tw: assault abuse rape
I haven& #39;t scratched up on my media law in a hot minute so, if anything& #39;s changed fellow journos let me know.
There& #39;s a lot of laws (in the U.K. at least) for the press when reporting on sexual assault/abuse to actually protect victims and their cases. https://twitter.com/CRITICALDARLlNG/status/1380998854900908036">https://twitter.com/CRITICALD...
I haven& #39;t scratched up on my media law in a hot minute so, if anything& #39;s changed fellow journos let me know.
There& #39;s a lot of laws (in the U.K. at least) for the press when reporting on sexual assault/abuse to actually protect victims and their cases. https://twitter.com/CRITICALDARLlNG/status/1380998854900908036">https://twitter.com/CRITICALD...
1. Victims have full rights to anonymity for life by law, especially minors. We cannot report any information that would give away that person& #39;s identity. It poses a serious threat to victims and their identity. When you send us stuff that reveals a person& #39;s identity, we& #39;re stuck
2. Sometimes we can& #39;t report on it until a police report has been made. This is going to sound dismissive but please pleassseee stay with me here.
Unless there& #39;s strong evidence like video or photo proof, *journalists* (keyword, journos) are limited in what we can do. 1/3
Unless there& #39;s strong evidence like video or photo proof, *journalists* (keyword, journos) are limited in what we can do. 1/3
2/3 That& #39;s not because your story isn& #39;t valid, IT. IS. But lawyers would hound us for "proof." However, if you were to make a report to the police or make a public statement, that would give us a reason to report on it without us also being silenced.
3/3 But there have been journalists who& #39;ve been shown solid evidence, or seen it for themselves, and looked the other way because it didn& #39;t suit them. The industry is also part of the problem, it& #39;s driven by money. We& #39;re slowly calling it out & changing how we approach this.
3.3 If you did want to come forward about your abuse I& #39;d tell you the best course of action, which is usually reporting it to the police. Even if it was years ago they can still do something about it.
3. Yes, we have to say allegedly a lot. This isn& #39;t to protect abusers, this is how reporting most active (currently ongoing) court cases work. The reason we do this is that we have to give a fair, unbiased report. We can& #39;t create bias amongst a potential jury. 1/2
2/2 If we say someone has murdered their sister whilst their case is ongoing, a member of the jury could see our article and have a biased view, even if that person didn& #39;t do it. We have to report facts only which makes the information we can report very limited.
4. People seem to get mad at us for reporting on general news and happenings with this artist i.e.
headline: "band release new album in the midst of allegations"
reaction: don& #39;t support them!!1!
I understand exactly why you thought this and naively thought the same, but 1/2
headline: "band release new album in the midst of allegations"
reaction: don& #39;t support them!!1!
I understand exactly why you thought this and naively thought the same, but 1/2
2/2 reporting on this stuff IS important. We aren& #39;t supporting people by simply reporting news, we& #39;re telling facts not blowing smoke up their ass. Some people might not know and might see that headline and then find out.
News is important to report, no matter how grim.
News is important to report, no matter how grim.