Managing editor Audrey Cooper makes the case for the San Francisco Chronicle:

Words – and the ones we choose to use – are powerful. It’s not a responsibility we take lightly.

Our newsroom is the latest to avoid using “Redskins” when referring to the NFL franchise from Washington.

We will use the word only when avoiding it would be confusing to readers – for example, in stories about the controversy surrounding the team name. In most cases, we will refer to the team as “Washington,” avoiding use of an offensive term.

The Chronicle and SFGate.com have a long-standing policy against using racial slurs. Not everyone has to be personally offended by a word to make it a slur. And make no mistake, “redskin” is a patently racist term.

Who’s next.