Aha! So it was
Ari Fleischer who first did the semantic sidestep!
In the wake of White House spokesman Ari Fleischer renaming Middle East suicide bombers as "homicide bombers," which was soon adopted by Fox News Channel, Pittsburgh's WTAE has also switched to the new nomenclature. Mostly.
News director Bob Longo said "suicide bomber" will remain in network packages received via satellite, but anything written locally will use the term "homicide bomber," which he believes is "more timely, relevant and accurate."
Longo said with so many bombings in such a short period of time, all designed to kill people, he felt it was a change worth noting. He acknowledged "homicide bomber" could be viewed as a pro-Israel political statement, but said "suicide bomber" could be interpreted as the opposite.
"We're by no means making a political statement," Longo said. "We're making a more accurate representation of what's happening. These people aren't strapping explosives to their body in the privacy of their own home, they're doing it in densely populated settings with the intent to murder and maim."
Representatives of KDKA, WPGH and WPXI said their stations will stick with "suicide bomber."
"If I was thinking of changing to 'homicide bomber,' I'd be inclined to go with just 'bomber.' 'Homicide bomber' seems redundant," said WPXI news director Pat Maday. "I'm certainly mindful of why some people prefer that term. We can't forget in the use of 'suicide bomber' that this person who is committing suicide is often killing a great many people in the process."
Maday said a change in terminology could confuse some viewers.
"People know what 'suicide bomber' means in the context of this stuff. To begin to change terms can very easily confuse a story that's already difficult for people to understand beyond the violence."