People hoping to gain perspective on how the media handles violence against women may not have gotten the answers they were looking for at the Luther Bonney Auditorium last Tuesday night.
“I think people left with more questions than answers and I’m happy about that, because this is a complex and challenging subject,” said Beth Martin, coordinator for the Women’s Resource Center.
The event, “What’s the Problem? The Media and Violence Against Women,” was held in response to the comic strip run in Casco Bay Weekly, “Chef Al’s Fowl,” which featured a woman being butchered and cooked.
Although the cartoon was only briefly discussed, a panel of six representatives from the local media did share their thoughts on media and violence against women, citing examples like rapper Eminem, last summer’s violent incident in New York’s Central Park, and USM’s temporary ban of Casco Bay Weekly.
Panelists also fielded questions from audience members, some of whom criticized the media for what they feel is sometimes inaccurate reporting on domestic violence crimes, and some who felt the media often focuses more on what drove the victimizer than what happened to the victim.
Dr. Robert McAfee, former president of the American Medical Association, was the keynote speaker.
McAfee discussed the media’s role in how to deal with violence. He used the example of Eminem, even reciting one of the rapper’s songs, to show what he was talking about.
“Because of the Grammy’s, we celebrate violent lyrics like those of Marshall Mathers [Eminem],” he said. “At some point we need to say enough is enough, media in the community has a role to play in stopping `family’ violence.”
After McAfee’s speech, representatives from the local media took the stage to participate in a panel discussion. Each panelist responded to a number of questions, beginning with how the media handles violence against women and what could be done to improve coverage. They were asked to relate their answers to the media’s wide broadcast of amateur video of the incident in Central Park last summer in which several women were sexually assaulted at a Hispanic pride gathering.
Crystal Canney, a news reporter for WGME, felt that it was the media’s duty to show such footage.
“To sanitize an incident like that is a discredit to the victim and a disservice to the public. A video and still picture are very different. But they both show exactly what is going on,” said Canney.
Joshua Weinstein, a writer for the Portland Press Herald, agreed with Canney.
“In the case of the Central Park video, sometimes there are not words to describe a situation, sometimes you need a picture.”
Audience member Karla Ruth Jurgelevich feels that the media plays an important part in raising awareness about violence against women.
“Often, I don’t pay much attention to what’s going on until something startling happens,” said Jurgelevich. “We need not blame you, but think about `what am I doing as an individual to bring others together and hold myself accountable?'”
All the panelists expressed concerns about Portland Student Life Director Helen Gorgas-Goulding’s decision to stop Casco Bay Weekly from delivering to the University because of the “Chef Al’s Fowl” cartoon.
“The decision was not representative of the University and it should have never been removed,” said Liza Watts, executive editor of The Free Press.
“I would never advocate for that paper to be removed from the USM campus,” agreed Sam Phifle, editor of The Phoenix.
“I was appalled by the cartoon and appalled by the newspaper being removed,” said Canney.
Martin felt the program created lively discussion about important issues and hopes there will be more programs like it.
“I definitely want to continue to create the opportunity for an exchange of ideas and explore ways to address as a community violence against women.”
Staff Writer Kate Bucklin can be contacted at: [email protected]