We were unsettled by the content of the "Campus Comment: Safety in Somerville" features piece in The Tufts Daily on Wednesday. There was a TUPD safety alert on Saturday regarding a sexual assault committed against a female student on College Avenue, possibly connected to several other similar attacks in the general vicinity. The piece that ran on Wednesday contained the work of two assistant features editors who collected quotes from Tufts students regarding their reaction to the safety alert.
Many quoted students downplayed the incidents as anomalies, including a sophomore who said, "this doesn't represent a giant crime wave coming our way." This tendency to minimize the recent sexual assaults ignores the reality that sexual violence is already pervasive on campus. According to the Tufts Health Education website, 20 to 25 percent of college women will be victims of rape or attempted rape during their time at school. Survivors are unlikely to seek out resources when a hostile atmosphere is created on campus. We feel that this features piece does just that. By dedicating a full page in the Daily to students' problematic attitudes towards sexual assault, the Daily contributed to such attitudes on campus.
We understand that insensitive comments are to a certain extent a hazard of the job when producing a campus newspaper. This piece was a compilation of students' reactions, and journalists have a responsibility to truth and accuracy rather than to political correctness. However, completely absolving the Daily from any responsibility unfairly diminishes the importance of editing and quote selection, both of which have enormous influence over tone and reception of any given piece.
We want to stress the importance of communicating and translating between genres, a quandary that is not particular to cases of sexual violence or even journalism. Quotes that seem exciting or acceptable in a newsroom can resonate very differently in print and in various settings such as the dining hall. Details that may be relevant to police investigations, such as clothing choice, may come across as victim blaming when included in a mass email. This is why it is crucial that medium and audience be considered, especially when writing about a potentially traumatic subject such as sexual violence. We urge for sensitivity when covering sensitive topics.
Sincerely,
ZoëBarth-Werb and Alyson Weiss
Class of 2012
