The Loyola University student newspaper has published an apology for calling the man who murdered one of the school’s students last week an “illegal immigrant.” The paper’s leadership said they also spiked an Instagram post that referred to 25-year-old Venezuelan citizen Jose Medina as an “immigrant man.”
“We acknowledge the harm such language can cause and the power and importance of the words we choose to use,” the Loyola Phoenix editors wrote in a note published on the paper’s website. “We deeply regret these errors, and we’re committed to continuing the high standards we hold for ourselves as journalists and members of the Loyola, Rogers Park and Chicago communities.”
In explaining their decision to spike the Instagram headline, “Immigrant Man Charged in Murder of Sheridan Gorman, DHS Involved,” the editors said the “headline didn’t reflect the most important elements in the story, and it was taken down minutes later to prevent any further harm to affected community members.”
The text of that story described Medina as an “illegal immigrant,” a word choice the editors attributed to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. In fact, DHS called Medina “a Venezuelan criminal illegal alien.”
“That language does not align with Associated Press style, nor does it align with the values of this newspaper,” the editors said of the term “illegal immigrant.” “No human’s existence is illegal, and we quickly changed our wording to reflect that.”
Notably, in the phrase “illegal immigrant,” the word “illegal” is a reference to the immigrant’s immigration status, not the legality of their existence, a concept that newspaper wordsmiths should be able to tackle.
Nonetheless, the Phoenix‘s editors continued their obsequious explanation: “We acknowledge the harm such language can cause and the power and importance of the words we choose to use. We deeply regret these errors, and we’re committed to continuing the high standards we hold for ourselves as journalists and members of the Loyola, Rogers Park and Chicago communities.”
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