I don't know if this is a regional thing, or just something I never noticed when I was younger or if it's just me, but for some reason it really annoys me that the strib uses the word "mom" in articles instead of "mother". The print version of this article about a Wisconsin teen who allegedly killed his mother used the word "mom" instead of "mother" while the online version uses mother everywhere. Edit: I checked the paper at home and the article uses "mother" but the text next to the headline uses the word "mom".
In my mind "mom" and "dad" are casual, affectionate terms and "mother" and "father" are more appropriate for use in a newspaper (aside from quotations.)
