CNN article can be viewed here: http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/09/20/inmate.recants.ap/index.html?eref=rss_latest
There is no question that within the mainstream media that the line between “entertainment” and “news” has become frighteningly blurred at best. Often it is difficult to separate fact from fiction, and when the lines are intentionally blurred between Hollywood representation and actual events that the situation becomes even more complicated. This week news giant CNN reported updates in the well-publicized murder of Brandon Tina. Marvin Nissen one of the two men sentenced in the brutal hate crime, which received national attention, has changed his story, now claiming that he was the only killer. The hate crime Brandon Tina a gender variant individual in rural Nebraska garnered national attention from both queer and mainstream press. The case was later made into a mainstream film titled “Boys Don’t Cry” staring Hillary Swank as Brandon.
My interest in this news reporting honestly has less to do with the news itself (although that is interesting) but more to do with the ways in which the reporting was handled. The article’s title is “Inmate Recants in ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ Case” and accompanying the article is a picture of Hillary Swank from the movie. This dangerous blending of Hollywood fictional accounts, and the actual hate crime is highly alarming to me. I believe that showcasing the news in this case in this manner, delegitimates the horror of what actually happened in the 1993 hate crime and further buys into a mediated culture where people are increasingly unable to differentiate fiction from reality.
Furthermore, the article is highly offensive in it’s inappropriate use of names of covering news stories involving transgender people. Associated Press guidelines state that when reporting about a transgender person, pronouns, which correspond to the persons’ identity, should be used in all instances. This article interestingly enough avoided all pronouns for Brandon. Furthermore the article, referred to him by his legal name as apposed to his chosen name. Although on first appearance, and particularly for those unfamiliar with journalistic style things appear to be positive and progressive as the article repetedly references “Brandon.” However in the first paragraph he is referred to as “Tina Brandon” and as such the use of “Brandon” is simply corresponding to journalistic style of using a last name after the first citation.
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