Re: The dumbing down of the news

[hmglaz@webtv.net (H Glazer)]

Bill O'Neill wrote:

<<"Bernard Cardinal Law" is the way he'd like it (and the way tradition
would seem  to have it)>>

They're probably going by the Associated Press Stylebook, which dictates
that all Catholic titles, including Cardinal, precede the man's name. It
also says Catholic priests get "the Rev." preceding their names, not
"Father" or "Fr."

This, of course, is done in the name of standardization, which is why
stylebooks are written. AP has also removed the apostrophe from "Baha'i"
(It's now "Bahai") and decided that all women, except in sports stories,
get courtesy titles before their names. 

The latter dictum causes headaches at newspapers that have unilaterally
dropped the courtesy titles, as editors must search-and-replace through
every impeachment story, changing "Ms. Lewinsky" to "Lewinsky." I've
also noticed that  certain AP bureaus, such as Hartford, often ignore
this rule or apply it only occasionally, probably in deference to
dominant style at member papers in their area.

Howard

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