TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Observers express concern about reporting of Reynhard case
Following the conviction of Indonesian student Reynhard Sinaga for serial rapes in Manchester in the United Kingdom, the global media, including many outlets in Indonesia, have produced numerous reports about the shocking case
Change Size
F
ollowing the conviction of Indonesian student Reynhard Sinaga for serial rapes in Manchester in the United Kingdom, the global media, including many outlets in Indonesia, have produced numerous reports about the shocking case.
With the case making headlines in the country, local media observers and activists have raised concerns about the media’s framing of sexual violence issues in relation to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.
Over the week, Reynhard, a 36-year-old PhD student living in the UK was on the front pages of worldwide news outlets after he was convicted of 159 counts of rape against men in Manchester. Police believe that Reynhard attacked at least 195 men during the 2015 to 2017 period based on the videos he recorded during the attacks on his two iPhones.
Dubbed “the most prolific rapist in Britain’s legal history”, he was sentenced to life with a minimum of 30 years after being found guilty of assaulting 48 men.
At home, however, media observers have found that some Indonesian media, in reporting the case, violated journalistic standards by promoting views and probing into Reynhard’s personal life that could further damage the credibility of journalism in Indonesia.
“The media in Indonesia is trying to contextualize the case by looking into Reynhard’s family background, his ethnicity and his past personal life and actually presented unrelated opinions with regard to his crimes. The media could have linked the case, for example, with the urgent need for the sexual violence bill to be passed in Indonesia,” Firman Imanuddin, an activist with Indonesian media observer community Remotivi, said at a discussion forum at the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) office in Jakarta on Sunday.
He criticized the lack of interesting story angles in Reynhard’s news coverage and said that the media only raced for sensational clickbait articles while ignoring the journalistic code of ethics.
Erwin Dariyanto, the managing editor and section head of timeless content of detik.com, echoed Firman and suggested that the Indonesian media learn how to cover sexual-violence news from foreign media.
“Not all media but most foreign media know when and how to report cases of sexual abuse involving the LGBT community. They really obey court instructions and respect ethics. The question is, will the Indonesian media take lessons?” he said.
In addition, Luviani, the chairwoman of feminist online media outlet Konde, said that the irrelevant facts being reported by the media in the coverage of Reynhard’s and other sexual-violence cases further justified allegations that the Indonesian media is driven by a market-oriented mindset.
“When it comes to reporting [the sexual violence issue], ideally we have to look to the victim’s statements without identifying or intruding on their trauma, and to witnesses and related experts in the issue. Most infotainment media in Indonesia interviewed celebrities or unsuitable kinds of experts or hard-line clerics, instead,” she told the forum.
Luviani also mentioned that what needed to be provided by the media was alternative space for an open discussion regarding sexual identity and sexual violence to avoid further misconceptions about the LGBT community.
According to her, some media published stories about “the danger” of freedom of expression and social interaction in their follow-up to the news of Reynhard’s sexual assaults. “Some newspapers even wrote about stories about the liberal life in Manchester and LGBT people’s behavior by interviewing Reynhard’s former school headmaster. This is not only putting the blame on the sexual orientation but this could also create even more misunderstanding,” she added.
Likewise, activist and member of LGBT rights community Suara Kita, Hartoyo said that media coverage of sexual abuse by LGBT persons should generate a more dynamic discussion as the reports could affect the whole community.
“In the short term, misleading news reports about LGBT people will affect our security and it could further trigger repercussions against us [the LGBT community]. I hope I could enjoy democratic nuances when people start to discuss about sexual orientation,” he told The Jakarta Post.
Responding to the Reynhard case, he said that any media reporting of Reynhard’s personal life had the obligation to uncover the structural violence that might be faced by the LGBT community in Indonesia, instead of making judgments about his past life related to family, friends or relatives.
“I think we also need to understand the systemic violence that comes from the concept of heteronormativity. Many of us are expected to act in a certain way or to become someone with a certain role. For example, men are expected to be husbands of female wives and vice versa,” he said.
“I don’t know Reynhard personally and his crimes can’t be tolerated. However, it should be the job of the media to explain to society that the structural violence that could contribute to certain actions does exist,” he added. (trn)
