.

cincysuz says:
30 Nov 2008  at  05:21 pm | #

The subject is really your reaction to mixed-race people being called African American. You don’t just think it’s inaccurate, you think it’s unfair. That it takes something away from who you are, personally.

Pick up any paper and you’ll find inaccurate headlines and labels everyday. Some intentional, some not. As you’ve pointed out, you have a personal interest here.

says:
30 Nov 2008  at  05:22 pm | #

I have never denied my personal interest in this.  But, it just so happens that my personal interest aligns perfectly with the AP Stylebook and Gannett’s Code of Newsroom Ethics.  That’s why my personal interest is also valid in the stated context.

Bearman says:
30 Nov 2008  at  08:39 pm | #

From the MTV Myspace Dialogue Obama was quoted as saying:


Part of my job as president I think is to deliver a message that everybody is part of the American family,” he said. “Not just some people. And obviously as somebody who is African-American — my mother is from Kansas, my father was from Kenya, I grew up in Indonesia, I have a sister who looks Spanish, I’ve got a brother in law who is Chinese-Canadian — I’m very sensitive to making sure that everybody feels a part of America. And that’s one of the things I think I can bring to this presidency. The day I’m inaugurated the country will look at itself differently and I think be more tolerant. 

says:
30 Nov 2008  at  09:16 pm | #

He has also referred to himself as a “mutt.” Do you have a point?

Am I a secular Appalachian Jew?

JFD says:
30 Nov 2008  at  10:31 pm | #

From #22:

Am I a secular Appalachian Jew?

Yes, yes you are. You said so, and in this case I believe you.

anon says:
30 Nov 2008  at  11:56 pm | #

It is possible for a “mutt” to be also african-american. If a Caribbean-American can call himself african-american, then a “mutt” who has some African-American ancestors and looks black can choose to be referred to as an african-american, black, a mutt, or whatever else he chooses that makes sense. It makes sense that Obama would refer to himself as african american, it makes no sense for you to be considered an appalachian jew.

According to the AP Stylebook and Gannett’s Code of Newsroom Ethics, I believe it is valid for The Enquirer to call Obama African-American.

Perhaps you should instead try to get the Enquire to correct there statement of Barack being the first African-American, since Calvin Coolidge had some African Ancestors

cincy dude says:
01 Dec 2008  at  12:08 am | #

From Nichloas Kristof of the NY Times

Traditionally, of course, the convention in America has been that someone who is biracial is considered black, and that’s the standard that we in the news media generally hew to. The exception comes when someone has a different preference; if Tiger Woods wants to be considered multiracial, he is. Since Obama considers himself black and refers to himself as black, we generally call him black.

Yes we know he calls himself a mutt.... you keep repeating that. So it is ok to call him both biracial and black and african-american. They are all valid.

Bearman says:
01 Dec 2008  at  04:03 am | #

One it is a source that identifies that Obama has referred to himself as African-American beyond the one you mentioned about trying to catch a cab.

My point is at the end of the day given it seems the real person you have a problem with calling Obama African American is OBAMA.  So why not send him a letter and correct him in his error or have him clarify?  If you go back to my initial post with the definition, it appears that Obama is using the literal meaning of African-American.

I don’t know if you are a Appalachian Jew.  If so...Happy Hanukkah.  But as you tend to say it is a bad analogy since there isn’t a race element.  BUT, let’s say you had a Asian Jewish mother and a White Catholic Father.  If you went around saying you were an Asian Jew and didn’t hide the fact of your parents race, I don’t think you would get many deniers to your claim.

says:
01 Dec 2008  at  05:10 am | #

According to the AP Stylebook and Gannett’s Code of Newsroom Ethics, I believe it is valid for The Enquirer to call Obama African-American.

Please provide ANY citations from either source that substantiate your dubious claim.

says:
01 Dec 2008  at  05:12 am | #

Cincy dude,

Multiracial people are also African-Americans?  Not according to the AP Stylebook.  Please reread the entry above.  How do you reach your conclusion?  Personal preference?

says:
01 Dec 2008  at  05:14 am | #

My point is at the end of the day given it seems the real person you have a problem with calling Obama African American is OBAMA.  So why not send him a letter and correct him in his error or have him clarify?

Because according to the Gannett Code of Newsroom Ethics, the Truth Principle trumps whether the individual at the center of the correction desires a correction.

Focus, everyone.  My arguments are all firmly based on the standards to which The Enquirer holds themselves.  You may disagree, but unless your disagreements concern my reading of the standards—and unless your disagreements are based in accurate analysis of text—then your comments continue to be off the mark.

NtotheC says:
01 Dec 2008  at  09:09 am | #

Dean,

It sure seems like the Enquirer is applying the same standard to Mr. Obama as most other news organizations.  I would think that many of them would also follow the AP style guide.  Also, it seems that Mr. Obama doesn’t really define himself by race or doesn’t really take the time to think about it all that much (at least not as much as you do).  He’s half black, half white and he’s married to a black woman and raising two 3/4 black kids.  But, is there any substance to this issue? (note: i am not saying there is no substance to the issue of racisim, just that there isn’t much substance to your problem with the enquirer following the same rules as every other news organization in the country).

It sure seems like there are other important problems with the enquirer without blowing this one out of proportion.

says:
01 Dec 2008  at  09:45 am | #

You might check this link as well:

http://blogs.chron.com/aboutchron/archives/2008/11/obama_black_bir_1.html

“The Houston Chronicle along with other major news organizations describe Obama’s race as black because it is the preferred term to describe black Americans and it is how he identifies himself. In keeping with Associated Press style, we use the term African-American only in quotations or if individuals describe themselves so.

Here’s what Obama said in a 60 Minutes interview with correspondent Steve Kroft:

“I am rooted in the African-American community. But I’m not defined by it. I am comfortable in my racial identity. But that’s not all I am.”

Noting Obama’s life in a white household, Kroft asked if Obama at some point decided that he was black. Obama replied:

“Well, I’m not sure I decided it. I think, you know, if you look African American in this society, you’re treated as an African-American. And when you’re a child in particular, that is how you begin to identify yourself. “

says:
01 Dec 2008  at  09:51 am | #

I would also point out that AP apparently considers Obama black. From an AP story:

“Barack Obama effectively clinched the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday, based on an Associated Press tally of convention delegates, becoming the first black candidate ever to lead his party into a fall campaign for the White House.”

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D912O5FG0&show_article=1

says:
01 Dec 2008  at  11:37 am | #

Then the AP does not follow his own stylebook. 

If you disagree, please prove me wrong with a citation from the stylebook.

says:
01 Dec 2008  at  12:36 pm | #

I’m trying to find my access code to the online AP Stylebook, which is updated throughout the year, rather than once a year like the written one. I’m not sure if they have anything about Obama there, but I’ll check.

However, having found more AP stories that refer to him as black or African-American, I suspect AP is deferring to Obama’s written statements on his Web site, in which he refers to himself as African-American. He does not, to my knowledge, refer to himself as a “mutt” on that site.
That would follow their guideline about “Follow a person’s preference”

says:
01 Dec 2008  at  03:03 pm | #

Following a person’s preference relates to whether an American black person of African descent prefers “black,” or “African-American,” or perhaps “Caribbean-American” if applicable.

The preference of someone who is not in that category strikes me as irrelevant.  Obama can call himself whatever he likes.  So, too, can I call myself a secular Appalachian Jew.  However, if the Enquirer wrote a story about me, in which my ethnic identity were relevant, I presume they’d call me white and not what I “prefer”—especially since I’m not a secular Appalachian Jew.

And Obama is not black.  He’s multiracial.

cincysuz says:
01 Dec 2008  at  07:58 pm | #

You have some kind of sliding scale rule that makes it acceptable for someone to follow their own preference but only if they’re black enough. Caribbean, perhaps. By your standard, all bets are off if you’re are a caucasian mix. You’re the guy applying the one drop rule. But of course Caribbean Americans come in all shades and hues so you’d be hard pressed to apply your rule. And your secular Appalachian Jew example is no more relevant to this discussion than Obama calling himself a Chicago Baptist or someone else being a Midwest Catholic.

says:
01 Dec 2008  at  08:19 pm | #

But some things never change. “Accuracy is essential,” Wiley insisted. Still a true fact.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20081123/COL05/811230389/1004/COL

says:
01 Dec 2008  at  08:34 pm | #

cincysuz,

http://www.amazon.com/Constructing-Black-Selves-Narratives-Generation/dp/0814756913

Product Description
In 1965, the Hart-Cellar Immigration Reform Act ushered in a huge wave of immigrants from across the Caribbean—Jamaicans, Cubans, Haitians, and Dominicans, among others. How have these immigrants and their children negotiated languages of race and ethnicity in American social and cultural politics? As black immigrants, to which America do they assimilate?

Constructing Black Selves explores the cultural production of second-generation Caribbean immigrants in the United States after World War II as a prism for understanding the formation of Caribbean American identity. Lisa D. McGill pays particular attention to music, literature, and film, centering her study around the figures of singer-actor Harry Belafonte, writers Paule Marshall, Audre Lorde, and Piri Thomas, and meringue-hip-hop group Proyecto Uno.

Illuminating the ways in which Caribbean identity has been transformed by mass migration to urban landscapes, as well as the dynamic and sometimes conflicted relationship between Caribbean American and African American cultural politics, Constructing Black Selves is an important contribution to studies of twentieth century U.S. immigration, African American and Afro-Caribbean history and literature, and theories of ethnicity and race.

Now re-read the AP Stylebook entry for “African-American.” Get it yet?

I’m not making all this stuff up.  I have citations from external sources to substantiate all my claims.  My detractors cannot refute my conclusions.

anon says:
01 Dec 2008  at  08:53 pm | #

Why is it ok for caribian-americans to refer to themselves as african-americans but its not ok biracial americans to refer to themselves that way, and for a newspaper to report them as such, according to the AP stylebook.

says:
01 Dec 2008  at  09:41 pm | #

Well, I got an answer, and I don’t think you’ll like it, Jason. Basically, the Enquirer _is_ following the AP. Here’s the question and answer with AP editor David Minthorn:

”As Barack Obama becomes the new president, we’re getting into squabbles with readers over whether he is the “first African-American president” or “first black president” because he is bi-racial. But on his Web site, he refers to himself as African-American. Does AP have a stand on this issue? – from Cincinnati, Ohio on Mon, Dec 01, 2008

AP stories use both terms for President-elect Barack Obama. See stylebook’s “African-American” and “black” entries.”

http://apstylebook.com/ask_editor.php

So as far as AP is concerned, they are following their own stylebook, which means the Enquirer is “correct” (insofar as they’re not) when they say they are following AP style.

says:
02 Dec 2008  at  04:13 am | #

So, Alex, it looks like you know how to submit questions to that site.  I’d like to request you submit a follow up.

If you return to the main article above, you will see that I’ve already referenced the entries on “African American” and “black.” They do not have anything to say about multiracial people.

Why doesn’t the AP Stylebook have an entry for multiracial people?

Why are Obama’s choices “African-American,” “black,” or “multiracial.” Why can’t he be “white”?

says:
02 Dec 2008  at  07:06 am | #

Obama white?  Yeah right!

Dean of Cincinnati you are 100% correct in your (bi-racial) argument. Still America decided a long time ago what color Barack Obama is. Sadly, some in America don’t see the grey areas. They only see what they want to see. Meaning you’re black. You’re white. You’re a republican. You’re a democrat. You’re fat. You’re skinny, etc. Yet people can and are other things (Not a Dem not a Repub), etc….

Race is a sensitive topic for many of us….especially me.

JFD says:
02 Dec 2008  at  10:59 pm | #

From #42:

Sadly, some in America don’t see the grey areas. They only see what they want to see.

Some only see they are against Joe Deters.

says:
04 Dec 2008  at  12:38 am | #

JFD--
Some only see they are against SmitherMan, people of color, people who aren’t armed, people who don’t support C.H.A.R.M

Go buy yourself a real X-mas tree why don’t ya!

JFD says:
04 Dec 2008  at  08:54 am | #

Why are you suggesting the pointless death of a tree? Will that bring peace and ethical behavior to the “secular Appalachian Jews” of this world?

Name:

Email:

Location:

URL:

Smileys

<b>

<i>

<u>

quote

code

@

<a>

Close Tags

Remember my personal information

Notify me of follow-up comments?

Submit the word you see below: