WSJ’s Baker: No ban on “Muslim-majority country” phrase

Wall Street Journal editor Gerard Baker sent out the following to the staff on Tuesday:

Given some media reports concerning some editing-related emails I sent last night, let me make a few points about our continuing coverage of President Trump’s executive order on travel to the U.S.

There is no ban on the phrase “Muslim-majority country. ” But we should always be careful that this term is not offered as the only description of the countries covered under the ban.

What we should do, in keeping with our long history of fair and thorough reporting, is prominently present the fact the immigration suspension applies to seven Muslim-majority countries along with the administration’s rationale: an effort to prevent terrorists from entering the U.S.

We have examined and will continue to examine robustly the provenance, implications and wisdom of this executive order.

We have covered and will cover the Trump administration aggressively. In addition to making some changes in last night’s story, I also asked, as I often do, for the same article to include more voices of the critics of this policy.

Our published examples of our robust reporting on Trump are too numerous to detail. There is no conflict between that aggressiveness and reporting in the fair and complete manner that has been our hallmark.

Gerry