www.rjerrard.co.uk/law/willan/willan3.htm -
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Published on: 11/1/2006
Last Visited: 3/15/2008
Author: Chris Greer
ISBN: 1-84392-004-2
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Almost throughout there are echoes and resonances with the English press and Greer should be encouraged to take some of the key themes and compare the Northern Ireland experience with the mainland press - an ambitious task but one which will highlight both similarities and dissimilarities.
Greer's investigation reveals, or rather confirms, a number of key points which is the crux of his thesis and these are the issues to be aware of and consider such as the general presumption that when newspapers invoke the phrase ‘sex crime' what they really mean is child sexual abuse.That most of the reporting was viewed in a positive light by both care organisations and professionals including the RUC CARE (Child Abuse and Rape Enquiry) unit, particularly the terms of the narrative of the article and that this has encouraged survivors and victims to come forward.The negative impacts are primarily the labelling in headlines of all sex offenders as monsters, perverts, ‘sickos' etc (i.e. not just paedophiles but homosexual men engaged in consensual acts) and the failure to distinguish different types of sex offences.Secondly, the stereotyping and emphasis on ‘stranger danger' attacks reinforcing the myth, particularly amongst children, that they are more at risk outside than in the home.Greer's survey was based on cases in the 1990s and many of these factors may have been addressed or mitigated somewhat.The need for trust and understanding between the media and professional and care agencies is also highlighted - another obvious point perhaps but, for example, Greer refers to the prohibition of the use of the word incest (abolished by the Sexual Offences Act 2003) in the Press Commission's Code of Conduct - something which, he argues, provided it is used responsibly can assist in understanding the social reality of certain sex crimes.He also destroys the myth about the extensive use of salacious and graphic sexual detail and that many journalists and editors are reluctant to include gruesome material and facts.
For all involved he concludes, responsibility for reporting the social reality of sex crime must be shared despite the understandable reluctance of agencies to participate and lack of resources within care organizations to devote time to working with the press.There is also an implicit criticism of the police (at least the RUC) in that their input was usually restricted to seeking public help in supplying information and identifying the offender whereas police media representatives rarely take the opportunity to try and promote personal safety initiatives or work proactively with other public agencies and journalists to positively exploit the press into a more educational role.Greer suggested that this could be achieved through effective formal and informal partnerships and overall his survey (though already an historic exercise which might need revisiting) is an important contribution in that formalizes and justifies much we assumed and thought - but could not necessarily prove - about the role of the press and it claims of reporting the social reality of sex crimes
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The author Chris Greer is Senior Lecturer in Criminology at Northumbria University, with particular interests in crime and media.
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