slurs

Limit the use of offensive language, whether racist, sexist, gender-based, anti-LGBTQ+, slurs against a religion, slurs against an ethnicity, etc. in quotes.

When a slur is used by a source in a quote, do not replace the slur with a euphemism or replace some letters of the slur with other characters such as asterisks to obscure it partially. If there is a compelling reason to use the quote, use keep the slur in tact and place a content warning at the top of story that offensive language including a slur is included in the story.

If the slur or offensive statement is in a quote and is newsworthy or should be used for a compelling news reason, a discussion must take place with the editorial leadership team about the use of the slur before publication. Best practice includes warning the audience that a slur will be used in the story at the beginning of the article, video, or audio.

If there is not a compelling news reason to use the quote as-is, omit the quote entirely and paraphrase, noting a slur was used, or simply omit the quote entirely.

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