The Wall Street Journal is officially burying use of the phrase “death tax” in its pages about a month after the politically charged phrase made repeated appearances in a straight news story.
In its latest “Style and Substance” newsletter, the editor of the Journal‘s stylebook, Paul R. Martin, has asked reporters and editors to “bury” the phrase.
“Because opponents of estate taxes have long referred to them as death taxes, the term should be avoided in news stories,” he writes. “The term death tax has become too politicized to be of any use except in editorials. Bury it.”
Martin compares the phrase to “pro-life” and “pro-choice,” saying “abortion rights” is more objective.
As we pointed out at the time “death taxes” appeared in a news story, published on Oct. 31 and titled “State Death Taxes Are the Latest Worry.”
“Death tax” was used in the lede and five more times throughout the story.
The Journal apparently received reader complaints.
“When the lead of an article said, ‘With the federal estate tax disappearing for most people, state death taxes have emerged as a surprise new worry,’ we heard about it from readers,” Martin wrote.
