When It Pertains To Transpeople, Do You Media Peeps Even Read The AP Stylebook?

20 thoughts on When It Pertains To Transpeople, Do You Media Peeps Even Read The AP Stylebook?

1. I do, I do (read the book–I also snuggle up with it at night and whisper sweet nothings)! Sadly my work with the book is relegated to enforcing the hyphenation of e-mail and pluralization of Treasurys, so I’m not actually helpful on this issue outside of heartily agreeing with you.

2. Probably ignorance is the cause of the bulk of the problem, but lately I have also suspected that copy editors are getting laid off en masse. I can’t read anything these days without finding massive errors — from the incredibly obvious to little violations of persnickety AP style guidelines. It must be getting worse, because you’d think that as my copy-editor days are further and further behind me, I’d notice fewer errors since I’m no longer on my A-game. But no! The ubiquity of errors is indeed getting worse, in my experience anyway.

   So if the people who really do treat the AP stylebook as a bible are disappearing, you’re left with people who have maybe occasionally skimmed it. Combine that with the aforementioned ignorance …

   People should write letters to the editor to bring attention to ignorance surrounding trans issues (or, well, ANY issues). It could actually make a big impact — if the newspaper corrects itself, it will be setting a linguistic example for all of its readers.

3. Is it wrong that I automatically assume that reporters have gotten it wrong? From the first time I saw the reports of Tyli’a’s death, it was obvious to me that something was off. It’s one of the reasons I waited to post about it. It comes as no real surprise to me that it was so screwed up. Now, the reporters are saying they were just using the terms given to them by the police and the police are saying it was the reporters who screwed it up. Personally, I think it’s the responsibility of the press to get it right. Ask questions, for God’s sake, that’s what you get paid for. Whenever transgender comes up as a description, they should be checking and triple checking just like they would for how someone spells their name. But since the line between fact and opinion has become so blurred in American journalism is should really come as no surprise that they’ve apparently forgotten how.

4. I was actually pleasantly surprised by an article just a few days ago about a math teacher that has recently identified herself as a trans woman. The title is so-so “Teacher breaks silence- he’s a she”, but the article itself uses the correct pronouns, and demonstrates the support she is getting from her school district. Also, although there are plenty of hateful comments, there are lots that encourage tolerance and point out that she is a good teacher and that is what matters.

   http://www.komonews.com/news/55800417.html

5. I don’t know about newspapers, but Anna is halfway there when it comes to books. My mother used to write romance novels. About 5 years ago, she started getting galleys back from the copy editors rampant with simple spelling and grammatical errors.

   Come to find out, most of the major publishing houses have moved their copy editing departments to India.

6. Anna is spot-on. This post highlights not only the terrible bias and ignorance regarding trans issues but also the larger issue of the crumbling media infrastructure in these Untied States of America. You can bet that one of the first budget items to get clipped when times are tough is the copy desk. As another former news professional, I have to say, it’s quite a shame.

   That’s not, of course, to belittle the orginal point made here. Calling a M-F a “transgendered man” makes so little sense it makes my head hurt. “Transgendered” modifies “man” or “woman.” Ignoring the person’s transition and stated I.D. renders the phrase completely useless. It’s not just biased and judgmental. It’s also stupid.

7. Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

   sometimes i feel like i’m the only person on the internet who isn’t shocked every time some newsroom somewhere mangles a story about a transperson.

   reporting – “newsgathering” may be a more appropriate term these days – has become about making money, and hatred Sells. most people aren’t interested in learning about the transgendered (trust me – i speak from Bitter Experience), but they are interested in making fun of people who aren’t like them. what possible reason would a profit-driven newspaper or television program have for showing sensitivity and the like when being nasty means cold, hard cash?

   Love is the law, love under will.

8. This stuff makes me so tired. This statistic in particular:

   About 70% of the fallen transpeople memorialized on the Remembering Our Dead list are transpeople of color.

   is fucking horrifying. How do people ignore this? Dammit I’m over-emotional this morning because it just makes me feel like crying.

   Getting back to apathy: so often I’ll find people who respect my lack of tolerance of sexism, racism and homophobia, but actively resent not being able to make transphobic comments. Like it’s the final frontier of arseholish entitlement.

