Unwanted Publicity and Negative Media Portrayals
A high-profile case is often tried in the court of public opinion, based on selective leaks of “eviden- ce”presented in media accounts, long before the accused and the accuser actually appear before a judge (see Chancer, 2005). Fears about intrusive press coverage, unwanted publicity, and victim blaming discourage some people who were sexually assaulted from turning to the criminal justice system for help.
Since the middle of the 1800s, newspapers have regularly featured stories about violent crimes, but they rarely covered rapes until the two trials of the Scottsboro Boys in the 1930s. For a number of years, the only cases that aroused media interest were those that resulted in lynchings, when a black man accused of raping a white woman was murdered by a white mob. To this day, mainstream media outlets remain preoccupied with the rape of white women, continue to sensationalize interracial cases involving a black defendant, and rarely devote comparable attention to sexual assaults committed against black women. Journalists tend to stereotype women as either “virgins” (pure and innocent who are ravaged by bestial males) or “vamps” (wanton and sexually provocative temptresses who arouse male lust). She is likely to be portrayed as a vamp if the defendant is an acquaintance and no weapon was brandished; if they are both from the same eth- nic group and social class; and if she is young, attractive, and doesn’t live with her family. By assigning blame to one party or the other, crime reporters improperly take on the responsibilities of judges and juries, according to a content analysis of the way the news media covered several highly publicized rapes (Benedict, 1992).
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The following case about an inter-racial encounter became a media spectacle that illustrated the interplay of these factors:
A 19-year-old college student working in a hotel meets a famous 24-year-old married professional basketball player and willingly goes to his room. She claims that after they flirted and kissed, the athlete used force to bend her over and to make her submit to sex acts. She has him arrested for felony sexual assault. The basketball player reluctantly concedes the acts took place but insists they were consensual. News accounts do not mention the accuser’s name. But the press coverage describes her appearance, reveals her e-mail address, discloses her hometown and the college she attends, and recounts salacious stories about her sex life told by people describing themselves as her friends. After a while, her name and picture circulate on the Internet. She is vilified by his fans, and receives threats that lead to arrests. The prosecution’s case falls apart when the young woman declares she will not testify because she anticipates that many of the distortions that were leaked will be used to dis- credit her during cross-examination. Her civil lawsuit is settled amid threats from both sides about disclosing damaging information—about her medical, psycho- logical, and sexual history, and about his sexual past. The famous athlete offers a public apology to his accuser, acknowledging that he understood how she might have had a different interpretation of their encounter. (Zernike, 2003; Johnson, 2005; and Franiuk et al., 2008)
When a girl or woman lodges charges of sexual assault against a boy or man, like any other com- plainant of any other crime, her name appears in police files and court documents. The question then arises as to whether her identity should be revealed in media accounts. Laws prohibit the press from publishing the name of the victim of a sex crime in a number of states. Elsewhere, most newspapers, magazines, and radio and television sta- tions have adopted a policy of self-restraint that shields the injured person from unwanted public exposure.
The arguments in favor of keeping the com- plainant’s name out of the media center on the
potential for inflicting additional suffering on a per- son who is already hurt and on the chilling effect the unwanted publicity surrounding her case will have on other victims who are considering going to the authorities for help. The longstanding ethical norm of concealing a complainant’s name devel- oped from a realization that rapes are not like other crimes. Victims are more likely to be emo- tionally fragile and afflicted by posttraumatic stress, nervous breakdowns, and suicidal impulses. Pub- licly identified rape victims have always been dis- credited, stigmatized, scandalized, mocked, scorned, and even harassed. Revealing a complainant’s name is a humiliating second violation that is likely to prolong her suffering. Furthermore, other rape vic- tims, who see how powerless she was to prevent her name and intimate details about her life from being circulated, might be deterred from going to the police. Media self-censorship is a way to respect a victim’s privacy rights unless she chooses to go public and speak out about the attack (Pollitt, 1991; and Young, 1991).
Arguments in favor of disclosing victims’ names appeal to the principles of the public’s right to know, the defendant’s right to a fair trial, and the news media’s right to be free from censorship. Media outlets have an obligation to disseminate all relevant and newsworthy facts. Accusations from anonymous sources are contrary to American jurisprudence. The accused, who must be presumed innocent unless proven guilty, endures humiliation from the publicity surround- ing the arrest. The accuser’s name should be revealed as well to deter untrue allegations. Poten- tial witnesses with knowledge about her credibility might come forward with information about her background and character that could aid in the defense of a falsely accused man. Finally, shielding complainants from exposure implies that being forced to submit to a sexual act is a shameful, “dirty secret,” when it actually should not be a cause of public humiliation. In the long run, rou- tinely giving faceless victims a human identity might diminish the stigma that still surrounds being raped (see Dershowitz, 1988; Cohen, 1991; and Kantrowitz, Starr, and Friday, 1991).
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