More Than a Fetus
December 17, 2004
A jury in California this week decided that Scott Peterson should be executed for murdering his wife Laci, who was eight months pregnant. Reversing years of tradition, the media in this case have tended to refer to the second victim as Peterson's "unborn child," not as a "fetus." The Chicago Tribune has opted for "fetus," but that too will soon be changing. Brooke talks to Tribune deputy editor Randy Weissman and public editor Don Wycliff about language usage on a political tightrope.
