Like most people I guess, I've been intermittently following the Tony Vietch affair and the alleged rape of an 18 year old by members of the English rugby team.
I could do a long post about whether or not it is appropriate for Vietch to keep his job. (Suffice to say I think it's a hard thing to judge someone on their worst moment, and I don't even know whether I can properly process how horrific multiple spinal fractures is.) But the thing I really want to note is the role the media themselves have played in the decision-making of the victim. Certainly in the case of the 18 year old, and possibly in the case of Vietch's ex-partner (given she worked in media) the decision to not press charges was influenced by the negative impact the media attention would have on the victim herself. I have considerable sympathy for the 18 year old, the British tabloids are damn scary. Also she overheard people discussing the case and slagging her off and calculated (probably correctly) that she didn't really want to be a target for a nation full of judgments about her personal life.
I really don't know, but I can't help speculating about whether Kristin Dunne-Powell also considered the impact of media attention and national discussion on her quality of life. While I doubt clockworkfish would feature on her radar, it is unlikely I'd be mentioning her here for any other reason.
And no, I'm not advocating that the media should collude with famous offenders in order to keep the details of their offending secret and enabling them to avoid the full consequences for what they have done. Far from it.
But if the media wants to be part of the solution, they need to be smarter about how they handle sexual and domestic offending by celebrities. It is possible to report the details of the case as they are currently understood without bringing into question the victim's moral or sexual integrity. It is also possible to report the case adequately without staking out her house or trying to be the first to decide who is the villain of the piece.
Posted by carla at July 14, 2008 10:14 PM