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If you hear the word “Gulf” during a news broadcast by WBHM radio in Birmingham, or Alabama Public Radio, or WVUA 23 TV in Tuscaloosa, it refers to the Gulf of Mexico, not the Gulf of Tonkin. That helpful tip is for the 1% of the audience who might be baffled.
No one is going to hear “Gulf of Mexico” because the state of Alabama says that’s not allowed. It’s an edict that drew some public displeasure last week from the general manager of WBHM.
In April, the Legislature passed a bill that takes effect Thursday and requires all state agencies and employees to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.” It parallels a federal-level executive order by President Trump. “It’s got a nice ring to it,” Gov. Kay Ivey said. “And it just makes sense.”
The three news outlets I mentioned* are part of the University of Alabama System, with university-owned broadcast licenses, and they receive state money. They are “state entities” covered by the law. The Legislature wrote an exception for historical references in academic settings. It wrote no exception for news broadcasts.
In a letter sent last Friday to listeners and supporters to explain the situation ahead of time, WBHM Executive Director and General Manager Will Dahlberg wrote: “Journalistic independence is foundational to a news organization. It’s a key part of how we maintain your trust. This law threatens that independence. It also puts us at odds with our partners at NPR, the Associated Press, and others who will continue to use ‘Gulf of Mexico.’”
He wrote that representatives of UAB and the UA System told him that “deviations from the law may result in disciplinary action or termination of employees, and failure to comply may impact WBHM’s relationship and support from UAB.” That’s even though the law has no penalty provision. Another part of the letter suggests that Dahlberg’s concern focuses primarily on the law rather than on UAB’s interpretation of it.
Dahlberg had already planned to resign Oct. 16. On Monday, he posted on Facebook that his resignation “was accepted immediately by UAB” and “I’m officially on the sidelines now.” **
The mandated language change isn’t as alarming as editorial control or financial punishment by a governing authority that’s engaging in viewpoint discrimination, such as Trump’s failed attempt to decimate NPR and PBS last year. But it’s a silly law that fails to respect journalistic independence, panders to Trump, and has no tangible benefit to citizens or the state. (If it did have any, the Legislature wouldn’t have included a copout that an agency doesn’t have to do it if compliance isn’t “practicable” or is a “burden.”)
I anticipate that affected outlets will deal with the law simply by referring to the “Gulf.” No “of Mexico.” No “of America.” And broadcasting “Gulf of Mexico” as part of national programming should be OK. If a university administrator or legislator wishes to deem any of that a violation of the law, then the DEFCON threat level escalates.
There’s a broader lesson here, too. Public broadcasting stations are helping to deal with the collapse of the traditional business model of for-profit journalism and the companion shrinking or disappearance of local newsrooms. But whenever the government is part of a news outlet’s business structure – or even when an outlet uses government financial support such as tax credits for hiring journalists – it offers an avenue for politicians to meddle where they don’t belong. And eventually, they’ll do exactly that.
* I’m focusing on the university-affiliated news outlets of most interest to blog followers; there are other public broadcast outlets affected by the law.
** Dahlberg did not respond to my email request to talk further. Nor did I receive a response from the University of Alabama System by the time I published.
Here’s a UAB-focused commentary on the subject from AL.com’s John Archibald, published today. And here’s a February 2025 Arenblog post on the Associated Press’ fight with President Trump over “Gulf of America.”
Tom Arenberg is an instructor of news media at the University of Alabama. He worked for The Birmingham News and the Alabama Media Group for 30 years. He published this commentary originally as a post on his blog, The Arenblog.
About News is a BirminghamWatch feature that publishes commentary by those who teach the craft and think about the values and performance of today’s journalism. BW shares links to About News columns on Facebook and invites readers to join the conversation there.
