A call to ban the word "controversial"

rainwiz via Visualhunt.com / CC BY-NC-SA

Mary Chris Jaklevic writes that the term "controversial" and its cousins "contentious" and "hotly debated," which journalists sometimes use almost reflexively, should be banned from science and medical reporting: "Calling something 'controversial' in a headline or lead doesn’t just turn science into clickbait — it’s also potentially harmful, because it can color consumers’ perceptions before they’ve learned the facts."