Narrative, Politics, and Sexual Violence
A post by Timmi Duchamp first brought to my attention a now-infamous article in the New York Times , "Vicious Assault Shakes Texas Town" , which reports on a gang-rape of an 11-year-old girl by 18 men of varying ages -- from early teens to 27. Timmi described the article as being chiefly concerned with the rapists rather than their victim, and I must admit that at first, being in a particularly optimistic and naive mood or something, I thought, "No, there's got to be some mistake -- the Times wouldn't let something like that through, would they?" They would. They did. It's a nauseating article. Timmi nails it, and so do Mary Elizabeth Williams in a Salon piece, "New York Times's Sloppy, Slanted Child Rape Story" , and Mac McClelland at Mother Jones with "The New York Times' Rape-Friendly Reporting" . Perhaps the most vivid proof that James C. McKinley, Jr's reporting for the Times for this story is rotten come...
