Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Illegal Immigrants (Revisited)

by Paul Giacobbe

It’s become clear that there are few contemporary issues that evoke stronger emotions than the problems associated with people from other countries who come to America in violation of immigration rules.

I discussed this issue here a little more than six months ago in response to a viewer who complained that a reporter used the term “undocumented worker” when that phrase, the viewer wrote, “shades the story away from the fact that the worker is an illegal.”  The NBC10 news director said at that time that “undocumented worker” was used because that’s the phrase the court used in describing the worker who was the subject of that story, but that the station generally followed the Associated Press stylebook which suggests the term “illegal immigrant.”

Last month, however, NBC10 reported on raids conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials and, in that story, avoided using the word “illegal” to reference persons rounded up by ICE.  Again, viewers objected. 

“The story seemed to lead one to believe that the government is anti-immigration,” one viewer said.  “The raids were conducted to capture ILLEGAL (viewer’s emphasis) immigrants.”

In responding to the viewer’s complaint the reporter said she didn’t use the word “illegal” in her story for several reasons, including complexities in the way ICE statistics refer to the different classes of deportees, the ambiguity of the word “illegal” as it may pertain to those who came into the country legitimately but overstayed their visas, and that the use of the word “illegal” is not looked upon with favor by some organized minority journalists.

There is some consensus, but not unanimity, among media organizations with respect to the way illegal immigrants are described, as evidenced by a recent, informal survey of members of the Organization of News Ombudsmen (ONO), of which I’m a member.

The New York Times uses “illegal immigrant,” and specifically avoids both “illegal alien,” and “undocumented immigrant.”  The Washington Post, on the other hand, says either “illegal immigrant” or “undocumented immigrant” is acceptable. The San Francisco Chronicle favors the phrases “undocumented immigrants, illegal immigrants and, in context, undocumented workers.”

In San Diego, which is close to the Mexican border, the ombudsman there says she is frequently lobbied by readers who prefer the term “illegal alien.”  The San Diego Union-Tribune, however, does not use “alien” to refer to migrants, immigrants or others who are not US citizens, but prefers more specific reference, such as Canadian, Mexican or Honduran, for example.  Undocumented immigrant and illegal immigrant are acceptable under Union-Tribune guidelines, the ombudsman there says, but “illegal immigrant” should be used only when it can be established that the person is a foreigner staying in the US illegally.

The viewers who objected to the recent NBC10 story raise a valid point: Virtually all news organizations have adopted specific standards to avoid the confusion that results from different reporters using different terms to describe the same class of people.  Especially with such an emotional issue, NBC10 reporters should follow fixed guidelines, and not be permitted to make individual decisions based upon their own personal standards of appropriateness.

This space is provided by NBC10, but the opinions here are mine alone. – Paul Giacobbe