Trib Caves a Little, but Mostly Steady on Doublespeak Directives

As a number of good bloggers (see Talking Points Memo and Eschaton) out there have noted, the President & his White House minions have decided that Social Security terms "privatization" and "private accounts" are not polling well. So they have decreed, after having used this terminology for YEARS, that henceforth and foervermore such things shall be called "personal accounts." And any newspaper not using the term "personal accounts" (which, frankly could be my passbook savings account for all I know) is "editorializing" and is biased against the President.

Shake head in wonder, and insert Orwell reference here.

So, TPM and Eschaton and others have been documenting all the newspapers that have bowed to this pressure.

I'd like to report, thankfully, gratefully, and somewhat astonishingly, that the beloved Chicago Tribune is still (mostly) calling them "private accounts" although some language like "managed investment" and "private retirement" is creeping into the debate.

In a January 26 article, "Black caucus, Bush to discuss key issues" (from Newsday): One issue likely to come up is Bush's plan to divert part of their Social Security taxes to privately managed investment accounts. Supporters of privatization say African-Americans could benefit from the change.

From the lede to a January 26 feature article, "High stakes: As President Bush seeks to reform the Social Security program, economists argue the pros and cons of switching to private accounts" by Nancy Traver: Joan Staples invested her money well during the years she worked as a Chicago Public Schools teacher. Now that she is retired, she's enjoying a comfortable income from her investments. Still, President George W. Bush's proposals to privatize Social Security make her uneasy.

This article does mention "personal accounts" 4 times, in the context of what Bush and his supporters call them. But "privatize" is used three times and "private accounts" is used 6 times, and that seems to be what the economists and "regular folks" are calling them. Even a letter-writing supporter of "private accounts" calls them..."private accounts!"

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