Today CBC reported that Canwest (publishers of the National Post, Vancouver Sun, Vancouver Province, among others) has been changing words in news stories it is reprinting from the Reuters newswire (Click here to read the article). Apparently the words “fighter” and “insurgent” had been replaced with “terrorist” when reporting on the war in Iraq.

What is the difference between using one word or another? Well for one, it may be an indicator about which side you’re on. There are those in Iraq and elsewhere who would probably refer to the insurgents as freedom fighters, for example. Today “terrorist” is a highly charged word just as “communist” once was. It should therefore be used carefully.

The strange thing about the change in terminology is that it seems unnecessary. Why would editors go to the trouble of replacing “insurgent” with “terrorist?” Why not just print the article as is?