Globe public editor: Why the words we choose matter

By Sylvia Stead, public editor of The Globe and Mail

The words you choose matter, and there were two examples this week that have provoked debate.

By Sylvia Stead, public editor of The Globe and Mail

The words you choose matter, and there were two examples this week that have provoked debate.

After this story about the arrest of suspected Mexican “drug lord” Joaquin (El Chapo) Guzman, a reader asked The Globe and Mail to “please stop referring to gangsters as ‘lords’, ‘kingpins’, ‘barons’, etc. These labels serve to reinforce the idea that these people have some claim to nobility. There is nothing noble about them. They are vicious gangsters, thieves and murderers.”

In this case, that term is commonly used to describe the head of a criminal gang that sells drugs. The interesting issue is why it is so.

Here is an article from The Telegraph on the arrest that explains how Mr. Guzman is a Robin Hood-type figure in his poor area of Mexico because his business bankrolls the economy of the region. These people are also known to behave in a medieval way of not only helping the poor but also building excessive monuments to themselves.

On another front, on Facebook many readers were critical of a column by Margaret Wente on the Ontario government’s plan to require some fast-food restaurants to post calorie counts on their menus.

The paper headline was: “Obesity Crisis: A calorie law won’t work.” The online head is: “Will a calorie law work? Fat chance.”

But it was the headline treatment on the Facebook story that has drawn attention. Above the headline, the smaller headline says: “A law that would make chain restaurants include calorie counts on their menus? Take that, fatties! You can no longer claim you didn’t know!”

It is worth noting that writers and columnists do not write the headlines. An editor does.

In this case, readers responded by saying that calling people “fatties” is unacceptable and unprofessional.

To continue reading this column, please visit theglobeandmail.com, where it was originally published.

• Globe public editor: Even disturbing photos tell a story
• Globe public editor: How should countries be ranked in the Olympics?
• Globe public editor: The PM and the floating hockey stick explained