WMUB Listener Feedback

Twice today (12/6/05) I heard a story on your local news broadcast regarding a new national park system commemorating the development of atomic weapons. In it, your news reader says that the city of Dayton feels "gypped" not to be included in the plans. Please be aware that this is a derogatory term, offensive to those of Gypsy descent and all of us who have become aware of the derivation of the word. It's similar to saying someone was "jewed down", which is a phrase I'm sure you would never use.

Please change the language of this story immediately. I'm sure your use of the word was unintentional.

--C.K.

WMUB's response: You are correct that WMUB's use of the phrase was unintentional.  It was included in an Associated Press version of the story that we aired Monday morning.

We have sent your comment along to the Associated Press and their editors and we have informed our news reporters and producers that we will exclude the word "gypped" from our vocabulary in future reporting.

While we were at it, we discovered that NPR Ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin made mention of this issue in a recent online column.   You can read it at the following link.

Thanks for helping us to understand the nature of this usage.  We're glad to have it pointed out and to make changes in our journalistic vocabulary.