Some pundits (third item) noticed that in the wake of the London terror attacks, Reuters and the BBC were back to using the word "terrorist". Well, it didn't last long. Now the Beeb is going back and editing the news.

The BBC has re-edited some of its coverage of the London Underground and bus bombings to avoid labelling the perpetrators as "terrorists", it was disclosed yesterday.

Early reporting of the attacks on the BBC's website spoke of terrorists but the same coverage was changed to describe the attackers simply as "bombers".

The BBC's guidelines state that its credibility is undermined by the "careless use of words which carry emotional or value judgments".

Consequently, "the word 'terrorist' itself can be a barrier rather than an aid to understanding" and its use should be "avoided", the guidelines say.

Compare this to the plot of Nineteen Eighty-Four: "Winston works in the Records Department of the Ministry of Truth - the section charged with modifying historical news archives for consistency." History and news articles were cleansed with Newspeak, "a greatly reduced and simplified vocabulary and grammar," which "suited the totalitarian regime of the Party, whose aim was to make subversive thought ('thoughtcrime') and speech impossible."

UPDATE: Via Michelle Malkin: Next: "Burglars" will be "takers." "Child molesters" will be "ticklers." "Rapists" will be "unplanned lovers."