How do newspapers adapt to changes in language?

Language changes. Always has and always will.

While newspapers document change every day, changes to language and terms we use only come after careful consideration of how we can best serve our readers.

Two recent changes to the language we employ and the rules of newsroom style can be seen in both our use of pronouns as well as race and ethnicity.

Wherever possible, we will make use of the pronouns, which conform to how a person wants to be identified. In many stories, you will see she/her/hers or he/him/his. But in others, gender-neutral pronouns like they/them/their will be used. To help avoid confusion for the reader, we will explain the person’s pronoun preference to help provide clarity.

We also use an upper-case for the first letter in Indigenous and Black, in the case of a radical, cultural or ethnic sense. In the case of an Indigenous subject for a story, we will also give them an opportunity to indicate if they want to be identified as a Cree, Dakota, Métis, etc.