Mea Culpa: Chair and chair alike

A round-up of errors and omissions in last week’s Independent, by Susanna Richards

A chair of unknown gender ponders its existence (Getty/iStock)

We seem to have forgotten, over the past week or two, that The Independent has a long-standing policy of doing without gendered job titles where possible. It is difficult in some cases – calling someone a businessperson, for instance, feels clumsy and awkward – but when there is a simple solution to the problem, there is no excuse. So it pains me to report that we have used the word “chairman” 242 times in the past seven days, at time of writing.

Our style has been “chair” for as long as I can remember, and that shouldn’t change just because someone important in politics has had to stand down... or sit down, perhaps. I’m not sure we’re getting much better at using “spokesperson”, either, with 155 mentions of a “spokesman” over the same seven days. I suspect it is a losing battle.

Parallel universe: From chairs to thrones, I suppose, and “An extraordinary piece of gold jewellery – linked to the 16th-century English king Henry VIII – has been discovered by a metal detectorist in a field in the English Midlands” was our excitable opening to an article about an archaeological find, as we made sure to clarify which Henry VIII we meant – and, indeed, which Midlands.