• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, August 14, 2025

Reporters and their editors could be guilty of posting “junk”—that is, content that utilizes “junk” language. 

That’s the opinion of a piece by NPR. It counsels student journalists to be mindful of the differences between loaded terms like “protest” and “riot,” “immigration reform vs. “immigration crackdown” and “embryo” and “unborn baby.”  

A police officer may tell the reporter than there is a riot going on, but it is up to the journalist to press for the explanation to justify that term.  

“Ultimately, on this and every other story, the reporter must decide which words are most accurate and appropriate,” NPR writes. “Because news consumers sometimes detect bias in such labels, it's wise for journalists to include the evidence for their word choices in their stories.” 

Those are good suggestions, and we second the article’s endorsement of the Associated Press Stylebook. 

Proper use of language is especially important in this age of frivolous multi-million dollar defamation suits. The sloppy use of a derogatory term could lead to great cost, even if the newspaper wins the case.  

But those is another issue. Equally pressing, in this old man’s view, is the increasing tendency toward using profanity in headlines and stories.

Case in point:  "F..k you."

Or, to say something "S..ks," or is "s...t."

When did standards slip to this degree? Granted, we haven’t seen these colloquial terms in the better newspapers, but they are widespread online, and are all too commonly used in public discourse.  

There are times when this language may be used in a story—when quoting someone directly, for instance. But even then, the words should not be completely spelled out.

Remember when news was written for a family audience?

Newsrooms face widespread trust issues. They can’t help themselves by delivering potty-mouthed prose.