Globe and Mail Public Editor: The Globe will avoid racist term alt-right

Citing ‘Orwellian Newspeak,’ readers urge The Globe to not use made-up words

By Sylvia Stead for the Globe and Mail

On Monday, The Globe and Mail issued this note to all editorial staff:

The term alt-right refers to a collection of groups or individuals espousing racist, fascist or white-supremacist ideologies.

We should avoid this term as much as possible.

If we must use it, in a quote, for example, we should provide a definition of the term.

On Friday, I urged this very thing with this column/blog.

A number of readers wrote to urge The Globe to codify this notion and I’ve heard from lots of you. You urged The Globe to call a lie a lie, not a claim, and to not be afraid to be blunt in the face of spin and propaganda.

Continue reading this story on The Globe and Mail website, where it was first published.

Sylvia Stead

Sylvia Stead is the Public Editor of the Globe and Mail.