Should newspapers print the term “Redskins”?
A lot of what you’re going to see from me here will be framed in the context of sportswriting, so with that in mind, I ask you to consider this interesting little nugget I came across: KC Star policy prohibits calling Washington Redskins the ‘Redskins’.
I personally think its refreshing to see a major newspaper take a stand such as this, even if the rule hasn’t proven completely steadfast. Thoughts?
UMass Journalism Ethics 
I think the bigger problem at hand is IF,and when, will the NFL step in and change the name of the Washington Redskins.
How else is the sports reporter suppose to mention the Redskins football team in an article without actually writing the word “Redskins”? Sure, he/she could just refer to them as “Washington”, but that is quite vague considering the Redskins are not the only sports team in Washington D.C. Clearly sports fans, and most people in general, would know what team was being talked about from the article’s context, but there still are culturally-oblivious people out there that know nothing about the NFL or football.
They could write “The Football Team of Washington” I suppose, but how are you suppose to know what level of competiton they are talking about? High School? College? Semi-Pro? Pro?
To me it just seems obvious that journalists and regular citizens alike will continue to call the Redskins the Redskins because that is, and always has been, their identity. Until it is changed by either the NFL or Redskins organization (which it should be), there is no way to stop people from using the word.