Journalism is, by definition, a representation of its readers, and the language journalists use should be inclusive of those readers.

As journalists, we here at The News strive to create a space where everyone is represented. This is, however, difficult to do when the stylebook used by many journalists  is not up to date on inclusive grammar, which can result in erasure of their identity.

According to “The 2020-22 Associated Press Stylebook,” “they/them/their is acceptable in limited cases as a singular and-or gender-neutral pronoun, when alternative wording is overly awkward or clumsy. However, rewording usually is possible and always is preferable. Clarity is a top priority; gender-neutral use of a singular they is unfamiliar to many readers. We do not use other gender-neutral pronouns such as xe or ze…” In addition, “In stories about people who identify as neither male nor female or ask not to be referred to as he/she/him/her: Use the person’s name in place of a pronoun, or otherwise reword the sentence…” This rule originally appeared in the 2017-19 edition of the “Stylebook,” and has not been revisited since.

We at The News believe this rule  can be seen as discriminatory and promotes the erasure of gender-non-conforming and nonbinary individuals, and that AP should be held accountable for promoting such discrimination and should make changes to their. Individual papers should also take it upon themselves to disregard such rules.

The AP has made themselves responsible for updating the journalism public on what grammar and terms that are reflective of the public journalists are writing for. “They/Them” is no exception.

At first glance, this rule appears to be made in accordance with the grammatical “rule” that “they” is a plural pronoun. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, however, there is evidence of the singular they being used in 1300s, and arguments against its use didn’t start appearing until the 18th century.

AP claims that the use of the gender-neutral “they” is unclear and “unfamiliar to most readers.” We find that this statement is incredibly out of touch, especially to be published in 2020. With the widespread use of social media and people sharing their gender identity online, most readers are aware that some people who  use gender-neutral pronouns.

“They” was declared as the word of the year in 2019 by Merriam Webster because of the growth of its meaning to encompass singular non-gender conforming individuals. The term is prevalent and well known.

By ascribing this rule, AP promotes erasure of people who don’t use he/him or she/her pronouns by deliberately excluding those pronouns and providing an unnatural form as an “alternative.” For example, if journalists were to follow this rule, a sentence could appear as “Smith said Smith’s work in the journalism department helped prepare Smith for life after college.” This sentence, despite being about a singular person, reads as if it’s about three different Smiths. This causes more confusion for the reader than if the sentence read, “Smith said their work…”

If AP refuses to reexamine its stance on the use of gender-neutral pronouns, individual publications should take it upon themselves to promote the use of more inclusive language.

We at The News believe that language is not something that can be prescribed. By definition, language is always changing, and telling writers how to use language prevents them from accurately representing their audience.

We call upon The Associated Press to reexamine its stance on using inclusive language and reflect on whether the rules it prescribes are really helping or hindering the accuracy journalism is supposed to convey. We also call upon individual publications to reflect on their use of inclusive language and choose to make changes accordingly.