A few days ago, the Maven had the privilege of having lunch with a few retired media folks. One of the more notable topics of discussion centered around confused listeners/readers/viewers.
Taking a look at what our local media cranks out, it's easy to understand why they are confused.
First off, the use of the word "councilors" to refer to the Fort Wayne City Council, can confuse. While the term has been used to refer to members of city councils in places like Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and other cities, the word, while accurate, has not been used extensively in the Fort Wayne market. One of the most harped-upon rules of news writing is to use the most common, understandable word to describe something. In the case of the infamous 9 who we elected every 4 years, "City Council", "Councilman", "Councilwoman", and "Council Member" are the most commonly acceptable and recognizable names for the body for residents of Fort Wayne. In the example above, would not it have been better to say "City Council approves..."?
Another point of confusion is that while the headline says "councilors" the body copy of the story does not use the word, even once. While it has been argued that the term "councilor" is gender-neutral and non-sexist and promotes diversity and inclusivity, the description of Sharon Tucker begs why the writer did not call her a "councilor" rather than "councilwoman".
And while we're at it, there's the term "city leaders" referring to a governing body, such as the Fort Wayne City Council. They are representatives of the people who elected them. They do not lead us, they represent us. There is only one "leader" for the City of Fort Wayne, and that is the mayor.
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