Soatok Dreamseeker
It might not make much difference, but every time I see a news headline that describes a Republican politician raping children as "had sex with", I email the editors to correct their misuse of language.
I know it will probably fall on deaf ears, but the more people do this, the greater the chances they'll listen.
Xoa Gray
@soatok It's so gross the way we talk about things today. Everything has to be softer edged so it doesn't offend someone or upset an advertiser.
Saying a rapist "had sex with" someone makes it sound like it could have been consensual, which just makes it so much worse.
But then most of our major news outlets are also owned by rich Republicans, so even if it weren't for Capitalism rearing it's ugly head I don't think we'd be in a much better spot.
QuincyOtter
@soatok
I agree in principle.
I also get that there's a lot of tort liability, so media will be cautious. Particularly if the accusation is not formally made by a prosecutor.
There's probably an effective way to frame facts and let the reader evaluate rather than emotionally prejudice the reader.
Something like stating the ages and context. Stating the allegation context such as accused informally by a person. Indicted by a prosecutor. Describe a jury verdict.
I would observe there is a larger problem with media handling conservative controversy with kid gloves and going hard at liberal controversy. But I worry that may be at least partially cognitive bias in my perception.
Soatok Dreamseeker
@north Here's a recent example:
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/23/matt-gaetz-sex-drug-report-house-ethics.html
Jason Parker (he/they)
@soatok I'm going to start doing this as well.
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