Interesting use of the term Ms. on JW.org news

[Lance]

http://www.jw.org/en/news/releases/by-region/united-states/lillian-gobitas-klose-dies/

Great write up on Sister Lillian Gobitas....

I have not seen the term used Ms. for a married sister before ... I assume this is a press release.. Styled for the general public ...

[MzT]

I'm wondering if they are using the same style used with the NY Times to ensure that the release is minimally rewritten. NYT tends to use the formal approach of Mr or Ms when referring to a person instead of the more casual approach of simply using a person's last name only.

[steadfast]

I have not seen the term used Ms. for a married sister before ... I assume this is a press release.. Styled for the general public ...

 

I'm guessing it's because she was not married at the time of her death. Article states, "She was preceded in death by her husband, her parents. . ."

[Shawnster]

Normally we would say sister, not ms. I think that was his point

[Stavro]

Press releases tend to use the secular title rather than "brother" or "sister", just as they did with "Mr. Pierce".

[steadfast]

Normally we would say sister, not ms. I think that was his point

 

Yes, I was confused by the post for two reasons. I thought it was a given that a news article on JW.org is for the public, where they would say Ms., not sister. Also, Lance said married sister. So I wondered if he meant, "Why call her Ms. instead of Mrs?".

Edited September 11, 2014 by steadfast