Panelists speak on current media coverage of sexual abuse cases
A panel of experts agreed the media has both great power and responsibility in reporting about sexual abuse during a symposium in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium on Thursday.
‘If it weren’t for the media exposing these issues, we would still be 20 or 30 years behind,’ said Robert Hoatson, president and co-founder of Road to Recovery, a nonprofit charity based in New Jersey that aids victims of sexual abuse.
Hoatson spoke as part of a panel of sexual abuse advocates during the daylong symposium ‘When Games Turn Grim: Can Media Cover Sports Scandals Responsibly?’ presented by the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. The symposium addressed media coverage of sports scandals, prompted by the recent sexual abuse accusations against former associate men’s basketball coach Bernie Fine.
Fine was placed on administrative leave in November when two former ball boys, Bobby Davis and Mike Lang, publicly accused Fine of molesting them from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. He was fired Nov. 27.
The symposium included four panel discussions concerning the journalism, advocacy, public relations and ethics of media coverage of sports scandals.
The first panel consisted of journalists, who spoke on how to write sports scandal stories. Their discussion was followed by a talk from advocacy panelists who spoke of the importance of being sensitive and responsible when reporting on victims and accusers.
The advocates panelists said media should be conscious of words used to describe sexual abuse cases, be proactive in investigating them and be a source of information by providing aid resources in articles covering the topic.
‘The media needs to question the wording that they’re using and the issue of palatability for their audience,’ said Katherine Redmond, founder of the National Coalition Against Violent Athletes.
Words and phrases like ‘engaged in,’ ‘performed oral sex’ and ‘fondled’ imply that an act is pleasurable or consensual, she said.
Additionally, Allison Young, director of sexual abuse services and family transition services at the Elmcrest Children’s Center, said the terms ‘scandal’ and ‘victim’ are biased and contain subtle, negative connotations that prevent victims from coming forward.
In terms of investigating allegations of sexual abuse, Redmond said journalists are often reluctant to question coaches because they fear losing access to valuable sources. She also said the demand for breaking news leads journalists to report rumors.
Redmond said she advised reporters to investigate circumstances fully, even if that meant missing out on breaking a story.
‘While the other sensational news outlets are spinning these types of stories, you’re the ones that rise to the top,’ she said, ‘because you’ve taken time, because you understand what the truth is.’
When reporting on cases of sexual abuse, Julie Cecile, executive director of the McMahon/Ryan Child Advocacy Center, said she encouraged media outlets to be a source of information on sexual abuse by including contact information for sexual abuse aid organizations in articles.
Although the panelists offered advice to journalists about covering sexual abuse situations, they said the media is a powerful force in confronting this abuse.
‘Once the victim comes forward in the media,’ Redmond said, ‘they get their power back.’
Charles Dickson, a doctoral candidate in broadcast and digital journalism, said he found the panel informative at first, but then came to resent the implication that journalists were blameworthy and untruthful when reporting on sexual abuse and sports scandals.
‘That’s what we’re supposed to do,’ he said. ‘We tell the truth, and we don’t work off of assumptions.’
A third panel discussed how public relations professionals should balance their obligations to the client with the accusers, victims and the public. The final discussion focused mainly on the ethics of the criticized decisions made by the media.
Ethics panelist Robert Steele, director of the Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics at DePauw University, believes the Fine and Sandusky cases call attention to the often limited ability of news organizations — particularly sports journalists — to examine issues beyond teams winning and losing.
‘The root of this story is not just what two men were accused of doing. It is very much about the widespread prevalence of sexual abuse in our society and how important it is to address this,’ Steele said.
Steele said that with each assignment, journalists must weigh their values for being most successful in their careers with their morals for doing what is best for the general public to which they are communicating.
The way journalists involved with the scandal weighed these morals was a theme that was echoed by Newhouse Dean Lorraine Branham and the other three panelists throughout the rest of the discussion.
David Rubin, former Newhouse dean, said journalists who prioritize the ease of their careers, the use of master narratives, and who echo stories already printed about a topic are reasons why the media is often criticized for their coverage of the scandals.
‘Journalists will come to a story and assume they know what it is,’ Rubin said.
Rubin said it is hard for all journalists, particularly sports reporters, to write stories that are not master narratives because it often means they must go against famous athletes and the powerful sports organizations that protect them, such as the NCAA.
Journalists, such as those covering the scandals, often fear this decision will jeopardize their careers, especially if audiences do not accept their unflattering stories about a popular athlete.
Rubin gave the example of how although claims had been made against Fine long before Sandusky made headlines for sexual abuse, these allegations were not revealed by the news media until after the Penn State scandal was brought to light.
Steele emphasized a principle from an earlier panel that he and Branham believe can guide all journalists to making decisions that best serve their journalistic and civic values.
Said Steele: ‘Do justice to the complicated truth.’
Published on February 26, 2012 at 12:00 pm
