tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3267597063062817567.post5594862405287549810..comments2023-12-24T00:14:00.742-06:00Comments on Cup O' Joel: SPJ and 'illegal immigrants'Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3267597063062817567.post-68987094323514866442011-11-10T18:04:01.660-06:002011-11-10T18:04:01.660-06:00Looking at the tables on this page, one could reas...Looking at the tables on this page, one could reasonably say that paperwork is precisely the problem.<br /><br />http://travel.state.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_5572.html<br /><br />(This is November 2011's bulletin.)BMGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00947613204564630859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3267597063062817567.post-41199781131561242812011-09-30T13:51:12.536-05:002011-09-30T13:51:12.536-05:00Joel, I think you're right about letting the s...Joel, I think you're right about letting the sources do the framing: That's what journalists should do. Whether you call someone an "undocumented" immigrant or an "illegal" immigrant, that's the writer making a judgment call they should not, perhaps, be making.<br /><br />Calling someone an "undocumented immigrant", however, doesn't obscure anything. They may be documented in their own country, but in this case the word "undocumented" modifies "immigrant", and that's surely what they are. "Undocumented people" is absurd, however.<br /><br />Given that journalists very carefully use word choices like "alleged murderer", calling anyone an illegal immigrant is a problem -- the journalist has convicted the subject already. Might as well start referring to everyone by whatever crime they're charged with and skip the trial. Calling them "alleged illegal immigrant" or "self-described illegal immigrant" is getting ungainly.<br /><br />I think this is a fine compromise (although, specifically, "undocumented person" is terrible).Chris Rywalthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15766746064219235983noreply@blogger.com