Reuters Vs. Canwest

Yo, ain't it strange how the newspapers play with the language
--The Roots

Reuters is upset that Canwest is using 'terrorist' rather than its own super fun euphemisms:

Reuters upset by CanWest's misuse of 'terrorist'

OTTAWA - The world's oldest news agency, Reuters, says it will complain to CanWest Global's newspaper chain about its use of the word "terrorist" when editing stories dealing with the Middle East.

Papers owned by CanWest Publications, Canada's largest newspaper chain, have been altering words and phrases in some newswire copy stories dealing with the war in Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, thereby changing their meaning.

In one Reuters story, the original copy reads: "… the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which has been involved in a four-year-old revolt against Israeli occupation in Gaza and the West Bank."

In the National Post version, printed Tuesday, it became: "… the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a terrorist group that has been involved in a four-year-old campaign of violence against Israel."

Wow. Okay first of all, its hypocritical that Reuters would lecture anyone on "editorializing" a news report. Secondly, the only misuse of the English language on anyone's part would be on Reuter's side since the term 'terrorists' is defined by killing innocent non-combatants in surprise attacks, which is exactly what Al-Aqsa and Co do on a regular basis.

Also funny is that Reuters chooses to attack Canwest rather than ME news services that regularly change Reuters news reports...IE: Changing the dateline of "Jerusalem" to "Occupied Jerusalem".

Polspy gets upset over here and I don't think it is really justified. Changing a term to reflect reality is not editorializing to me. Reuters is the one editorializing on a consistent basis. Quick check: when is the last time you saw a Reuters Photo of an Israeli funeral from a Palestinian attack? Never. Who insidiously refers to the US as Israel's "Guardian Ally"? Reuters.

Reuters: reports factually incorrect information in their description of terrorists and Canwest corrects it. Problem?