FixedIt is almost always about the media getting it wrong. When they get it right they don’t usually appear on my radar. Which isn’t really fair because there are a lot of good journalists and publication who do great work of reporting terrible crimes.
This one on The Canberra Times today is a good example. An article about a man’s conviction for child abuse put the perpetrator at the beginning of the headline and was clear about the crimes he intended to commit.
The only time his intentions to abuse children was referred to as “sex” was in reference to the charge, which is specifically named in the ACT criminal code as “sexual intercourse with a child”. Every other description of his actions and intentions calls it abuse, sexual abuse or rape.
Sitting in court listening to the details of these cases can be gut-wrenching. Reporting it succinctly, accurately and responsibly is difficult – as page after page of FixedIt proves.
The big win here is that this man was caught, charged and convicted before he was able to rape and abuse children. The police who investigate such crimes and have to trawl through truly revolting material to ensure child rapists are caught and incarcerated do an incredible job. And they pay a high price for it. Their work deserves to be recognised and applauded.
But The Canberra Times and Megan Gorrey deserve kudos here too. This is how you report sexual abuse of children. This is how you keep the public informed and show respect to the victims. This is how easy it is to do an incredibly difficult job properly.
FixedIt is an ongoing project to push back against the media’s constant erasure of violent men and blaming of innocent victims. If you would like to help fund it – even $5 a month makes a big difference – please consider becoming a Patron
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