{"id":15512,"date":"2025-05-23T12:59:19","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T12:59:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/?p=15512"},"modified":"2025-05-23T13:00:53","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T13:00:53","slug":"seeking-clarity-and-humanity-in-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2025\/05\/23\/seeking-clarity-and-humanity-in-language\/","title":{"rendered":"‘What we work on are words’: Seeking clarity and humanity in language"},"content":{"rendered":" \n
\n
\n \n

Sign up for the Nieman Storyboard newsletter,<\/em><\/a> delivered every Friday in your inbox.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

***<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

Dear Storyboard community, <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

This week’s Nieman Storyboard podcast<\/a> is all about language, and taking inventory of the words we use in journalism. <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

Storyboard contributor Christina M. Tapper spoke to Akiba Solomon,<\/a> senior editor at The Marshall Project, which focuses on covering the U.S. criminal justice system. Solomon created The Language Project<\/a>, a guide aimed at re-assessing the words and phrases journalists use to describe incarceration. <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

The Marshall Project’s readers and contributors include people who are incarcerated, and their own surveys revealed that certain words were getting in the way of connecting with that audience. For example, terms like “inmate,” “convict,” or “felon” were viewed as pejorative. Solomon’s Language Project advocates instead for people-first language (a full list is here<\/a>), and the Associated Press Stylebook has since followed suit<\/a> with similar recommendations. <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

At the heart of it, Solomon told Tapper her work is about seeking clarity and humanity in our reporting, and encouraging newsrooms to think about these questions. “Clarity is really important in storytelling because it also conveys fairness,” she said. “I think that that’s the easiest way to instill confidence in readers and viewers who feel skeptical about what you’re bringing to the table.”<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

Ironically, this conversation comes at a moment when technology like generative AI seems to be leading to carelessness with the words we use \u2014 witness the “Summer Reading List”<\/a> that was published in newspapers around the country before anyone discovered it was filled with nonexistent book titles generated by AI.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

Solomon told Tapper that questions about language were debated internally, with even some incarcerated readers and contributors wondering whether there weren’t bigger issues that they should be discussing around the U.S. criminal justice system. <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

But as Solomon argued, “What we work on are words. \u200aThis is what we produce \u2026 it’s our responsibility to use certain words in the interest of clear and fair reporting.”<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n

The Marshall Project\u2019s Akiba Solomon on how journalists write about incarceration<\/a><\/h2>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n \n
\"The<\/a>
The Marshall Project’s Akiba Solomon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div> \n
\n
\n \n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n
<\/div>