Overcoming Rape: the Ideological Conflict Between Mainstream Reporting and Alternative Media Response

Trigger warning for discussion of rape and violence against women.

The coverage of rape in mass media reveals a conflict within the sphere of consensus in North American society. Several current (2011-2013) news stories reveal the mass media’s use of framing and bias in coverage and representation of rape trials, rape victims, and rapists. Mass media often sympathises with the charged rapists while blaming or completely ignoring the victim.

The mainstream media contrasts alternative media's representation of rape cases. The coverage of rape in the media is caught between two ideological biases within the sphere of consensus, support for the perpetrators of rape and support for the victims of rape. Since the boundaries between spheres are "not really separate; they create one another, like the private and public do", they have shifted over time. Support for the perpetrators of rape is now questioned and support for the victims is being demanded.

Pardon Me, But... Your Bias is Showing

The ideological bias of news organizations in support of the perpetrators of rape colours their reporting of rape cases with a loss of objective reporting. CNN's television coverage of Steubenville's rape trial, the representation of Maryville’s rape case, and the reporting of Rehtaeh Parsons’ case from various sources serve as examples of mass media’s ideological bias in support of rapists that rely on preconceived notions and stereotypes, with the mentioning of unrelated facts about the victims' clothes and outlining support for the rapists by positioning them as ordinary boys.

Alternative media, feminist blogsites such as xojane, feministing and jezebel, have provided a strong critique of the mass media's failure to objectively report on the issues of rape cases, revealing a widely-held, differing ideological bias held by the public that the mass media is failing to serve. The inability of mass media to accurately represent the public’s opinion of rape displays a discrepancy between the mass media and the audience they serve.

The ideological divide between mainstream and alternative media is a clear representation of the public debate and confusion about the subject of rape and it's position in the sphere of legitimate controversy.

It is important to note that as a female group surrounded by rape culture, we harness our own ideological bias. For the purpose of this project, we will ignore our personal feelings about rape and focus our attention on the media’s coverage of rape in our examination of the cases Steubenville, Maryville and Rehtaeh Parsons.

Steubenville, Ohio

On the night of August 11, 2012, a 16 year old female high school student was raped by Ma'lik Richmond and Trent Mays, who both received the minimum sentence of two years for their crime of which they were found guilty.  Social media played a large role in providing extensive evidence for the case including the explicit distribution of photographs, videos, and text messages.

Athletes Overcome Rape Allegations with CNN's Loving Support

Wait - what?!  Sadly enough, you read that right.  In a blatantly biased television report, Candy Crowley and Poppy Harlow express their sympathy for the young men who raped a young girl, spread a naked photograph of her around the community, and tried to cover it up.  After all, they were star football players, who believed they watched their lives fall apart as they were charged with rape.

The public had a lot to say in response to CNN's biased report.  Alternative media became the outlet through which the public's voice was heard.  Raging against the ignorance of the victim and her struggle, the public let their outcry loose on blogs such as jezebel.

The Prophetic Onion

Two years prior to the Steubenville Rapes, The Onion released a satirical video following an athletes struggle to overcome rape.  In the video, a star basketball player discusses how difficult it was to handle the consequences of raping a young girl, but that the support of his hometown encouraged him through the "trauma."  The video bluntly targets mass media's failure to report on such cases - if this is a known issue, why is it still occurring today?  Try not to laugh or cry - it is spookily similar to CNN's video

It's Time to Right Your Wrong... Or Not

Over 8,500 YouTubers clicked the "dislike" button on CNN's video covering Steubenville's rape trial.  Outraged, Gabriel Garcia created a petition to force CNN to apologize.  Instead of admitting to her misrepresentation, Poppy Harlow was "outraged" that she was being asked to apologize at all.  As PoliticUsUsa states, the issue is not even that Poppy hasn't apologized--it's that she thinks she doesn't have to.  There is clear separation between the ideological bias of the mass media and that of the public they serve.

Maryville, Missouri

For Daisy Coleman, Maryville Missouri is no longer home. The January 8th rape controversy changed her life in more ways than one. What began as a seemingly "case-closed" occurance, complete with confessions and video testimony within mere hours of the assault, turned into a media frenzy as charges were dropped, accusations were increasingly commonplace and violence began to re-emerge under suspicious circumstances....

Better Late Than Never?

The blogosphere and alternative news are gaining sizeable strength, and it seems like the newly "active audience" has just run another lap around much of the professional press. In the wake of the Jan. 2012 Maryville rape allegations, Fox news- as of Oct. 2013- finally decided to throw their hat into the ring; and they did not fail to drum up controversy.

In an interview with Fox's Shepard Smith, guest attorney Joseph DiBenedetto posed this question of the victims story: "what did she expect at one in the morning after sneaking out?". To Smith's credit he chided DiBenedetto for "[taking] an alleged victim and [turning] her into a liar"; but as far as mainstream commentary goes; does this Maryville version of victim-blaming (like that of CNN's Poppy Harlow) represent a bigger problem with news media?

