Thursday, May 24, 2012

Get it right AP: Angel Shuai died as a baby not a fetus

Really Associated Press? Is it really too much to accurately describe a child named Angel Shuai, who was delivered at 33 weeks gestation and lived for 3 days as a baby? Do you still employ editors? Or does the AP style book require writers like Charles Wilson to describe any child whose life was ended prematurely as a fetus.

Unfortunately, FOXNews, ABC News, the Washington Post and numerous other media outlets don't understand that a child who survives her mother's suicide attempt and dies three days later isn't a "fetus."

It's almost like a mother's desire to kill her child supernaturally makes the child a "fetus" regardless of whether the child survives birth or not. As far as I can remember, the AP doesn't typically use "fetus" language to describe premature infants who die, at least as long as the child was wanted.

No comments:

Post a Comment