They are kidnap victims, and they are media celebrities. Jacqueline Marris and Tamara Brooks were abducted one day, and went on national television the next. Now the California teenagers are on the cover of People Magazine, defiant victims, 21st century heroines.
Their treatment in the press has triggered a firestorm of questions over how the media cover rape, and whether a heinous crime of aggression demands a cultural response that treats it like any other crime. Name the victim, not blame the victim. Media coverage may lead to catharsis, but whether celebrity status is an antidote to disempowerment is something else. And whether any publicity at all is appropriate is the real question.
Guests:
Gail Abarbanel, founder, the Rape Treatment Center at the Santa Monica UCLA Medical Center
Kelly McBride, member of the ethics faculty at the Poynter Institute
Jane Schorer Meisner, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist