- Well, that’s different. It must be bad.
- Well, that’s different. I wonder what that’s about?
Journalists and news managers in the Corridor know that you will have one of the above reactions when you come across new information or a new, unexpected nuance of how information is presented.
Any teacher or professor will tell you that the same thing happens in classrooms and class Zooms. The difference is that students are conditioned to have Reaction B. We encourage it. Despite state legislators’ efforts to mandate Reaction A in specific disciplines, we all know that Reaction B is needed. Society is doomed if K-12, community college, college and graduate students normalize Reaction A in the classroom.
Here’s what happens after Reaction A or Reaction B to something new: We act.
- The messenger of this information is biased. Time to cancel. That’ll teach them!
- I don’t understand this. Oh well. Moving on.
- I don’t understand this. I should use the internet and dig into this.
- The deliverer of this information is giving me the option to learn more. I’ll take them up on that via their links and recommendations of other sources.
My take: Action A is highly unfortunate or necessary, depending on how you look at it. Action B is what a lot of us do, unfortunately, and we get nowhere. Action C is good or scary — some learn something new, while others find reinforcement of Reaction A. And finally, shame on local media providers for not guiding their readers, viewers and listeners toward a solid experience via action D.
Things change
These days, scholars and kids in school use BCE and CE instead of BC and AD to describe eras. If this is news to you, did you just experience Reaction A or Reaction B?
“Black” is now capitalized when used in the context of race and culture, but “white” is not. If this is news to you, did you just experience Reaction A or Reaction B?
Let’s play this out.
You might call it a day and use action A right now while assuming BCE and “Black” are BS. Please don’t use Action B, don’t be lazy. If I’m being honest, Action C is futile for a lot of people, if they use the word “research” to describe the act of searching for something on Google or YouTube.
Allow me to take a stab at Action D.
No, BCE/CE (Before the Common or Current Era/Common or Current Eras) are not current PC efforts to poke Christians in the eye. Those letters mean the same thing as BC/AD (Before Christ/Anno Domini) but result from a centuries-long journey aimed at accuracy. Educational institutions move forward with a scholarship, so they gravitate toward shared, non-loaded research methods and vocabulary. Many online articles unpack this fascinating topic and explain the critical variables along the way: the Hebrew Calendar, Julius Caesar, Dionysius, Charlemagne, etc. I recommend the easy-to-find article at worldhistory.org.
The gold standard for journalistic standards, the Associated Press, changed their Stylebook usage of “Black” in June 2020. Like most American media institutions, they examined their practices after a series of race-related events and issues prompted a cultural reckoning (George Floyd’s murder, other high-profile African American killings and arrests, a re-examination of Confederate symbols). The National Association of Black Journalists and many Black scholars say “white” should be capitalized, too. However, the AP says white people don’t have as much shared history and cultural experiences to warrant a capital W. Plus, white supremacists capitalize “white.” The AP Stylebook is updated annually and is historically just a step behind academia regarding the linguistic changes that startle some at first but become commonplace over time. Search for “Explaining AP style on Black and white” to read the AP’s description of the change.
Effort
The decisions behind adopting and adapting to BCE/CE and Black are interesting and require an educational effort by media organizations and media consumers. But there is no effective or agreed-upon method of sending a memo out to the world when such changes occur.
I encourage you to think about the realities of Reaction A and Reaction B and the possibilities of Action D. You don’t have to be in the media business to point people toward explanations and explorations of new things and changes that we all end up grappling with. Your company can play a role in explaining things and even leading when it comes to cultural changes. Or, it can do nothing and further normalize knee-jerk reactions that when things change, the change must be bad.
Joe Coffey has 20 years of experience as a journalist, educator and marketer in the Corridor.
