Sex crime in the news

by Keith Soothill, Sylvia Walby

First published in 1991, Sex Crime in the News is a unique examination of the nature of sex crime reporting in the press. Analysing examples from forty years of newspaper coverage, the authors provide a systematic study of this controversial topic. The book reveals the misleading and trivializing nature of sex crime coverage, with serious research reports on rape and discussions on law reform being given short shrift. The authors examine the increasing gap between the reality of sexual abuse and the coverage it receives in the press, and they set their detailed empirical work within a context of broader concerns about the relationship between the media, the individual and the state. Critical though it is of the press, this book will be of special interest to people working in the media, and to legislators involved in debates about the press. It will also be of value to students on course in women’s studies, cultural and media studies, and deviancy.

181 pages, Hardcover

First published May 28, 1991

Reviews

[Mandy Partridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Male and female university lecturers from Lancaster and London, Soothill and Walby show us just how biased the electronic and print media really are, when reporting sex crimes.
This book was published before the rise of internet news, but remains a classic text on the sexist and homophobic reporting of sex crimes in the British newspapers and on national and international television news.
The authors analyse the types of language, the frequency of reporting, and the range of coverage of sex crimes, including rape and indecent assault against women and men by mostly male perpetrators.
The saddest study was the comparison of media coverage between rapists who killed their victims, and those who didn't. Some victims are still vilified and blamed for the rapist's crime, even when they are dead.
Not much has changed in this regard since 1985. Marital rape is now a crime, but there are also new kinds of sexual assault now, such as 'stealthing' and the filming and sharing of nude and sexual imagery.
It's hard to know if rape is more common now, or if women just feel slightly more comfortable about reporting it. Rape remains the most under-reported, and with the lowest conviction rates of all serious crime.
The media still names the crime after the victim instead of the perpetrator. Come on, guys.
It's clear that the Media, the Police and the Justice System are all on the side of the rapist. Ah, patriarchy...