- Gary Duffy
- 13 Dec 06, 06:00 PM
How does a community feel when it suddenly finds itself caught up in the whirlwind of a terrible tragedy that also becomes a major news event? My colleague Tim Fenton, who was brought up in Ipswich, gave the 大象传媒 News website into the distress this can cause, even for those not directly touched by events.
The Suffolk town and the surrounding area have been at the centre of unwanted attention from across the World following the murder of five women. With a population of about 140,000, Ipswich is in Tim鈥檚 words, "much like any town anywhere". As he points out it is big 鈥 but not so big as to be impersonal, and clearly local people have been sharing the sense of trauma. One reader wrote on our : 鈥淚 live approx 10 mins walk from the football ground - the area where the girls went missing from. I'm not normally a nervous person, but certainly won't be going out anywhere on my own anytime soon.鈥
As journalists we have been trying to reflect these feelings without adding unnecessarily to the fear that is already gripping many parts of this community. For reporters on the ground there is also the difficult balance to strike between accurately reflecting the mood of local people while trying to avoid being excessively intrusive.
There has also been a need to reflect carefully on the overall tone of a story whose consequences have spread far beyond the families most directly affected. It鈥檚 not possible to claim we always get that right, but we should be able to reconcile the journalist鈥檚 instinct to report the news while always keeping such concerns in mind.
Gary Duffy is UK editor of the
Five Live's Matt Morris wrote on Monday about the use of the word "prostitute" in the . 大象传媒 viewers, listeners and users have been offering feedback on how the story has been reported - here are some more of their thoughts.
Lee Taylor was among those who still felt strongly about the labelling of the women as prostitutes. "I was a bit offended by your headline today ''. It makes the victims seem less than human to call them prostitutes rather than girl/s or woman/women which is what they are."
Many callers took issue with the use of the term "girls" since the victims are all adults.
Matt Wells wrote that he heard "a (female) correspondent on the midnight Radio 4 news use the phrase 'local women AND prostitutes admit they're terrified'. What a dehumanising form of words. Are prostitutes not women too? Surely it should have been something like: 'Local women, and prostitutes in particular, admit they're terrified.'"
Some users felt it was necessary for the word prostitute to be included. Dave Browne wrote: "What's the alternative? 'Someone was killed somewhere, somehow'? You might as well not bother! Any news story will be made more tangible and gain news value if it includes plenty of facts. Yes, it may be insensitive to broadcast details that innocent victims or their families would rather were kept private. But with every fact left out of a story such as this, its power to inform seeps away."
Simon Hatton wrote: "The term prostitute is correct: because as prostitutes these women are making themselves more vulnerable to attack, and therefore, it is necessary for the police to make this distinction in order to curb the panic surrounding these murders. It is not a matter of degradation in the slightest."
Gina Hickley picked up on Matt's question of whether the women's jobs would have been included if they had been plumbers. She thought it would. "If three plumbers had been murdered and two were missing, surely you would report their trade as it would be pretty freaky? The serious point here is that if I were a sex worker/prostitute in the Suffolk area I would be grateful for the information and would either wait until the serial killer is caught before I go out to work again, or switch catchment areas."
Jack Matthew Leahy pointed out the assumption that the killer of the women was a man. "What makes this a 'he'?" he asked. And Joanne said: "I'm far more concerned about giving the murder a name - 'The Ipswich Ripper'. It gives him/her something to 'live' up to."
Many callers thought various interviews with , the father of one of the missing women, had been inappropriate.
Your further comments are welcome.
Metro: Newsreader Fiona Bruce discusses the recent controversy over her wearing a cross. ()
Manchester Evening News: "Business leaders have met 大象传媒 chiefs to seek assurances that the corporation is still planning to move to Salford." ()
The Scotsman: An extended interview with Today programme presenter John Humphrys. ()
