Times, Tribune no longer using the term “illegal immigrant”

Some conservatives went into high dungeon this week after the Associated Press announced that it would no longer use the term "illegal immigrant."

The news organization said that its AP Stylebook — the language and grammar guide used by news organizations across the country — will immediately stop approving the phrase.

"The Stylebook no longer sanctions the term 'illegal immigrant' or the use of 'illegal' to describe a person. Instead, it tells users that 'illegal' should describe only an action, such as living in or immigrating to a country illegally, " explained Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll on AP's Web site.

The decision is a victory for a number of Latino-based organizations that have been advocating for years for newsrooms to stop employing the term, or even worse, "illegal aliens."

The news prompted CL to contact representatives from the two major Tampa Bay dailies to determine if they would follow suit.

This article appears in Apr 4-10, 2013.