Situation Definition:
Kristen Houser of the Pennsylvania Coalition against Rape on Rape Crisis Training, gave an eye opening lecture to Penn State students about how the media reports rape cases and what journalists should do when reporting rape stories. The two main topics that stood out to me was the need for privacy, identifying rape victims, and the type of language and word that should be used when reporting on rape violence.
Analysis:
When it comes to sexual assault victims, the need for privacy is very high when writing a story on it. The victim should never be identified since it could cause more harm to the individual and it could lead to public humiliation, criticism, and even retaliation. “Many journalists and scholars believe rape-victim identification is an ethical issue to be dealt with through careful reasoning” (Johnson, 1999). A main duty as a journalist is to minimize harm and that the citizens come first and I believe that they should always keep sexual assault victims unidentified. I also believe that they should keep the rapist unidentified too because if the rapist turns out to be innocent, those words could affect his life and how society views him. However, if the rapist is proven to be guilty, then I believe that the journalists have the right to publish his/her name since it is in the interest on the public.
A journalist’s duty, as I mentioned before, is to minimize harm and be unbiased when writing stories. When it comes to rape cases, the wording and language used matter a lot and it can change the reader’s perspective on the people involved. Journalists should be transparent when reporting on rape victims and not use languages such as “accused”, “claimed”, “alleged”. Using words like these could lead to harm for both side of the party and journalists need to minimize harm. The trust in journalists have declined in recent years due to all the “fake news” and journalists need to be transparent to gain their trust back. “Whichever way news organizations go about implementing transparency, it’s important to note that transparency is not a strict set of rules or procedures every journalist should always follow. It’s a mindset, a spirit, an attitude or a point of view” (Gutierrez, 2018).
Conclusion:
I learned a lot about the delicacy of rape violence reporting and the importance that my choice on words, as a journalist, when reporting on it is. The words of journalists are very powerful and the choice of words used matter a lot. A reporter must know all the facts before reporting on rape as wrong information can harm someone’s life and as a reporter, we must put the citizens first and minimize harm to them. Houser’s lecture was very mindopening and I think that this issue needs to be discussed more because rape is happening very often around the world and as a journalist, we need to understand the delicacy of the situation and how wrong wording can affect someone’s life.
References:
Gutierrez, Anna. (2018). Truth in Transparency: Openness might help journalists bridge the trust gap. Quill, 106(1), 28-33.
Johnson, Michelle. (1999). How identifying rape victims affect readers’ perceptions. Newspaper Research Journal, 20(2), 64.