Media & Press

Media OUtlet and Press Media Kit

The media are on the front lines of sexual violence in our communities; you have an important role to play in ensuring that survivors’ experiences are accurately told. As members of the press, you are uniquely positioned to help move the culture forward by asking important questions, critiquing and examining the dynamics of power and privilege, and ensuring that the many facets of the issue remain in the public’s eye and on their mind.

We understand that all of this happens in the context of the reality of a modern, digitally driven, press infrastructure, with deadlines and a public reader/viewership that demands more and more. WCASA, in partnership with 47 sexual assault service providers statewide, and a corps of community groups and volunteers working to end sexual assault in Wisconsin, can provide expertise and technical assistance to help you tell your story accurately. We will make every effort to assist you. 

Below we have gathered some useful resources for assisting these two worlds – news media and violence prevention activism – to merge and ally towards common goals.

Resources

The National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC), in partnership with the Poynter Institute, have created an online course on Reporting on Sexual Violence. Through a generous contribution by NSVRC, the course is available free.

• WCASA Info Sheet - Sexual Assault (general)

• WCASA Fact Sheet 

• WCASA SA Talking Points (from Lobby Day, 2011)

• The Grammar of Male Violence - originally published in Off Our Backs magazine 

• