AP Stylebook Tells Journalists To Put 'Woke' In Quotes, Blames Conservative Appropriation

The Associated Press Stylebook, which at one time provided objective references for journalists, updated its guidance for the use of the word "woke."

The AP now advises publishers to surround the oft-cited term in quotation marks and to only use the word when it's a direct quote.

The stylebook attributes the change to conservatives hijacking the term's meaning:

"A slang term that originally described enlightenment or awakening about issues of racial and other forms of social justice," tweeted AP Stylebook on Wednesday.

"Some people and groups, especially conservatives, now use it in a derogatory sense implying what they see as overreactions. Avoid using the term other than in direct quotations."

The change comes following a much-discussed debate last month over the meaning of the word after commentator Bethany Mandel failed to provide an adequate definition.

Unofficially, woke has come to describe a vision to re-define societal norms through identity. 

In a way, conservatives have appropriated the word. But that's on account of the perpetually offended escalating what counts as a social injustice.

Woke is a derivation of the progressive movement. The mission emanated with a focus on existing problems, be it race or inequality.

However, the anonymous leaders of the movement do not acknowledge victory or progress. Instead, they continue to progress even when the problems at hand no longer exist.

Most notably, the so-called racial reckoning morphed into the normalization of blatant anti-white racism.

So while racism no longer exists on the macro level, the demand for racism did not subside along with its supply.

But more important than the definition of woke is its influence. As we reported recently, “the woke crowd makes up only 8 percent of the electorate.“ Most of society despises what the term has come to represent.

Yet wokeism, if you will, has rippled through American society by capturing leading institutions, from tech to media, from entertainment to academia.

Woke, in its current form, has infested culture and politics. Woke influence is profound. And not until recently have influencers begun to resist its intensification.

Woke is not just a derogatory term conservatives use to undermine their opposition. Rather, the rise and impending fall of woke is a consequential moment in American society.

So, no, journalists should not "avoid using the term other than in direct quotations," as The AP advises the dutiful minions.

Written by
Bobby Burack is a writer for OutKick where he reports and analyzes the latest topics in media, culture, sports, and politics.. Burack has become a prominent voice in media and has been featured on several shows across OutKick and industry related podcasts and radio stations.