   And christ, I can tell them to stop being a wanker but sometimes you just have to explain why it’s bullshit then let it go. Why do people who are otherwise so awesome have to spew this ignorance and fear in my face? People who treat our trans clients like humans but still find the idea of a man wanting breasts as absolutely disgusting (said man is male-identified so not trans but you know) and get visibly angry at me saying that’s not OK. AH!

   OK, that turned into an off-topic(ish) rant, sorry. Gonna post it anyway. 😛

9. ummm back to the point. i agree about needing to diversify the talent pool. its not just a matter of people not reading the AP guidebook its a matter of perspective and sensativity. and while i’m not trying to say that allies cannot approach either…i also wouldn’t say that most mainstream journalist come off to me as trans allies. just saying.

   even though i’ve been away from the blogging game for a minute i have always been aware that it is often up to transpeople to correct all of the misinformation that is put out about the community *in general* but around crimes in particular. both via MSM and the blogosphere.

   though i would add that it would seem like a good idea for MSM to start working aggressively to legitimately train their staff in how not to be asshats when reporting about difference (race, class, gender, sexual orientation, etc) given the droves of their readership who have just gotten tired of the foolishness and gone to find more progressive/critical voices elsewhere.

10. The Guardian got the pronouns right this week and actually bothered to speak to a transgender man- well, a teenage guy. Not sure what you guys will think of this but I thought that the fact they went to the effort of actually asking someone about their experience was a good start:

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/aug/29/transgender-documentary-channel-4

    Granted, it’s part of a promotion for a documentary, but it’s a damn sight better than the tabloid stuff would be.

11. As someone who’s done a lot of media activism surrounding trans-related stories, I can assure you these pronoun “slips” and use of birth names are not mistakes nor a function of poor proofing. Overwhelmingly, they are decisions by senior editors as to how specific populations will be referenced. I’ve contacted a number of papers and magazines concerning poorly-done trans stories and have usually been met with a lot of defensiveness and even out and out transphobic hostility from either the writer of origin but, far more often, by that writer’s boss. Often there is great deal of entitlement expressed how they are professional journalists and know exactly who they’re writing about and why they’re referring to them as they are.

    Even after being contacted by GLAAD, many publications continue the same policies of referring to trans people by their birth name and assigned birth gender yet will also try to modify it by writing something like “so and so often dressed in women’s clothes and went by the name *******” (making it sound more like a masquerade or drag). In most cases of this, there’s nothing accidental about it. They have to be called on their behavior on a case-by-case basis.

12. Great article, Monica. All the incorrect pronouns and trans panic surround every single news story concerning a trans person is sick. It’s hateful, ignorant, and I completely agree with ginasf: it’s deliberate.

    It’s time to hire transgender reporters to cover these issues.

    This is a really good idea. I have some reservations about it though, because I think these journalists and publications should be held accountable for the rampant transphobia and should be required to adhere to all of the AP Stylebook standards. Don’t get me wrong, I think that publications hiring transgender reporters would be awesome, considering the visible platform. I just wouldn’t want that to turn into “Look we hired a transgender person, see we’re not transphobic!” That eerily reminds me of “Look, I hired a black guy. I’m not racist!” I’m not sure if that would actually occur, but it would worry me.

13. The most charitable interpretation is that the writer is afraid that referring to a person by his/her trans gender would confuse readers, although that doesn’t really make sense, because readers could be just as “confused” by references to the birth gender. The sanest way I ever saw it handled in a news story was a simple one-sentence explanation that it was that news organization’s policy to follow the individual’s preference.

14. I had no idea that this was covered in the AP Stylebook. That’s good to know, that’s a good thing for people to be able to point out if their writing or emailings news outlets to complain about their improper pronoun usage.

    I hear and agree with what people are saying about cutbacks in copyediting. The other day a copyeditor emailed me to check on something in an article I’d submitted to a website I write for and I was like “Thank you, thank you for editing me! I really appreciate it!” because I really feel like some articles I write for some websites are barely glanced at before they go live. I try to turn in pretty clean copy, but really.

