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Live tweeting sexual assault from Sandusky trial is icky and sensationalistic
Today, reporters are live-tweeting the graphic details of sexual assault. It is plain disgusting, does nothing to educate readers about the horrors of sexual violence and has zero journalistic merit.
Live tweeting sexual assault from Sandusky trial is icky and sensationalistic
At its worst Twitter is a lot like television news: sensational, no-context hysteria about sex, violence and sports. The trials related to Penn State coach and alleged sexual abuser Jerry Sandusky are one such lowly occasion, with all three subjects enticingly packaged into the perfect synthesis for bated-breath media thrill-seeking. Today, reporters are live-tweeting the graphic details of sexual assault. It is plain disgusting, does nothing to educate readers about the horrors of sexual violence and has zero journalistic merit.
"[Assistant football coach Mike] McQueary can't remember if Sandusky had an erection. 'I didn't look down there,'" tweeted Allentown Morning Call reporter Andrew McGill (@andrewmcgill). Reporters for Philadelphia Weekly (@PhillyWeekly), The Harrisburg Patriot-News (@PatriotNews) and other outlets fired off similar tweets about the erection in question.
Finding my Twitter account flooded with hyper-detailed live tweets, I asked if this was necessary reporting or sensationalistic media TMI.
"Is it really 'journalism' to live tweet graphic Sandusky trial details," I tweeted, "about his erection?"
"Yes," the live-tweeters responded.
"Just because it's graphic & disgusting doesn't make it any less real," PW tweeted back (in two tweets, if you're counting characters). "How else do we combat these statistics. By hiding?"
"It's what's happening," responded John L. Micek (@Capitol_Ideas), who writes The Allentown Morning Call's generally excellent Harrisburg blog.
I disagree: The idea that reporters should be reduced to stenographers for whatever is "happening" is what makes television "news" so indistinguishable from a trashy Hollywood tabloid. Journalists should provide critical context instead of the icky voyeurism offered by live tweeting play-by-play details of a horrific (at this point, alleged) sexual assault.
Today's preliminary hearing is for suspended Penn State athletic director Tim Curley and retired university vice president Gary Schultz, both charged with lying to the grand jury that investigated Sandusky. It should be an opportunity to examine big picture issues — institutional-level failures to protect children, a culture of impunity for coaches who get wins and a broader inclination to brush such things under the rug for as long as possible — not a moment to get mired down in the salacious details.
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