Dutch broadcaster says now ‘white’ instead of ‘blank’

The Dutch broadcaster NOS has decided to prefer the word ‘white’ to use. ‘White evokes images of pure and clean.’

The broadcaster stresses that it is not a strict rule but rather a preference which is given to the NIS staff. “We use preferably white in messages, as white in contrast to black a positive connotation,” says editor-in-chief Marcel Gelauff in a statement on the website of NOS.

The official announcement comes after several readers on social media, the choice of ‘white farmers’ denounced in an article about Zimbabwe.

Evolution

Also, the Volkskrant communicated by the end of 2016, a transition to the word ‘white’. Blank would, according to the Dutch newspaper, to a lot of evoke associations with the colonial past, and would therefore be no better than the word nigger. Because the underlying problems will not be resolved by a word to replace the underlined also the Volkskrant that it is not a rule but a ‘voorkeursgebruik’ went. Faith joined that opinion.

The NRC ombudsman Sjoerd de Jong believes that newspapers need to evolve and their use of words there, should of let you depend. ‘A loaded word can become obsolete, such as with ethnic minorities has happened. If blank, only sounds like the white top of the dunes, yes, then white, however, more neutral.’