The press ombudsman has said she is “uneasy” about the inclusion of “graphic” detail in some media reports concerning domestic, sexual and gender-based violence.
Before publishing such material, media editors might consider how the level of detail might impact the person who is subject of the article or who has had a similar experience, Susan McKay said.
Any guidelines for media reporting of domestic, sexual, gender-based violence should be “helpful” and “enable good reporting” rather than “trying to stamp out something that people find offensive”, she said.
They should not be “too prescriptive” and be prepared with the involvement of journalists and victims/survivors, she added.
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There is “immense goodwill” among journalists about appropriate reporting of gender-based violence and she considered the need for training and education “most prominent”.
It seems journalism schools are not doing much training concerning the reporting of social issues, particularly traumatic issues, she said.
Training can also be delivered to newsrooms, she noted.
People can make complaints to her office if they have concerns about media reporting of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, including about “careless” or “irresponsible” headlines.
Such headlines can “completely undermine” the work of a responsible journalist who has sat through a trial and knows their work is “complex and delicate” and that victims can be re-traumatised by bad coverage or a careless headline.
Dialogue between media professionals and victims/survivors is very important because this is an area “surrounded by myths”. While rape crisis centres and others have done much to educate the public, a lot of work still has to be done.
There is also a lack of understanding about the legal constraints on journalists reporting court cases and particular crimes, McKay said. The legal titles of some offences are “quite Victorian in their assumptions” and often do not adequately reflect modern views, particularly in relation to crimes of sexual violence against children.
McKay was speaking on Thursday during an online event organised by Haven Horizons, a group campaigning to prevent domestic, sexual and gender-based violence.
Asked whether media reporting guidelines help in preventing ‘copycat’ behaviour in situations of domestic murder/suicides, McKay said it was not possible to definitely say they could have that impact and more research is necessary.
Previous research that suggested a strong risk of copycat behaviour in relation to media reporting of suicides led to the press council introducing guidelines for reporting suicides, she noted.
She was personally uneasy about “graphic” detail being included in media reports. A person inclined to be violent towards a woman or child in their life might “get inspiration, to use a terrible word for it” from a report, but evidence of any such ‘copycat’ risk is necessary, she said.
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Journalists often ask victims to recount traumatic experiences in detail even if the journalist is only writing a short news report and any guidelines should address issues like that, she said. “Don’t put people through things that you don’t need to put them through.”
Journalists should listen “very carefully” to women who have experience of gender-based violence and not assume they know what their story is.
McKay said she learned a lot about the portrayal of the subject when writing, with child sexual abuse survivor Sophia McColgan, Sophia’s Story, a book concerning the abuse of McColgan and other siblings by their father over years at their home in Co Sligo.
McColgan was very concerned nothing would be published that might be “titillating” for other child abusers, she said. McColgan was also upset about people asking why her mother had not protected the children from their father and she told McKay: “Our mother couldn’t protect us, our mother was one of us.”
It is important that journalists provide context in their reports to highlight reasons why women return to their abusers, including having nowhere to go, she said.
