July 13, 2005
Just when you think you've heard it all comes this: the BBC has re-edited some of its coverage of the London bombings to avoid labeling the perpetrators as "terrorists."
Early reporting on the BBC, which is supported by taxpayers, spoke of terrorists, but the same coverage was changed to describe the attackers simply as "bombers."
The BBC guidelines state that its credibility is undermined by the "careless use of words which carry emotional or value judgments."
Consequently, it says, "the word 'terrorist' itself can be a barrier rather than an aid to understanding and its use should be "avoided," the guidelines say.
Talk about political correctness run amok.
Talk about stupidity.
If what happened in London and earlier in Madrid, Bali, New York and Washington wasn't terrorism, the word has no meaning.
The BBC is fooling only itself and playing into the hands of terrorists when it pretends the use of some words and the non-use of other words will protect anyone from the terrorists.
What were Stalin, Hitler and Mao?
Were they mass murderers, or something else?
BBC should stand for British Baloney Corporation.
In Northern Ireland, I'm Cal Thomas.
Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C. Watch his television show, After Hours with Cal Thomas, on the Fox News Channel, Saturdays at 11 p.m. Eastern Time.
