Taken To The Wood Shed

Last week I wrote about the horrible way the newspaper “The Plain Dealer” reported the murder of a trans-woman, it was not only the trans-community that found it transphobic but also professional journalist, the Columbia Journalism Review* also found it objectionable. Jennifer Vanasco wrote this about the Plain Dealer article…

Transgender people are victimized enough without the press piling on. The Cleveland Plain Dealer owes the transgender community an apology. But more than that, it owes the public a series that explores the ferocious struggles transgender people face every day just to be treated like human beings.

Ms. Vanasco pointed out how the article violated may journalist standards beside the use of wrong pronouns, such as using her mugshot,

It’s standard to use a mugshot if a person is guilty of something, but not if they’re a murder victim, which is the case here. They made her look like a criminal.

And the focus of the story,

What is odd is not that a transgender woman was dressed in a feminine way, but that the story chose to focus on that detail instead of the savage way she was murdered.

Ms. Vanasco takes them to task for the way they reedited the story after it was strongly criticized,

Instead, the story drops all pronouns and refers to Cemia as Carl, which seems like a half-hearted effort to be consistent with the AP’s recommendations.

She also pointed out that it wasn’t just the Plain Dealer that disrespected Ms. Acoff but also Fox8 and CBS affiliate 19 Action News.

*The "Columbia Journalism Review's mission is to encourage excellence in journalism in the service of a free society. Founded in 1961 under the auspices of Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism..."