The Huffington Post’s Michael Calderone reported that the Associated Press has now decided to refer to the “situation in Libya” as “civil war.”
Calderone explained that the AP’s terminology decision is important, citing the media’s labeling or not labeling waterboarding as torture, or the proposed “Islamic cultural center in Lower Manhattan” as “Ground Zero Mosque” as examples of the media’s terminology affecting public opinion.
The New York Times hasn’t established an editorial policy for labeling the “Libya fighting,” Calderone reported. The New York Times’ standards editor Phil Corbett reportedly told Calderone. “Our reporters think it’s certainly accurate to call it a civil war, but also important to remind readers of its origin as a popular uprising against the government.”