Why Did NBC Montana Call Him an “Undocumented Citizen”?

"Undocumented citizen in Montana faces felony charges, including attempted homicide." That was an NBC Montana headline. Uh- your own story says he is a Mexican citizen who is in this country illegally. Sounds pretty dang documented to me.

Let me start by actually defending NBC Montana and the reporter on this story for a second.

First, good job by the reporter for reporting the fact that this guy being held on attempted homicide charges IS actually an illegal alien. Some news outlets try to hide that fact, or bury it at the bottom of the story. Second, let me add that reporters may write the stories, but someone else may be the person actually writing the bad headlines. That is very likely what happened here.

But even for the headline writer- unfortunately too many news outlets are forced to use these absurd AP style guides when writing news stories and headlines. The AP has lost all credibility and should no longer be used as any sort of guideline when it comes to reporting news. (It's the same reason you see news outlets call a man "her" and a woman "he". What ever happened to facts and truth?) Credible folks need to develop an alternative.

Case in point- look at how the AP completely left out the illegal alien angle to THIS story about the young college student murdered in Georgia:

By the way- this was all part of my Monday morning rant at 6 a.m. Monday. Click below for the audio: