Amid the rise of anti-Asian attacks during and after the pandemic, the Asian American Journalists Association wanted to help newsrooms become better informed about issues involving Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders communities. This fall, AAJA released an updated version of its style guide. It includes more definitions and better filters to familiarize media professionals with vocabulary about the AANHPI experience.
“This really has been a labor of love for over two years, with more than five dozen volunteers participating,” said Naomi Tacuyan Underwood, the association’s executive director.
The AAJA style guide also addresses phrasing of historical issues. When discussing the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, journalists should avoid terms like “interned” or “internment camps,” as only foreign nationals can be interned. The guide recommends using “incarceration camp,” “detention camp” or “prison camp.”
Brian Cleveland, co-lead of the style guide committee and multiplatform editing chief at The Washington Post, said the committee was careful when selecting which entries from Asian American history to include. “We tried to focus on what had ripple effects to people today, or broad implications that may not be obvious to everybody,” he said.
Much like The Associated Press Style Guide, which is often the go-to resource in newsrooms for standardized spelling, terminology and grammar, AAJA hopes its style guide can provide journalists with quick answers about Asian American identities and cultures and raise sensitivity about stereotypes.
Celia Wu, co-lead of the AAJA style guide committee, cited an example of something she found “uncomfortable,” when Google Docs’ spell-checking tool suggested replacing “message” with “massage,” because of its proximity to the word “Asian.”
“What a long way we have to go to hold not only newsrooms accountable, but also technology companies,” Wu said.
Marian Chia-Ming Liu, AAJA’s national vice president of civic engagement, said that the style guide is a “living, evolving resource.” She wants users to submit suggestions for adding or editing entries.
“We’re learning as we go,” said Liu. “And we’re changing it as we go, because definitions, terms, communities all evolve.”
Watch the AAJA webinar on its style guide.
Featured entries from the AAJA Style Guide
- Asian American — Do not hyphenate. In the early 20th century, President Theodore Roosevelt used the term “hyphenated Americans” to accuse immigrants of not having complete allegiance to the U.S.
- AAPI — Use all capital letters without periods. When necessary, spell out that it stands for Asian American and Pacific Islander. AAPI has often been misused to describe people or groups who are only of East Asian descent, to the exclusion of Pacific Islanders. Always defer to sources’ self-identification. Be aware that AANHPI, meaning Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, has become the preferred term by many groups, including some federal organizations.
- China virus, Chinese virus, Wuhan virus — Avoid these offensive terms for Covid-19. The World Health Organization does not name diseases after geographical locations to prevent stigmatization.
- Stereotypes against Asian American women
- China Doll — Phrase characterizing East Asian women as exotic and submissive.
- Dragon Lady — Phrase depicting Asian women as hypersexual and domineering, based on a cartoon character from the 1930s.
- Tiger Mom — Phrase used to describe a strict East Asian mother. It gained popularity from Amy Chua’s 2011 book, “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.”
- Anti-Asian hate — While anti-Asian hostility and discrimination became especially prevalent during the pandemic, it has deep historical roots in the U.S., dating back to the first waves of Chinese immigration in the mid-1800s. The brutal murder of a Chinese American man, Vincent Chin, in Michigan in 1982 led to unprecedented mobilizing by Asian American communities and activism against anti-Asian hate. AAJA offers a student journalism scholarship in Chin’s memory.
Other journalism style guides
- National Association of Black Journalists Style Guide
- Indigenous Journalists Association reporting guides
- National Association of Hispanic Journalists Resource Center
- NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists Stylebook
- GLAAD Organization Media Guide
- Trans Journalists Association Stylebook and Coverage Guide
- Language, Please
