Princess Purrypants wants to remind you that your words matter and the internet writes in ink!
One of the best ways I like to up my skills is by taking training courses that challenge my skills and get me outside of my comfort zone. For a long time, everything in podcasting seemed that way. But one thing I found lacking from podcasting conversations was how to edit for sensitivity and inclusion.
When I saw ACES: The Society of Editing had a few courses on those subjects, I looked further into them before signing up.
I recently decided to become a member of ACES: The Society of Editing. I learned about the organization back in college while studying journalism and used their resources throughout my time as an editor for various print organizations.
When I got into podcasting and, more specifically, podcast editing, I found my journalism and copy editing background beneficial and decided to tap into it again.
I specifically wanted to hone my editing skills when it came to diversity and inclusion.
Even though editing for print and editing for audio are different in a number of ways, there are a lot of crossovers when it comes to editing out words that may offend those consuming the content. Just being aware of those words can be a big step in avoiding public backlash or possible legal action for both myself and my clients.
I checked out the courses and decided to try the Copyediting Web Series: Inclusive Language Webcast Series first.
I took some notes and here are just a few from the first of three parts of the series:
Language changes. It’s a fact. It always has, and it always will. Language evolves. There are prescriptive linguists who are purists and fight against this change. But when words are used in more and more bodies of work, dictionary and style guide boards are going to take notice and consider them for inclusion.
“They” as a singular has been used as far back as Chaucer & Shakespeare.
“You” is also a pronoun that can be used in the singular and plural form
A New York Times journalist once wrote a piece about trans activists and used first names instead of pronouns throughout the article, unless pronouns were used in direct quotes. This was to avoid misgendering or incorrectly identifying someone by the wrong pronoun. The author was interviewed about the piece and said it was like writing formal poetry.
Sensationalizing someone’s appearance to add flavor or color to a story is considered yellow journalism. Be aware of excessive and irrelevant descriptions of ethnicities.
Using the word “survivor” instead of “victim” is preferred.
When bringing up insensitive language to clients, asking them to clarify the meaning and intent rather than placing blame can go a long way. The example given was, “I’m worried readers — or, worse, reviewers — might wrongly take this wording here to be sexist in nature. Let’s rephrase.” was used as an example from Carol Fisher Saller, The Subversive Copyeditor.
When it comes to women, there’s a tendency to refer to them first by marital or family status. “Mom of 3 named CEO” was a headline used as an example, when the job or her credibility had nothing to do with her role as a mom. Great point! I have two additional thoughts about this.
Sometimes as a podcast host, you may want to identify with your audience so if your audience is made up of moms (or parents), you may want to bring that up as a way to relate. Some hosts and their guests feel that being a mom is their No. 1 job in life and they’re perfectly fine with that being the leading thing someone describes them as. Especially to establish they are a working mom, which can be a part of their overall message and branding.
This made me think about my social media bios and how I intentionally put “wife+mom” first. I did that specifically because it actually made a difference in the number of creepy dudes sliding into my DMs. I don’t like that I have to do that to feel safe online, but here we are.
“Yellow journalism and yellow press are American terms for journalism and associated newspapers that present little or no legitimate, well-researched news while instead using eye-catching headlines for increased sales.”
If those points have you scratching your head and make you want to learn more, check out the course on the ACES website. As I mentioned, those takeaways are just from the first installment. I watched the other two over the course of the next few days and there were so many idioms and phrases that I didn’t realize had racist or marginalizing origins and meanings.
I ended up buying a full membership for a year so I could have access to all the courses for $75, but individual courses can be purchased for $30 for non-members. There are also lower prices for Students and Bulk Memberships.
By the way, this isn’t an ad or affiliate sale — I genuinely enjoy the resources from ACES and found the price to be incredibly attractive for all the courses available. 🙂
If you’ve taken an ACES course that you’ve enjoyed and has helped you with podcasting, please let me know! I plan on taking full advantage of my membership and checking these courses out next: Sensitivity Reading and Beyond: Empowering Editors to Talk About Conscious Language and Representation , Don't Eat Your Words: How We Talk About Food and Bodies and Why It Matters and Headlines That Work: How to Capture Readers’ Attention on Any Platform.
Lastly, one more resource you may find helpful as a podcast host or writer is this guide to terms to avoid when talking about mental illnesses and alternatives.
Additional resource: Check out this episode of Open Space Radio to hear about creating inclusive spaces within your organization or business. It was one of my favorite episodes to edit.
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