Debunking "debanking"
Top Story: Debunking “debanking”
Ethical banking. It’s a practice popularized in the 1990’s that means what it sounds like: making investment decisions based on your ethics.
Maybe a person Does Not want their bank to use their money to engage financially with companies that pollute the environment or hire minors in far away lands.
Maybe they Do want their bank to engage financially in firms that pay attention to worker’s rights, or keeping their products from harming the environment.
If politicians are debating “ethical banking” in your state, critics are probably calling it “debanking.” They may even be alleging that it constitutes discrimination.
If you’re writing about this debate — because laws have been passed in your state to make "ethical banking" illegal, (We’re talking to you reporters in Florida, Tennessee, Idaho) bills are being introduced in your state right now, or you write about crypto — you may be tempted to use this language, or fall for this carefully constructed framing, without understanding that it was generated by a PR firm and/or folks at The Alliance for Defending Freedom, a Dark Money-funded political outfit that is very much not for freedom.
But you should know better.
If anyone on your beat is using the term “debanking” to refer to “ethical banking” you might want to ask a followup question: who funds you?
Tip
Avoid using misleading PR terms designed to make news audiences sympathetic to a cause, a fight or a piece of legislation.
Figure out what the PR term is describing and you decide how best to explain it to the people in your community.
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