What The Hell America!

Place names are political.

When they change, it’s often the result of someone’s victory, whether political or military. When Saigon became Ho Chi Minh City or St. Petersburg became Leningrad, you knew there was a new boss in town. Other times, it’s a sign that someone or something has fallen out of public favor — like when the Ontario city of Berlin decided to become Kitchener when its young men were fighting Germans in World War I. Authoritarians especially love to change the names of places, seeing it “as a tool for constructing new notions of national identity and promoting certain historical narratives while denying, suppressing, or erasing others.”

You know what else is political? The language that news organizations choose to use. “Illegal immigrants” vs. “undocumented people,” “estate tax” vs. “death tax,” “rebels” vs. “freedom fighters,” “racist” vs. “racially charged” — each choice tells readers something about the underlying assumptions of the writer or publication. Language choices can either lend legitimacy or withhold it. So it’s not surprising that the tension between these two forces — a government changing a familiar place name and journalists deciding whether to go along — has become a political flashpoint.

At issue is the body of water I grew up about 30 miles away from, the Gulf of Mexico. It’s had that name for centuries — far longer than there has been a country named Mexico. On Inauguration Day, Donald Trump signed an executive order “restoring” a name it had never before had, the Gulf of America. On January 24, “Gulf of America” became the official name within the federal government. And this week, Google, Apple, and Microsoft have all made the change in their respective map platforms.

Now it’s up to individual news organizations to decide the name they’ll use. Just as with the platform formerly known as Twitter, publishers make these editorial decisions on behalf of their audience and their own values.

At least that’s how it’s supposed to go in a country with a First Amendment. On Tuesday afternoon, we learned that Trump aims to expand his realm of authority to include newsroom style guides:

NEW YORK (AP) — The White House blocked an Associated Press reporter from an event in the Oval Office on Tuesday after demanding the news agency alter its style on the Gulf of Mexico, which President Donald Trump has ordered renamed the Gulf of America.

The reporter, whom the AP would not identify, tried to enter the White House event as usual Tuesday afternoon and was turned away. Later, a second AP reporter was barred from a late-evening event in the White House’s Diplomatic Reception Room.

The highly unusual ban, which Trump administration officials had threatened earlier Tuesday unless the AP changed the style on the Gulf, could have constitutional free-speech implications.

Here’s a Voice of America story on the controversy. Might as well read it while VOA is still allowed to write about it. On Wednesday, the White House insisted that the AP, by sticking with “Gulf of Mexico,” was telling “lies” and would continue to be blocked from events.

Blocking reporters’ access over house style manages to be — like a lot of bullying — simultaneously deeply troubling and hilariously petty. Even before yesterday, I’d have argued the best choice for news outlets was to stick with “Gulf of Mexico,” a perfectly good 400-year-old name that every reader will understand. But if Trump is going to start barring reporters over it, maintaining the old name is the only reasonable choice. Before, the main risk of using “Gulf of America” ^{was appearing to endorse a xenophobic gesture. Now, it looks like preemptive surrender to an unconstitutional threat.}

But we’re already seeing “Gulf of America” pop up in stories that have nothing to do with the renaming per se. Right-wing outlets like Alabama’s Yellowhammer News and 1819 News are already using Trump’s term without any clarification. (You may remember 1819 News from one of the most grotesque incidents in recent journalism history.) Others, like Fox News and Breitbart, are happily on board.

I reached out to 15 major news organizations to see what their style would be going forward. Below are all of the responses from those who’ve gotten back to me; I’ll keep adding them as they come in. So far, none plan to switch completely to “Gulf of America,” though Gannett plans to use both names in tandem.

Associated Press: Gulf of Mexico

Amanda Barrett, AP’s vice president of standards and inclusion, issued the wire service’s guidance on January 23:

The Gulf of Mexico has carried that name for more than 400 years. The Associated Press will refer to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen. As a global news agency that disseminates news around the world, the AP must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences.

The AP regularly reviews its style guidance regarding name changes, in part to ensure its guidance reflects common usage. We’ll continue to apply that approach to this guidance and make updates as needed.

There are other examples where the AP refers to a geographical place by more than one name. For example, the Gulf of California is sometimes referred to as the Sea of Cortez. The U.S. government has designated that body of water as the Gulf of California, while Mexico recognizes it as the Sea of Cortez.

AP’s style decisions are, of course, the default for a large share of mainstream U.S. news organizations.

Bloomberg: Gulf of Mexico

Bloomberg will be following the AP, whose style decisions, this story notes, form “the basis for many broadcasting and news services, including Bloomberg News.”

The New York Times: Gulf of Mexico

From a Times spokesperson: “The Times takes many factors into consideration when dealing with disputed geographical names, and we reflect settled, common usage in our journalism. In the case of the gulf, it is an international body of water that has been known as the Gulf of Mexico for several hundred years. We will continue to follow common usage in updating our style guidance, like we have done in the past with other areas of the world. We’ll continue to cover the news of the President’s executive order fairly and in service of our audiences, and will refer to ‘Gulf of America’ when needed for reader context.”

Reuters: Gulf of Mexico

This Wednesday story includes a graf on Reuters’ stance:

Most news organizations, including Reuters, call it the Gulf of Mexico although, where relevant, Reuters style is to include the context about Trump’s executive order.

The Washington Post: Gulf of Mexico “in most contexts”

A spokesperson pointed me to a paragraph in Tuesday’s Jeremy Barr story about the AP situation:

The Post has also decided to continue using the name Gulf of Mexico “in most contexts” because the body of water “is not solely within the United States’ jurisdiction and the name Gulf of America might confuse global readers,” according to a style guidance.

Los Angeles Times: Gulf of Mexico

From Ruthanne Salido, assistant managing editor of the multiplatform desk and co-chair of the standards and practices committee: “It simply comes down to the American president’s lack of authority to rename geographic points that lie outside U.S. boundaries and territories.”

Here’s how a newsroom memo put it: “As for the Gulf of Mexico vs. the Gulf of America, the U.S. president does not have the authority to rename the gulf. So we’ll stick with Gulf of Mexico. There’s no need to mention the ‘alternative name at this point unless, of course, that’s the point of the story,’ News copy desk manager John Penner notes.”

USA Today/Gannett: Both

A spokesperson said Gannett newspapers “will continue to use both references to provide clarity and accuracy for readers. For example: ‘The Gulf of Mexico, now referred to as the Gulf of America by the U.S. government…’”

Here’s a recent example from Gannett’s Jackson (Miss.) Clarion-Ledger: “After all, it’s not every day people living along the Gulf of America, more commonly known in the U.S. as the Gulf of Mexico, experience snow.”

The Atlantic: Gulf of Mexico

From an internal memo Wednesday morning:

As you are probably aware, the White House blocked an Associated Press reporter from attending an Oval Office event yesterday, because the AP has not changed its style guide to accept Trump’s demand that the Gulf of Mexico be called the “Gulf of America.”

We share the AP’s alarm over this clear affront to the First Amendment. We also share its rationale for continuing to use “Gulf of Mexico”: This is the internationally recognized name for an internationally controlled body of water, one that has been accepted for more than 400 years. Our obligation is to reflect reality accurately.

We should, of course, acknowledge the dispute over the name wherever this information is appropriate and relevant to a story. We should, similarly, acknowledge the Trump administration’s threats to press freedom. And as ever, we will continue to evolve our style guide as language itself evolves.

The New Yorker: Gulf of Mexico

A magazine spokesperson told me: “We’re going to follow AP guidance on this.”