This is a review of the way a single story is handled by two diffident tabloid newspapers. The sensationalistic reporting style is so starkly different that I thought it would make an exceptional case study for the dos & don’ts of trans reporting (even when it’s tabloid reporting).
[hr]DO – From the New York Daily News:
Do keep the focus of the mockery on the criminal and not on his victim
A hulking ex-firefighter accused of violently attacking his transgender ex-girlfriend walked away Monday with a jail-free sentence for the 2011 melee.
In December, Taylor Murphy, 29, was acquitted of felony strangulation and witness tampering charges, but was convicted of misdemeanor criminal mischief and assault, and felony criminal contempt for violating an order of protection when he contacted Claudia Charriez more than 1,000 times after the blow-out.
DON’T – From the New York Post:
Don’t glamorize the criminal while mocking his victim
[hr]A beefy FDNY calendar boy with a weakness for glamorous transsexual strippers was sentenced to five years probation today for assaulting and then continuing to compulsively contact one of his exotic she-male exes.
Taylor Murphy, 29, had last come to court with a towering replacement transsexual stripper on his arm, but arrived at court today with a pretty, biological gal-pal at his side instead — a platonic, childhood sweetheart, his lawyer explained.
One tabloid is run by the same guy who runs FOX News and the other is a tabloid run by the same guy who runs The Atlantic. Can you tell which one is which?
So, in summery: A.) don’t be a douche; and, B.) GLAAD Media Guide, even tabloids can use it!