    That said, as a writer it’s my job to seek clarification if I’m confused about my subject matter. Even if in some cases writers were honestly unsure, the AP Stylebook would be a good place to turn for answers. Or call a trans advocacy org, any single one, and just ask. Google a fucking trans FAQ. It’s really not that hard, and it’s part of your job.

    That said, (second or third or w/e) everything ginasf said.

    This pronoun misusage is so disrespectful and the media outlets should be held accounatble.

15. Constintina: It is listed in my 2000 edition of the AP stylebook under “sex changes” and is in my 2007 edition under “transgender.” It would be interesting to look at older editions and see how it has evolved. I agree with you 100 percent that writers have a responsibility to seek clarification about the subject matter they’re covering. Ideally, everyone along the chain, from writers to editors to the copy desk, should be on the ball. What distresses me about the apparent cutbacks in copy editors is that they are essentially the last line of defense; anything that they don’t catch is going to go in the final version. With fewer copy editors, everyone else along that chain has to undertake more responsibility. Which isn’t bad, in and of itself, as ideally you want everyone to be responsible. I guess it rankles the pro-labor side of me that copy editors are getting the ax (axe? too lazy to look in the stylebook! told ya I was off my A-game) and everyone else has to take over their jobs with no increase in pay. They’re just grateful they still have jobs. (However, for the most part, I’m not seeing a lot of evidence that the erstwhile copy editors’ jobs are being taken over successfully by others.)

    ginasf: That is completely true. Maybe I was being naive, thinking that some letters to the editor could do the trick. I guess my impulse is to assume that most people are open to new ideas, when in fact a lot of people get really defensive when people disagree with them. So — letters to the editor could be a good tool when the editorial staff is open to change (and citing the AP stylebook would give additional leverage). Unfortunately, for media folks who are more stubborn and hostile, it might be the case that we’ll have to wait until they are replaced by better people, which is a more drawn-out process and not hugely satisfying to someone seeking immediate, positive change.

16. Is the AP style book online somewhere?
    It would be helpful to know where it is so that we can quote chapter and verse to those who do not know.

17. Yes, it’s practically impossible a lot of the time to work out who’s what – I tend to assume the worse (most of the time I’m right) and assume that the journalists are using the wrong gender.

    It’d be ace if the AP guidebook included something that said “don’t use the bloody phrase ‘real name.'” No, it’s not our *real* name, it’s our assigned name.

    As a style quirk though, why do you use the combo transwoman, Monica? I personally hate the word, it feels thirdgendering, objectifying, like I’m being described as this mystic beast that’s not a real woman. Trans woman (with a space, like most other adjectives) for me, or woman if transness isn’t relevant.. Just curious..

18. As a reporter, I covered the Amendment 2 vote this past spring for The Independent Florida Alligator in Gainesville, Fl. I am a cisgendered man, but I’ve taken several college courses on sexuality and had long discussions with transgendered, and gender fluid, friends, to the point where I felt I had an understanding. I can certainly use pronouns correctly. However, some took issue with the way I explained transgendered people in my opening article on the Amendment 2 issue.

    My question to you is: in a single paragraph, with the brevity of news, can you explain to the reading public the defining characteristics of a transgendered person? How is crossdressing treated in the definition?

19. Dawn, saying that “journalists and publications should be held accountable for the rampant transphobia and should be required to adhere to all of the AP Stylebook standards” is well intentioned, but the only people who can hold them accountable are readers (and advertisers, and advocates, etc.) There is no central journalism organization that can require media outlets to adhere to AP style, and there shouldn’t be.

    The AP Stylebook is influential, but it’s not doctrine except if you write for AP. For everyone else, it is just a list of suggested rules for newspaper articles that media outlets pick and choose from and follow because they want to be consistent with other media and don’t want to build a “house style” from scratch.

    The way the AP treats transpersons carries weight, but as ginasf says, uses of language are “overwhelmingly… decisions by senior editors as to how specific populations will be referenced.” Individual media outlets shape their editing guidelines based on their individual values and biases. Getting more transperson representation in the media can only help.

20. @ Personal Failure with regard to “Come to find out, most of the major publishing houses have moved their copy editing departments to India.”

    Most Indian people I’ve met actually have a far better command of English than people born here. Our educational system has become such rubbish that there’s no need to look abroad for blame.

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