Document details

Use with Care: A Reporter's Glossary of Loaded Language in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Vienna: International Press Institute (IPI) (2013), 59 pp.

ISBN 978-3-9503007-9-6

"This is a guide of sorts, presenting a collection of terms used on both sides, which in some contexts may be regarded as loaded or biased, or whose meaning is often misunderstood, or which can be misleading. These are words the use of which is liable to give away the reporter’s communal identity or sympathies. There are words that can cause some audiences to simply shut down and stop listening. Our goal is to expose potential linguistic pitfalls, so that those covering the conflict are aware of how their words might be received. The handbook tries to present reasonable alternatives to the loaded terms and is meant to serve as a tool for journalists trying to find their way in the typically complicated terminology of the conflict. It was written not only for the sake of Israeli and Palestinian journalists but also for foreign reporters, with the intention of honing and increasing their awareness of problematic terminology that they might employ, or that they might find in use by actors on both sides of the conflict." (Editor's note)