In the Oct. 2 issue of The Daily Pennsylvanian, an article appeared about a Wharton sophomore who was identified as the alleged assaulter in the Harnwell sexual assault case. We do not intend to be uncompassionate to the assaulted, but we need to delve into a larger issue.
We understand that legally and journalistically, there are no laws forbidding the release of a student's information. However, a school newspaper should take responsibility for affecting a student's reputation because one is innocent until proven guilty. By posting one's picture and name in the paper, it socially implies that one is guilty.
There are two points that must be addressed. Firstly, we feel a student's picture should not be published in the DP until they are convicted of a crime. Secondly, as a student body, we need to challenge unconscious social perceptions whether they are in the media or everyday conversations. We want to challenge the student population at the University to think twice about the effect of the DP's actions when it publishes this information.
The DP has recently magnified the criminal activity on campus by calling it a "crime wave." In another article published on Oct. 3, History Professor Eric Schneider stated, "I would not necessarily call it a crime wave. I think that tends to be an inflammatory term and I would stay away from it."
Instead of the DP alleviating some of the fear that has been generated by these incidents, the term "crime wave" serves as a catalyst for more tension and stereotyping on this campus. For example, crime stories have been front page news all week, although there is already a designated section for crime reports. In addition, they are including past and present incidents to make this situation seem more severe and long lasting.
The strategic emphasis on robberies and attacks committed by African-American males and West Philadelphia residents widens a larger gap between "our world" and "their world."
Unfortunately, most Penn students already have conceptions of West Philadelphia as a strange, forbidden land. This conception is rooted in internalized racial and class assumptions. Because of this internalization, it is vital for the DP to be careful in how it sensationalizes its crime reports.
Hopefully, its readers are intelligent enough to critically analyze and be mindful that the DP is a newspaper and may dramatize stories to get readership like many others. However, we are worried that this is not the case. Individuals' current racial and class prejudices are only going to be justified and reinforced by the prevalence of these articles.
We understand that the DP has to report the facts of any crime regardless of who committed it. However, we want to highlight that due to stereotypes that already exist in this country, they should balance these negatives images with positive images of West Philadelphians and people of color.
How often does the DP have a positive front page leading story about people of color or low economic status?
We may not be able to directly affect mass media, but we can change what happens at Penn. We challenge you to think about the ramifications of the DP's journalistic style, how the DP is capitalizing on your fear and how racial and economic notions are being validated.
We challenge you to talk about it with your peers, organize and attend forums, submit commentaries to the DP and be an active, not passive, member of the Penn community.
If you would like to be an active student in challenging social norms, please join the Yahoo group "Be About It" (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BeAboutIt).
Don't speak about it. Be about it.
