Thread: Jose Antonio Vargas Challenges NYT and AP To Drop 'Illegal Immigrant'

By TED HESSON
Sept. 21, 2012
abc news


Jose Antonio Vargas calls on media outlets to drop the term "illegal immigrant" at the 2012 Online News Association Conference and Awards Banquet in San Francisco on Sept. 21. (Ingrid Rojas/ABC-Univision)

Starting today, a non-profit founded by Jose Antonio Vargas, a journalist, activist, and undocumented immigrant, will begin monitoring the use of the phrase "illegal immigrant" in the media, with the goal of shifting the conversation around the issue.

"Right now, my two main targets, and I say that politely, are going to be The New York Times and the Associated Press," Vargas told reporters after his keynote address at the 2012 Online News Association Conference and Awards Banquet in San Francisco today.

Vargas, who has written about his own struggles with immigration status in The New York Times Magazine and Time, suggested that outlets use undocumented immigrant or engage in a conversation about alternatives to "illegal."

"The term dehumanizes and marginalizes the people it seeks to describe," Vargas said. "Think of it this way, in what other context do we call someone illegal?"

Vargas, who came to the U.S. from the Philippines when he was 12, cited the examples of underage drivers and people driving while intoxicated, neither of whom would be referred to as "illegal drivers" by the media.

"Ironically, describing an immigrant as 'illegal' is legally inaccurate," he said. "Being in a country without proper documents is a civil offense, not a criminal one."

That distinction, despite being a long-standing precept of immigration law, has failed to gain traction in the vast majority of newsrooms across the country.

Speaking in San Francisco today, Vargas said that undocumented is the more neutral choice, but conceded that only a handful of major media outlets -- among them the Miami Herald, The Huffington Post and the San Antonio Express-News -- have dropped "illegal immigrant."

Julia Preston, the national immigration correspondent at The New York Times, says that she uses a mix of terms depending on the article and the topic.

"What we try to do is find neutral language to tell our immigration stories where, currently, there is no neutral ground on this issue," she said. "We use the term 'illegal immigrant' because the bottom line is that we're talking about a large group of people who are in the United States in violation of the law...the core of the problem here is they don't have legal status."

Increasingly, however, she's encountered readers who are uncomfortable with the use of the word "illegal."

"I have a growing number of readers who have a negative reaction, who feel offended by the term 'illegal immigration,' so I just try and be careful and accurate and thoughtful whenever I write a story, so I can find the language that will allow me to tell the story without jarring people."

In 2011, the Associated Press changed its style guide so that "illegal immigrant" would not be its preferred descriptor, but the term is still in frequent use; meanwhile, "undocumented immigrant" is not permitted.

Paul Colford, the director of media relations for the AP, explained the current editorial stance by email:

"We do not insist that the term be stamped on everyone who's here illegally. In fact, as in the case of a person who was brought here as a child without permission, the term can be misleading, since the person wasn't a willing 'immigrant' at all. In such a case, we might simply state the situation: He doesn't have legal permission to live in the United States, since his parents entered the country illegally (or without authorization)."

While the campaign by Vargas will start with the Times and the AP, it will have a much broader scope overall. Using the Define American website, people across the country will be able to report instances where local print, radio and television news outlets are using "illegal immigrant."

"The people who read and consume the news in their own local communities should be calling out these news agencies," Vargas said in a phone interview. "It needs to be at that level."

The editorial policy here at ABC/Univision is to use "undocumented" when referring to people in the country without authorization. Of our parent newsrooms, Univision uses the Spanish word for undocumented, "indocumentado," while ABC News typically uses "undocumented immigrant" but hasn't strictly adhered to that in the past.

"Our goal and policy is to use the term undocumented immigrant or worker, but there have certainly been instances where we have fallen short of that standard," said Jeffrey Schneider, senior vice president of ABC News.

Vargas said that part of the reason he decided to launch the campaign was his own background in journalism. Since coming out as undocumented in June 2011, he's heard from 15 other journalists with similar stories.

"The fact that we still have news organizations calling people 'illegal' signifies the simplistic nature in which we have this conversation," he said. "We're not just going to your schools and your churches, we're not just mowing your lawns. We're in your newsrooms."

