A student-run newspaper has apologized this week but not to the peer who was murdered.
Loyola University Chicago student Sheridan Gorman, 18, was shot and killed on March 19 around 1:00 a.m. The Department of Homeland Security said at the time she had been walking in a park with friends.
‘We deeply regret these errors, and we’re committed to continuing the high standards we hold for ourselves as journalists.’
DHS went on to accuse Jose Medina-Medina, “a Venezuelan criminal illegal alien,” of wearing a mask and shooting Gorman as she attempted to run away.
Now Loyola University Chicago’s newspaper is apologizing for characterizing the accused as an “illegal immigrant.”
In an article published on Sunday, the Loyola Phoenix added an editor’s note about language used in an Instagram post on Monday.
The outlet first wrote that its original headline on Instagram, “Immigrant Man Charged in Murder of Sheridan Gorman, DHS Involved,” was inappropriate because it caused “harm” to “community members.”
“That headline didn’t reflect the most important elements in the story, and it was taken down minutes later to prevent any further harm to affected community members,” the Loyola Phoenix began.
Then the student-driven paper apologized for using the term “illegal immigrant” entirely.
“In the body of the original post, we described the man who was charged as an ‘illegal immigrant,’ using language provided by the Department of Homeland Security. That language does not align with Associated Press style, nor does it align with the values of this newspaper,” the note said.
“No human’s existence is illegal, and we quickly changed our wording to reflect that.”
Associated Press dropped the term “illegal immigrant” in 2013 and currently provides a bevy of alternate terms while declaring one should “use illegal only to refer to an action, not a person: illegal immigration, but not illegal immigrant.”
The style guide goes on to say that terms like “immigrants lacking permanent legal status” or “irregular migration” are acceptable substitutes. The guide explicitly says not to use the terms “alien, unauthorized immigrant, irregular migrant, an illegal, illegals, or undocumented,” except when quoting people or government documents.
“Many immigrants have some sort of documents, but not the necessary ones,” it adds.
Photo by Jim Steinfeldt/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Loyola’s paper continued, saying it acknowledged the “harm such language can cause and the power and importance of the words we choose to use.”
“We deeply regret these errors, and we’re committed to continuing the high standards we hold for ourselves as journalists and members of the Loyola, Rogers Park, and Chicago communities,” the message concluded.
Blaze News reached out to the article’s author, Lilli Malone, who is also listed as the editor in chief of the paper, but did not receive a response.
In its report, DHS said that Medina-Medina was released into the country in May 2023 after being apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol and released again that June after he was arrested for alleged shoplifting in Chicago.
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