AP Revises Rule on Use of 'Islamist'

The Associated Press has changed the way it uses another politically charged term, reports Politico. First it was "illegal immigrant," and now it's "Islamist." The news service's widely used stylebook says the word should no longer be used as "a synonym for Islamic fighters, militants, extremists, or radicals, who may or may not be Islamists." Instead, it should describe someone who thinks society should follow the rules of Islam. The Council on American-Islamic Relations had long pushed for the change, arguing that reporters (and thus, their readers) were lazily equating "Islamists" with terrorists. (More Associated Press stories.)