Jose Antonio Vargas Drop 'Illegal Immigrant' Challenges NYT and AP - ABC News

Starting today, a non-profit founded by Jose Antonio Vargas, a journalist, activist, and undocumented immigrant, will begin monitoring the use of the phrase "illegal immigrant" in the media, with the goal of shifting the conversation around the issue

What gives Jose Vargas the right to complain about the phrase "illegal immigrant"? Why hasn't he been deported that is the real question. Oh he is a victim, because his parents brought him here at the age of 12? Excuse me but that is not our fault, that is his parents fault. His parents not only violated our immigration laws, but they violated child endangerment laws. It is bad enough that our country is being insulted across the world, but I have had enough of illegal immigrants insulting us and making demands that they have no right to make.

"Our goal and policy is to use the term undocumented immigrant or worker, but there have certainly been instances where we have fallen short of that standard," said Jeffrey Schneider, senior vice president of ABC News.

The term "Worker" associates to The Communist Workers Party to me. This shows comrade Vargas' political leanings and that he is another shill for the left that has no respect for the sovereignty or our country or our laws.

Vargas gains credibility from being awarded the Pulitzer Prize. It was not an individual award. He was part of a team from the Washington Post that won for a Breaking News Report. The Washington Post is, in my opinion, a very liberal news outfit.

The Pulitzer Committee that selected him, to me, reads like a Who's Who of liberal journalism. Stands to reason the recipients will be from the liberal left.

The Board presided over the judging process that resulted in the 2008 winners and finalists. --Joann Byrd and Mike Pride, co-chairs; Sig Gissler, administrator.

Allen, Danielle, UPS Foundation Professor, School of Social Science, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ

Amoss, Jim, editor, The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, LA

Bennett, Amanda, executive editor/Enterprise, Bloomberg News

Bollinger, Lee C., president, Columbia University, New York, NY

Byrd, Joann, former editor editorial page, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle, WA

Carroll, Kathleen, executive editor and senior vice president, Associated Press

Friedman, Thomas L., columnist, The New York Times, New York, NY

Gigot, Paul, editorial page editor, The Wall Street Journal, New York, NY

Gissler, Sig, administrator, Graduate School of Journalism, Columbia University, New York, NY

Graham, Donald E., chairman, The Washington Post

Gyllenhaal, Anders, executive editor, The Miami Herald, Miami, FL

Harris, Jay T., Wallis Annenberg Chair, Director, Center for the Study of Journalism and Democracy, Annenberg School of Communication, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

Kennedy, David M., Donald J. McLachlan Professor of History, Emeritus, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA

Lemann, Nicholas, dean, Graduate School of Journalism, Columbia University, New York, NY

Lipinski, Ann Marie, senior vice president and editor, Chicago Tribune, Chicago, IL

Moore, Gregory L., editor, The Denver Post, Denver, CO

Oppel, Richard, editor, Austin American-Statesman, Austin, TX

Pride, Mike, editor, Concord Monitor, Concord, NH

Tash, Paul C., editor, chairman and CEO, The St. Petersburg Times, St. Petersburg, FL

The Pulitzer Prizes | The Pulitzer Prize Board

Jose Antonio Vargas (born February 3, 1981) is a Filipino American journalist living and working in the United States.^[2] He is known for his coverage of HIV, the Virginia Tech shootings, and the influence that politics and the Internet have on each other. In 2008, Vargas was part of the team which won the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting. Born in the Philippines, and raised in the United States from the age of 12, Vargas has worked for The San Francisco Chronicle, The Philadelphia Daily News, The Washington Post, and The Huffington Post.

In a June 2011 essay in The New York Times Magazine, Vargas wrote he is an "undocumented immigrant". He states he revealed his status in order to promote dialogue about what he feels is a broken immigration system in the United States, and to advocate for theDREAM Act, which would help children in similar circumstances have a path to citizenship available to them. A year later he wrote a cover story for Time about his continued uncertainty regarding his status since this revelation. Shortly afterward, the Obama administration announced its halt to the deportation of young undocumented immigrants eligible for the DREAM Act, which, although he would not qualify due to his age, Vargas hailed as "a victory for DREAMers".

