Content warning: This article contains details of sexist abuse.
Orisa Thandi
If you’re anything like me (an 80s-obsessed, pining lesbian) you’ll no doubt be captivated by Chappell Roan. A synonym for queer liberation, the Missouri-born singer shot to fame after the release of her debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.
Lately, she’s been in the press for all the wrong reasons. On 26th October, footage emerged of Roan at the Guts film premiere, where she loudly confronted a red carpet photographer who had sworn at her one month prior.
@much Chappell Roan calls out a photographer at the GUTS World Tour Premiere for being disrespectful to her at the Grammys. Via: @E! News
Some feminist-leaning news outlets praised Roan for her self-defence. Yet, the majority of articles written about the incident contained a barrage of insulting news headlines, labelling Roan as ‘demanding’ and the photographer as allegedly ‘rude’ or ‘disrespectful’. This is the danger of framing, where journalists emphasise certain parts of a story to influence the reader’s perception.
As a trainee journalist myself, I couldn’t help but wonder how Roan’s story would be framed differently if she was a man, and how this affects news coverage of other women speaking out about abuse.
Tom Holland To The Rescue
After a bit of digging, I read that British actor Tom Holland had been praised by numerous media outlets for ‘protecting’ his girlfriend from swarms of paparazzi just one day before Roan.
I was annoyed (but not surprised) at the difference in how Roan and Holland were portrayed by reporters. Whilst Roan was largely blamed for her outburst, Holland was awarded with superhero-esque superlatives across headlines, described as a ‘rescuer’ and ‘the real deal’. This points to a larger problem of female victim blaming in journalism, where women facing abuse or discrimination are made to feel responsible for their own experiences.
“It all starts with the headline”
Perhaps the most chilling part of female victim blaming is when journalists frame stories that justify the violent actions of perpetrators. Last year, the Daily Mail published an article about George Pattinson’s murder of his wife and daughter with the headline ‘‘Did living in the shadow of his high achieving wife lead to unthinkable tragedy?” The journalist implies that Pattinson’s brutal act of violence was justified, and speaks of a wider tendency to shift the blame onto female victims.
A 2024 study found 11.7 per cent of news articles detailing the assault of women cast blame on the victim. This has dangerous consequences; the more assault survivors are blamed for their own abuse, the less likely they are to report assault to the police. Therefore, if 30 per cent of the global female population experience some type of abuse in their lifetime, why do journalists continue to thread victim blaming into their headlines?
Making The Headlines
Essentially, journalists lean towards sensationalist headlines because they lead to higher amounts of ad revenue per click. Furthermore, studies suggest that articles with negative headlines are statistically more likely to be read, contributing to a rise in clickbait-lead stories.
This is all due to the power of Search Engine Optimisation, which compels journalists to use keywords in their articles online so that search engines rank them higher on the results page. In the case of our friend Chappell Roan, using terms like ‘demanded’ or ‘rude’ is just a way to get more attention from readers.
An unfortunate side effect of this is that the audience is treated as a commodity. If journalists are reliant on advertisers to fund their jobs, they have to write something that encourages as many people as possible to visit their news site – and it all starts with the headline.
On a more upsetting note, we simply don’t have enough female journalists. A 2023 Reuters study found that out of 240 major global news outlets, only 22 per cent were women. How can we even begin to change headlines when there aren’t enough of us in the newsroom?
Finding Solutions
If journalism’s first obligation is to the truth, then we all have a responsibility to ensure that women’s experiences are respected in journalism, without being twisted into something else for monetary gain. I believe we can improve how women’s issues in journalism are framed in the following two ways:
1. Implement diversity programmes to increase the amount of female journalists in legacy news outlets
Some world-renowned news outlets are taking measures to ensure that all genders are represented in reporting, such as the BBC’s 50:50 programme. Launched in 2017, the project collects data to monitor diversity in real time, revealing which areas of news making need to be updated. Prior to 50:50, less than 40 per cent of BBC contributors were women. Yet, within just four months, the site’s female contributors rose to 50 per cent. The success of the programme has led to its global implementation, with outlets such as ABC News and the Media Council of Mongolia taking part.
2. Create mandatory journalism courses centred on female representation in the news
There are some Master’s programmes that already explore gender, media and culture at UK universities (most notably at LSE and Goldsmiths). However, we need to implement mandatory classes on women’s issues in journalism at an undergraduate level.
Journalists are always bound to write for a specific brand voice, or to please their advertisers – but taking this course could make them think twice about perpetuating victim blaming in their work from an early point in their career.
Maybe then we’ll finally stop being subjected to these kinds of articles, and women like Chappell Roan won’t have to suffer from them either.
If you feel affected by any of the issues mentioned, you can find a list of resources here.
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Featured image courtesy of Jason Martin on Flickr. No changes were made to this image. Image license found here.
Orisa Thandi
Orisa Thandi is a freelance journalist who investigates current affairs through an intersectional lens. She is currently enrolled in Digital Innovation in Journalism Studies, an MA programme at Concordia University.