AP says rioting/looting is ok if it's for a good cause

AP has revised its stylebook which guides how it writes about news events. In doing so it has taken the clear position that the use of violence is ok so long as it's for a cause that the AP supports.

 

New guidance on AP Stylebook Online:

Use care in deciding which term best applies:
A riot is a wild or violent disturbance of the peace involving a group of people. The term riot suggests uncontrolled chaos and pandemonium. (1/5)

— APStylebook (@APStylebook) September 30, 2020

Unrest is a vaguer, milder and less emotional term for a condition of angry discontent and protest verging on revolt. (3/5)

— APStylebook (@APStylebook) September 30, 2020

Revolt and uprising both suggest a broader political dimension or civil upheavals, a sustained period of protests or unrest against powerful groups or governing systems. (5/5)

— APStylebook (@APStylebook) September 30, 2020

AP is saying that if rioting, looting, and property destruction occurs in service of a good cause like racial justice then it's ok and shouldn't be portrayed as something bad.

Oddly if pro-lifers were to riot and destroy abortion mills in order to save the lives of babies it's pretty clear that AP writers would use words like riot to describe the event.

What the AP is saying is that if a group's cause is supported by the AP then that group doesn't have to use the democratic process to address their grievances. Essentially those who riot and loot for what the AP declares to be a "good" cause are above the law and don't have to deal with the hard work of convincing the country to support their position.

The AP also declares that violent riots can be referred to as protests or demonstrations.  This means that it will no longer be possible to determine from an AP story if people were protesting peacefully or if they were rioting, looting, and destroying Black neighborhoods.

If you haven't read the book 1984 do so now because you're living it.

In that book the totalitarian dictatorship which ruled the land to redefine words in service of maintaining power. Peace became war is one example that is eerily similar to what AP is doing.

No wonder no one trusts the media anymore.