Ashamed to be part of the media...

2009-09-11 13:22

Estrelita Moses

The leak by Australian papers about the results of Caster Semenya's gender tests has left a bitter taste in my mouth.

The Sydney Morning Herald online's 'Secret of Semenya's sex stripped bare' headline was particularly sensitive, as was the use of a picture showing a rather masculine pose. Others went one better, referring to the "suspicious, secretive Semenya".

What secret? I'm sure she's known about it all her life! Come on...

Not that the local media's hands are any cleaner, I recall some serious lack of sensitivity chips there too, when the story broke originally. There was also the Caster/ANC/ASA sideshow when the team arrived back home - not to mention the ‘broke’ ANCYL's generous gift. And then there's that 'glamorous' fashion shoot done to show that, well, Caster's "all woman".  The less said about that, the better - YOU know who you are.

However, I can't say that had I been privy to the information by said leaked source, I wouldn't have used it - and in the process, violated Caster's right to privacy as well. To learn you're hermaphrodite in such a public manner must be beyond what most of us can imagine. Not to mention the constant media glare over the last while, on what appears to be a rather shy young woman.

Yes, there was a collective balk at the horrific sadness of the situation. Certainly there's consensus that there is a moral question on how and when to release information of such a sensitive nature.

Would we, as News24 have done any different in terms of actually running the story though? I doubt it. Maybe we would've been a tad more tactful - but is there any kind of 'sensitive' way to break a story of this nature? Would we have taken the moral high ground and not have run the story – had we got it before anyone else? Of course not.

It's an ethical debate we're forced to deal with more and more these days. At what point has one overstepped the point of plain human decency? And maybe it's a question that we, as the media, don't ask ourselves enough.

Personally, I'm ashamed to be a part of the media cog today – would I have acted differently? Probably not.

Estrelita Moses is Day Editor of News24.com

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