Challenging Journalism

Gender fluid folx

This week I want to focus this brief on dismantling journalism practices that discriminate against communities and limit our reporting. When we begin an interview, we always ask for the person’s name, spelling, and pronouns.

When we begin an interview, we always ask for the person’s name, spelling, and pronouns.

Fiona brought up an experience with me about how expansive that last question can actually be. What happens when the person is enby or genderqueer with multiple pronouns? English and journalism are very specific in that it asks for one definite answer, but there doesn’t have to be. I suggest embracing the practice of using all pronouns your source identifies with. There may be pushback from people concerned about how we distinguish who we are talking about in a story, but it actually doesn’t have to be.

 In stories, we refer to people in one of three ways: full name, last name, and by their pronouns. By alternating between pronouns and name references, it is actually pretty easy to follow. Check out Fiona’s reporting to see how it looks in practice! Respecting pronouns, no matter how many, is important to utilize in reporting. 

The Use of Latine/o/a/x

Dimelo published “Personal Perspective: ‘Inclusive’ terminology in the Latino community does more to divide than unite” by Emanuel Rodriguez. The article discusses how the term “Latinx” can actually be just as problematic as it is “inclusive.” More recently, I’ve been reading up on how the “x” is actually discriminatory to the language it was intended to represent. There is no translation for “Latinx” in the Spanish language, representing another product of Anglo-imperialism.

 

 A version that could be translated to Spanish is “Latine,” something I’ve been interested in pushing in our newsroom as an alternative to “Latinx.” However, it isn’t all that simple. I heavily recommend reading the article as it outlines this struggle on a deeper, personal level. So far, I’m on the stance of taking it on a case-by-case basis. Some prefer Latino/a, others prefer Latinx and sometimes Latine may be the best choice. I’m still figuring it out myself and encourage an open dialogue on this. 

Logistics

When it comes to reaching out to the cultural centers, they are part of USC so they have to go through USC communications to get approval for an interview on certain topics. Once approved, they can then schedule a time when they are free for the interview. It’s a lot of juggling, so to give them time to juggle, it is better to ask for their comment on things that have a deadline that is at least 24 hours away. I always suggest speaking to the cultural assemblies because they have more resources for student voices and fewer channels to go through for an interview. The centers do, however, love event coverage for some of their programming and are willing to speak on some of their projects. 

It’s a lot of juggling, so to give them time to juggle, it is better to ask for their comment on things that have a deadline that is at least 24 hours away.

Best, 

Steven