Absolutely.

Citizen journalism offered a safer haven for Daisy Coleman, who released her name- and her story- to the blog site xojane, in order to take a step away from the paradigm of the defeated victim. This sort of media leap-frogging, whereas Coleman chose to sensitively pen her own account for the blogosphere, suggests the idea that the press may not be as in touch with the public sphere as they had thought. If the Theory of the Interlocking Public (Kovach, 2007) is a journalistic concept meant to represent the writers subtle understanding of the public, then someone must have lost the lynch-pin because it looks like the majority of the public and much of the mainstream press are having very different discussions.

The Hacktivist Collective

In Maryville, Barnett is a big name. The accused, Matt Barnett is a defenseman for the varsity football team; and his grandfather, Rex Barnett is a longstanding member of Missouri's house of representatives. It's been put forth by some that political connections were the cause of Daisy's dropped case, despite the physical evidence and witness testimony. Daisy experienced significant reprisals for her speaking out, culminating in the April 2012 Coleman house fire, which the local police would later deem "suspicious".

Where was the pressure from the watchdog journalists?

Dugan Arnett of the Kansas City Star published a well-written article of the events and has since garnered attention to the case; including the attention of the "hacktivist" group Anonymous. In a case surrounded with such controversy, much like Steubenville (where Anonymous was also involved), do we need to rely on anonymous hackers to pursue the truth?

Shouldn't we have learned something by now? Perhaps Poppy Harlow and Joseph DiBenedetto could learn a thing or two from local reporters like Dugan Arnett or bloggers like xojane. The sphere of consensus is being hotly contested, and should be an arena for the truth above all else; not a "winner's circle" for the skewed status quo, and certainly not a place for media personalities to be hedging their bets outside of the justice system.

My, What Biased Objectivity You Have

In cases like these, it's hard for journalism to avoid being lumped into a sociological critique, and while most journalists claim to be objective, subjectivity is still a player in the choices reporters make. Jessica Valenti wrote a piece for The Nation as a general guideline on the Do's and Dont's of rape reporting. Any journalist or media commentator who cherry-picks the relevance of a victims personal responsibility over eye-witness testimony should have a read.

The 4th estate exists to pursue truth and challenge abuses for the good of the people. Granted, truth can be muddied at times; but what if the abuses they have to stand against include not just those within media circles itself, but those of the people, by the people, against everyone else?

Perhaps DiBenedetto and Harlow were wearing the rose-coloured glasses of professional objectivity and didn't notice that the very subjective discussion, was in fact, moving forward without them.

Rehtaeh Parsons

15 year-old Rehtaeh Parsons was allegedly raped by four men at a house party in November 2011. Controversy was present at the time over Parsons' drunken state, as well as a photo that was taken where one of the males was giving a thumbs-up while pressing into a girl whose face was not visible due to leaning and throwing up out the window.  The image was shared over a widespread network, but while Parsons was able to identify herself and the male in the photo and received perpetual harassment for it, all evidence of the case was ignored until the group Anonymous took action.

Blatantly Apparent Lines

Christie Blatchford of the National Post says that rape victim Rehtaeh Parsons, despite her intoxication, the photo of the alleged rape and her following suicide, that it cannot be determined whether or not the boys are guilty. More or less directly agreeing with authorities who saw no reason for intervention, Blatchford's bias was clear.

Patrick McGuire of Vice quickly called her out on her “horribly misdirected” and “tasteless” response, strongly arguing that consent, even if it had been given, is unquestionably invalid when underage and drunk: "It’s this kind of victim blaming in the mainstream media that is validating a rape culture, and these situations need to be addressed in a more honest and intelligent way," he responds.

This precisely is what is now being done by concerned alternative media sources, like Anonymous, and the public, including her parents (her father in particular, being a writer and independent blogger).

We're Not Gonna Take It

Large controversy has stirred over the following poster which became widespread in support of the boys after the party:

                                      

In response to the propaganda favouring the boys in the perceived ambiguity of evidence, Parson's father, Glen Canning, remarks: "He said that picture ruined his life. It ended my daughter's."

The ‘hactivist’ group Anonymous was also furious, threatening to release the names of the rapists with other personal information if justice was not brought to the case. These members are actively bringing media perception of rape and the prevalence of victim-blaming from the sphere of consensus to that of legitimate debate.

Conclusion

Overall the sphere of consensus had undergone a radical shift over the public's perception of rape and the media's response to how it is covered in the news. The coverage of the Steubenville and Maryville trial as well as the suicide of Rehtaeh Parsons has revealed a strong ideological bias within the institution of journalism and the mass media that many of the public had not been aware of before. In response to the lack of objective reporting on these cases, demand for change and greater recognition of the issues faced by the victims was formed from the alternative blogsphere.

But even now, the debate still continues within journalism, the mass media, the public sphere and other institutions. For as these cases have shown, we are still a long way before support for victims of rape moves into the sphere of consensus and the media is able to objectively report on the subject of rape without interference from their ideological bias.