He can't be an honest journalist because he is trying to influence the ,message instead of reporting it. I do agree that illegal immigrant is incorrect. The correct terms would be illegal foreign national or illegal alien.
JMO

Illegal-Alien Reporter Launches Crusade to Ban 'Illegal' from Immigration News
Stories


By Tim Graham | September 22, 2012 | 07:40

Ted Hesson at ABCNews.com reports that formerly "objective" Washington Post reporter Jose Antonio Vargas is leading a crusade to ban the term "illegal immigrant" from polite news coverage. Or as Hesson puts it, Vargas will "begin monitoring the use" of the phrase "with the goal of shifting the conversation."

"The term dehumanizes and marginalizes the people it seeks to describe," Vargas said. "Think of it this way, in what other context do we call someone illegal?" Since announcing to the world that he's an illegal immigrant, Vargas has become a celebrity activist who's starred in cover stories in in The New York Times Magazine and Time. He wants reporters to use the word "undocumented," and many do.

What's clear is that Vargas wants to remove any negativity from the descriptions. If a reporter decided to call him an "improper immigrant," it would still be worse than "undocumented." He said a child driver would not be called an "illegal driver." He doesn't note that America doesn't have 12 million children driving cars.

It's a bit like if coal-burning companies opposed the idea of being ever described in news reports as "polluters," when they should be described as "emitters." It's not more neutral. It's politicized soft-pedaling.

"Right now, my two main targets, and I say that politely, are going to be The New York Times and the Associated Press," Vargas told reporters after his keynote address at the 2012 Online News Association Conference and Awards Banquet in San Francisco.

Both liberal outlets are persuadable, which is why they're being targeted. Hesson quoted New York Times reporter Julia Preston. "I have a growing number of readers who have a negative reaction, who feel offended by the term 'illegal immigration,' so I just try and be careful and accurate and thoughtful whenever I write a story, so I can find the language that will allow me to tell the story without jarring people."

In 2011, the Associated Press changed its style guide so that "illegal immigrant" would not be its preferred descriptor, but the term is still in frequent use; meanwhile, "undocumented immigrant" is not permitted.

Paul Colford, the director of media relations for the AP, told Hesson: "We do not insist that the term be stamped on everyone who's here illegally. In fact, as in the case of a person who was brought here as a child without permission, the term can be misleading, since the person wasn't a willing 'immigrant' at all. In such a case, we might simply state the situation: He doesn't have legal permission to live in the United States, since his parents entered the country illegally (or without authorization)."

Hesson added:

The editorial policy here at ABC/Univision is to use "undocumented" when referring to people in the country without authorization. Of our parent newsrooms, Univision uses the Spanish word for undocumented, "indocumentado," while ABC News typically uses "undocumented immigrant" but hasn't strictly adhered to that in the past.

"Our goal and policy is to use the term undocumented immigrant or worker, but there have certainly been instances where we have fallen short of that standard," said Jeffrey Schneider, senior vice president of ABC News.

This is how our liberal media defines "falling short." Sometimes, we use accurate terms that upset left-wing activists who prefer euphemisms.

[HT: Dan Gainor]

source: Illegal-Alien Reporter Launches Crusade to Ban 'Illegal' from Immigration News Stories | NewsBusters.org

I think we need to launch a crusade to ban Jose Antonio Vargas from the American media since he is clearly a totalitarian that wants to control minds and speech in America by engaging in ludicrous Political Correctness that attempts to conceal the crimes of invaders.

W

Originally Posted by Jean

"Think of it this way, in what other context do we call someone illegal?"

Well, let's see. I can think of illegal drug dealer, illegal gun seller, illegal gang member, illegal welfare recipient, illegal street peddler, and illegal settler (referring to Israelis living in Palestinian territory). What else can you folks come up with?

If you don't want to be called an ILLEGAL ALIEN the solution is simple,

return to your home country where you won't be ILLEGAL or an ALIEN

and people aren't like to call you an ILLEGAL ALIEN.

RELATED

http://www.alipac.us/f12/prize-winni...igrant-248377/