Rubio levels font coup: Occasions New Roman ousts Calibri

WASHINGTON, Dec 9 (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday ordered diplomats to return to utilizing Occasions New Roman font in official communications, calling his predecessor Antony Blinken’s resolution to undertake Calibri a “wasteful” variety transfer, in accordance with an inside division cable seen by Reuters.

The division beneath Blinken in early January 2023 had switched to Calibri, a contemporary sans-serif font, saying this was a extra accessible font for individuals with disabilities as a result of it didn’t have the ornamental angular options and was the default in Microsoft merchandise.

A cable dated December 9 despatched to all U.S. diplomatic posts mentioned that typography shapes the professionalism of an official doc and Calibri is casual in comparison with serif typefaces.

“To revive decorum and professionalism to the Division’s written work merchandise and abolish yet one more wasteful DEIA program, the Division is returning to Occasions New Roman as its customary typeface,” the cable mentioned.

“This formatting customary aligns with the President’s One Voice for America’s International Relations directive, underscoring the Division’s duty to current a unified, skilled voice in all communications,” it added.

The State Division didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

Some research recommend that sans-serif fonts, akin to Calibri, are simpler to learn for these with sure visible disabilities.

Trump, a Republican, moved rapidly after taking workplace in January to eradicate federal DEI applications and discourage them within the personal sector and schooling, together with by directing the firing of variety officers at federal companies and pulling grant funding for a variety of applications.

DEI insurance policies grew to become extra widespread after nationwide protests in 2020 towards police killings of unarmed Black individuals, spurring a conservative backlash. Trump and different critics of variety initiatives say they’re discriminatory towards white individuals and males and have eroded merit-based resolution making. (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Modifying by Don Durfee and Lisa Shumaker)