There seems to be a growing trend in the media where reporters denigrate a human being’s character after they are the victims of crimes. Yes, you read that right. The media takes subtle jabs people, even victims, if that person is a celebrity, athlete or person of colour.
It happened again today. Last night, NFL safety Sean Taylor was shot and wounded in his home. The details are sketchy. What we do know is: people broke into Taylor’s Dade County home a week ago and left a knife by his bed. Last night Taylor left his bed to investigate a noise at his back door and was shot, once, in the groin, losing so much blood that he faces brain damage if he’s lucky enough to survive.
Here are some subtle jabs at this man’s personal character I took from a Canadian Press article:
Taylor played in his first Pro Bowl last season, where he drew attention by levelling the other team’s punter in what is usually a well-mannered exhibition game.
Taylor has been in trouble numerous times since he was drafted as the No. 5 overall pick in 2004. He has been fined at least seven times during his professional career for late hits and other infractions, including a US$17,000 penalty for spitting in the face of Tampa Bay running back Michael Pittman during a playoff game in January 2006. He also was fined $25,000 for skipping a mandatory rookie symposium shortly after he was drafted.
In 2005, Taylor was accused of brandishing a gun at a man and repeatedly hitting him during a fight that broke out after Taylor and some friends went looking for the people who had allegedly stolen his all-terrain vehicles.
All told, an 879 word article with the supposed purpose of reporting a home robbery contains 279 words discussing Taylor’s brushes with the law. That’s nearly 32 per cent of the story.
At best, this abominable reportage owes to shoddy sensationalist journalism. At worst, it’s another case of indirect racism. The story ensures the reader knows Taylor was a thug, who spit in people’s faces, cheap shot defenseless punters, and waved guns with the wonton abandonment of an uncivilized animal. The purpose, it seems, is not only to inform us a football player may die but that he also may have deserved it.
As contrast look how beloved Canadian Kiefer Sutherland is treated by Reuters. I pulled this from a story on how the Writer’s Guild strike will affect the new season of 24.
The show’s star, Kiefer Sutherland, is also scheduled to do a stint in jail later this year in connection with a drunk-driving conviction.
Not only is the arrest given scant mention – which, I believe, is the proper treatment for something that has nothing to do with the story – but the wording is as friendly as one could hope. Sutherland wasn’t arrested for driving drunk. Rather he is scheduled to do time in connection with a conviction. This clever wording gives the impression he was operative a vehicle under the influence but was connected to some vague drunk driving conviction.
Was Sean Taylor asked for a donation in connection with a spitting incident? No. The story states plainly he spit in another man’s face.
Similarly, in this piece about goaltender Patrick Roy, nowhere does Matt Higgins mention his domestic violence arrest in 2000. I’ll say it again: Higgins did right. There is no reason to include it in this piece. But, would a cocky, brass ill spoken athlete like Sean Taylor receive the same treatment? Obviously, no.
The fact past transgressions are mentioned in a story with enough salacious details (elite football player fights for his life after home invasion) to satisfy the most inattentive reader is irresponsible journalism. What is unforgivable journalism is when it is applied unevenly.
Tags: ethics, media, sean taylor, washington redskins
