Comedian and talk-show host Bill Maher tore into media groups Friday night over efforts to restrict use of the word “terrorism” — even for brazen attacks designed to kill and maim people.
“There was a war on terror, and we won. And yet, so much has changed since 9/11. For example, back then, we were against the terrorists,” he said on his “Real Time With Bill Maher” show on HBO, which aired Sept. 11.
That opened up a series of comments mocking the media for how it sets language ground rules on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks that took the lives of 2,977 people.
“Now a lot of media outlets don’t even want you to say the ‘T-word’ on the 25th anniversary,” Maher said, pointing to journalism associations that he said wanted writers to put the word terrorism in quotes “because it’s emotionally and politically loaded.”
“Yes, so is the World Cup, but we don’t put soccer in quotes,” he cracked.
He then held up an image of the 19 hijackers.
“They shared something. Oh, let’s call it a worldview — and it wasn’t astrology,” he said.
In an occasionally awkward monologue about the tragic day, Maher brought up the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s now-rescinded guidance not to refer to the attacks as terrorism.
“What should we call it then — unruly passengers,” he quipped.
“A wrong turn, taken at the Chrysler Building,” he continued, earning applause from his studio audience.
Then he called out the BBC for saying the word terrorist can be a “barrier rather than an aide to understanding.”
“You know, it’s really a barrier to understanding lying,” Maher said.
It wasn’t clear from his monologue which US news associations he was referring to.
Nonprofit media outlet The Poynter Institute, after the FBI called a New Orleans attack that killed 10 an “act of terrorism,” has summed up several different approaches to using the term.
The Associated Press Stylebook states that “AP generally avoids labeling someone a ‘terrorist’ on its own, preferring to cite competent law enforcement officials or other credible authorities. Instead, we describe the specific actions we are reporting on and what we know about the perpetrators’ motives.”
