I would like to comment on the recent coverage of reported rape at UMO… Names make the news  is an old, old concept—almost as old as  she must have been asking for it

Wallace-Whitaker, Virginia

English

University of Maine

The University of Maine DigitalCommons@UMaine Social Justice: Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Special Collections 10-7-1983 Names aren't real news Virginia Wallace-Whitaker Assistant Professor of Journalism, University of Maine Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/social_justice  Part of the Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Higher Education Commons, and the United States History Commons Repository Citation Wallace-Whitaker, Virginia, "Names aren't real news" (1983). Social Justice: Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion. 624. https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/social_justice/624 This Letter to the Editor is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UMaine. It has been accepted for inclusion in Social Justice: Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UMaine. For more information, please contact um.library.technical.services@maine.edu. Names aren't real news To the editor: I would like to comment on the recent coverage of reported rape at UMO (Campus, 9114183; 9129183; 1015183 and the Bangor Daily News). "Names make the news" is an old, old concept-almost as old as "she must have been asking for it." Surely a more valid test for the disclosure of names exists than the one Professors Hamilton and Neal cite: the high incidence of so-called acquaintance rapes. It is true that .75 percent of rape vt urns kn have previous y seen- tneir attackers. ~ It is also _trtre .rhat some 45 percent of all rapes take place in the victim's home. Does it follow that women should never go home, or that all acquaintances have the right to commit violence? A better test for di closure may be a rather simple question: what is the usefulness of the information to the community? The real new for UMO women in the initial story is that not all rapes are the work of a stranger who springs from the shadows. The news is that to be alone with a male in a situation where p ychological or· physical dominance is possible-even in the seeming safety of a dormitory room-is to be at risk. There is valid information for u in the fact that a rape was reported. Details such as the hour, the place and the prior relation-ship between the two people add to our alertness. Disclosure of either name, prior to court action, does not, in my opinion, make the story more credible. Nor does the disclosure of race. In the light of the court's decision to dismiss charges, and by the test above, the story in the Campus (1015183), seems sensitive and appropriate. The - previously published name of the accused attacker is used. His side of the toi".f, ~u a' mat of the polic.!! are presen all women, the additional disclo ure Wednesday by the Bangor Daily News of the woman's name created an unwritt~n second story: to report a rape is to risk further humiliation. That's an ugly story indeed. It's also a bitter truth we need to learn about new paper reporting and the court system. It is the reason why rapes go unreported. There are no easy answers, as Hamilton and . eal point out. But between full and immediate disclosure in rape cases and the mythical one-liner "something happened last night," there is a continuum of stopping points. ·The Caf7Jpus story proves reporter judgment~ possible. Virginia Wallace-Whitaker Assi tant Profe sor of Journalism/Broadcasting 1 

Names aren\u27t real news

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Names aren\u27t real news

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