Situational Definition:
On June 5, 2002, Elizabeth Smart, a 14-year-old girl from Salt Lake City, Utah, was taken from her bedroom. Almost immediately, local news was flooded with the young girl’s face while her parents worked with the media and local police to try and find her. “In the months after Elizabeth’s disappearance, thousands of people on foot and horseback, or in planes and helicopters, combed hills and valleys around the state.” (Murphy, New York Times). The case eventually became a subject of national news spreading her picture and her name across the country in an attempt to make people aware of her disappearance, increasing the visibility of the case. Her rescue, nine months later, was also a major national news story broadcasted on many stations.
The story continued to develop with the arrest of a man and woman accused of kidnapping Smart, but things took a turn when it came to light that Smart had been a victim of sexual abuse while being held captive. Once Smart was safely returned to her parents, the media swarmed. People wanted to know all of the details and Smart, along with her parents, went on to conduct numerous interviews. In addition, her parents wrote a book and authorized Lifetime to produce a dramatic feature called, “I Am Elizabeth Smart” set to premiere November 18, 2017.
Analysis:
The first ethical issue, in this case, is naming victims of sex crimes. The job of a journalist is to seek the news and report it, by a very simplified definition. In this case, the news was that a girl was missing so every journalist involved sought out the details of this case and then reported them, actually in an attempt to save the young girl. In the event of a missing person, it is critical to alert people of the name, age, gender, and even show photos of the person in question. By these means, there was no issue sharing the name of Smart.
However, it was not until after they found her that it was released that she had become a victim of sexual assault. At this point, her name and photo had been circulated nationwide, so it really would have been almost impossible to stop using her name. In a case like this, it is understandable to have Smart’s name attached to the sex crimes, but journalists should be advised to proceed with caution seeing as the matter is still sensitive.
The other ethical issue, in this case, is pressing children for information, especially those who have been through traumatic situations. Back to the journalist’s job of seeking and reporting, it comes to a point where you have to decide if telling the story well is important than the well being of a child. In Smart’s case, “the [child was] apparently willing to be interviewed. The [child] or parents could have ended the interviews at any time.” (Orand and Stone, SPJ).
Conclusion:
In conclusion, this case tiptoes around some ethical issues including interviewing children and the privacy of sexual assault victims. In the end, I believe that this case was handled well by journalists, even though some may have wanted to cross boundaries more than others. Smart continued to be a public figure and used her tragedy to become an advocate against sex crimes.
Although Smart will never escape being associated with the lurid captivity she endured, she has chosen to remain a public figure and has been unusually successful at doing so on her own terms. She is a full-time advocate for the prevention of child abuse who lobbies for legislation and heads a foundation. She delivers some eighty speeches a year, and they reliably end on a note of quiet resilience. She told the teenagers in Washington, “Never be afraid to speak out. Never be afraid to live your life. Never let your past dictate your future.” (Talbot, The New Yorker)
References:
Murphy, Dean E. “Utah Girl, 15, Is Found Alive 9 Months After Kidnapping.” The New York Times, 12 Mar. 2003, www.nytimes.com/2003/03/13/us/utah-girl-15-is-found-alive-9-months-after-kidnapping.html.
Orand, Amber, and Sara Stone. “Ethics Case Studies – Society of Professional Journalists.” Society of Professional Journalists, www.spj.org/ecs11.asp.
Talbot, Margaret. “Gone Girl.” The New Yorker, 19 June 2017, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/10/21/gone-girl-2.