In one story, we addressed the associate English professor as Dr. Oliver Brookes.
Here's the problem, how do we know he has a doctorate degree that allows him to be called Dr.? We don't have that information.
Being a professor doesn't automatically mean you have such a degree. I mean, technically I'm a professor and I'll I have is a bachelor's degree. Professor and Dr. are not interchangeable terms; you can be one without being the other.
In AP Style, under doctor:
Use Dr. in first reference as a formal title before the name of an individual who holds a doctor of dental surgery, doctor of medicine, doctor of osteopathic medicine, or doctor of podiatric medicine degree ... Dr. also may be used on first reference before the names of individuals who hold other types of doctoral degrees.
(There's also more details under the heading for academic degrees, FYI.)
Now, in the dictionary on my desk, under professor:
A teacher of the highest rank in an institution of higher elarning; a teacher or instructor; one who professes.
Nothing in there about being a doctorate holder.
But we don't know whether he has a doctorate degree or not. We assumed. That assumption creates a fatal, in that we're giving Brookes a title we cannot confirm, and for which we have no basis to award him.
It's critical that we don't assume things so that we don't turn a fact into a fatal. It's critical that we use words and terms and titles correctly so that we don't unintentionally create a factual error. That's a big part of, journalism isn't about writing; it's about getting it right.
Either we know, or we don't. If we don't know, we need to seek answers to those questions. If we can't find answers, we can't assume and we go with what we have. What we do know, we need to find the right words and titles to correctly label something and not create an unintended mislabeling or misunderstanding on the part of the reader.
We had that Brookes was a teacher at LCC. We even had his title; that he was an associate professor of English. But we didn't have whether he was a doctor or not. So, as far as we know he's not a doctor until it can be proven otherwise.
Here's the problem, how do we know he has a doctorate degree that allows him to be called Dr.? We don't have that information.
Being a professor doesn't automatically mean you have such a degree. I mean, technically I'm a professor and I'll I have is a bachelor's degree. Professor and Dr. are not interchangeable terms; you can be one without being the other.
In AP Style, under doctor:
Use Dr. in first reference as a formal title before the name of an individual who holds a doctor of dental surgery, doctor of medicine, doctor of osteopathic medicine, or doctor of podiatric medicine degree ... Dr. also may be used on first reference before the names of individuals who hold other types of doctoral degrees.
(There's also more details under the heading for academic degrees, FYI.)
Now, in the dictionary on my desk, under professor:
A teacher of the highest rank in an institution of higher elarning; a teacher or instructor; one who professes.
Nothing in there about being a doctorate holder.
But we don't know whether he has a doctorate degree or not. We assumed. That assumption creates a fatal, in that we're giving Brookes a title we cannot confirm, and for which we have no basis to award him.
It's critical that we don't assume things so that we don't turn a fact into a fatal. It's critical that we use words and terms and titles correctly so that we don't unintentionally create a factual error. That's a big part of, journalism isn't about writing; it's about getting it right.
Either we know, or we don't. If we don't know, we need to seek answers to those questions. If we can't find answers, we can't assume and we go with what we have. What we do know, we need to find the right words and titles to correctly label something and not create an unintended mislabeling or misunderstanding on the part of the reader.
We had that Brookes was a teacher at LCC. We even had his title; that he was an associate professor of English. But we didn't have whether he was a doctor or not. So, as far as we know he's not a doctor until it can be proven otherwise.
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