Government Radio Network Emulates Mainstream Media’s Terrorist Word Thinking

By Published On: March 8, 2009

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Going beyond the mainstream media’s thinking about politically acceptable usage of certain terminology, a March 2 edict of the Voice of America (VOA) directed its Urdu service to avoid or drastically modify its usage of the terms “terrorism,” “terrorist,” “Islamic terrorists,” “Islamic fundamentalism,” “Muslim fundamentalists,” “Islamist,” and “Muslim extremists.” Will the mainstream media, obsessively using the term “militant” in place of “terrorist” especially “Palestinian terrorist,” catch up soon with the VOA?

The media has failed (at least yet) to report about this VOA directive but we know about it thanks to the distinguished academician Dr. Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum.

The directive discourages identifying the religion of a terrorist:

A terrorist is a terrorist—he/she may belong to any particular religion, but if one adds Islamic/Christian/Hindu/ Jewish—-it creates the perception of a bias.

The directive might soon be in effect throughout the entire VOA which serves an estimated worldwide audience of 134 million people.

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