Biden, Trump reignite debate over ‘undocumented’ vs. ‘illegal’ immigrants

[KARAH RUCKER]

THERE IS RENEWED CONTROVERSY OVER USING THE TERM “ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT” VERSUS “UNDOCUMENTED PERSON” AFTER BIDEN APOLOGIZED FOR CALLING A MURDER SUSPECT AN “ILLEGAL” AND TRUMP DOUBLING DOWN THAT BIDEN SHOULD APOLOGIZE FOR APOLOGIZING.

THIS GIVES US AN OPPORTUNITY TO EXPLAIN THE TERMINOLOGY –

HOW IT’S USED BY THE MEDIA –

AND ETHICAL CONCERNS WITH BOTH TERMS.

BUT FIRST – HOW THE CONVERSATION WAS BROUGHT UP.

DURING BIDEN’S STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS LAST WEEK – BIDEN WAS PRESSED BY REPUBLICANS TO MENTION THE DEATH OF “LAKEN RILEY” –

A COLLEGE STUDENT MURDERED IN GEORGIA.

THE SUSPECT IN HER CASE? WAS IN THE COUNTRY ILLEGALLY.

[BIDEN]

“Laken Riley, an innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal.

“To her parents, I say my heart goes out to them having lost children myself.”

[KARAH RUCKER]

IT WAS THE WORD “ILLEGAL” THAT WOULDN’T SIT WELL WITH FELLOW DEMOCRATS.

AND OVER THE WEEKEND – PRESIDENT BIDEN TOLD MSNBC HE “REGRETTED” THE WORD CHOICE.

[BIDEN]

“You used the word illegal…Undocumented, undocumented person, I should’ve said undocumented..I’m not going to treat any of these people with disrespect.”

[KARAH RUCKER]

WHILE ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL IN GEORGIA THIS WEEKEND –

TRUMP REACTED TO BIDEN’S COMMENTS.

[TRUMP]

“Joe Biden went on television and apologized for calling Laken’s murderer an illegal. He didn’t want to call him an illegal, so he apologized.”

“He was illegal alien, he was an illegal immigrant, he was illegal migrant.”

[KARAH RUCKER]

THE TERMS HAVE BEEN HEAVILY POLITICIZED.

DEMOCRATS MORE OFTEN USE “UNDOCUMENTED PERSONS”

WHEREAS REPUBLICANS MORE OFTEN USE “ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS”.

THE SAME GOES FOR HOW THE MEDIA REFERS TO THIS GROUP OF PEOPLE.

HERE ARE A FEW EXAMPLES FROM LEFT-LEANING NEWS OUTLETS.

IN THEIR VARIOUS NEWS COVERAGE –

CBS, ABC, AND MSNBC REFER TO “UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS.”

THEN YOU LOOK AT RIGHT-LEANING MEDIA OUTLETS AND THEIR NEWS COVERAGE ON VARIOUS IMMIGRANT STORIES.

“ILLEGALS” “ILLEGAL MEXICAN MIGRANT” AND “ILLEGAL ALIENS” ARE THE TERMS USED IN THEIR HEADLINES.

JOURNALISTS TYPICALLY WRITE IN AP-STYLE.

THERE IS AN “AP STYLE GUIDEBOOK” THAT SORT OF SETS “ETHICAL STANDARDS” ACROSS THE BOARD IN THIS INDUSTRY –

EVEN THOUGH AP DOES HAVE A LEFT-LEANING BIAS.

WHILE IT USED TO BE ACCEPTABLE TO INTERCHANGE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT AND UNDOCUMENTED PERSON –

IN 2013 – AP UPDATED ITS RULEBOOK.

“Except in direct quotes essential to the story, use “illegal” only to refer to an action, not a person: illegal immigration, but not illegal immigrant.”

THAT’S WHY YOU LARGELY ONLY HEAR NEWS ANCHORS AND REPORTERS USE THE TERM “UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS.” TO ABIDE BY AP STYLE.

HOWEVER –

A MEDIA WATCHDOG GROUP – “ALL-SIDES” – WHICH RATES NEWS OUTLETS’ BIASES –

HAS FOUND THERE ARE FLAWS IN BOTH TERMS.

THEY SAY THE TERM UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANT “is overly vague. It doesn’t clearly convey the illegal nature of the act in question.”

AND THE TERM “ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT” is “technically imprecise because individuals themselves cannot be “illegal,” though their actions may be.”

ALL-SIDES SAYS THE TERMS MEAN THE SAME THING.

AND THE DEFINITION OF BOTH IS LIKELY CLEAR TO ANY AUDIENCE.

BUT DEPENDING ON POLITICAL PREFERENCES AND WHERE YOU GET YOUR NEWS –

THE TERM USED WILL VARY.

THIS IS A SENSITIVE ISSUE –

BUT NOT SOMETHING WE’RE GOING TO SHY AWAY FROM.

WE WANT TO OFFER YOU A DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE IN THE WAY YOU CONSUME NEWS.

THAT’S WHY ALL-SIDES – HAS GIVEN US A CENTER RATING – MEANING OUR NEWS DOESN’T HAVE A LEFT OR RIGHT LEANING BIAS TO IT.

WE THINK IT’S IMPORTANT TO KEEP THIS RATING IN ORDER TO BUILD TRUST WITH YOU.

ESPECIALLY IN AN ELECTION YEAR –

WHEN ACCURATE AND UNBIASED INFORMATION – IS WHAT YOU – OUR VIEWER – DESERVES.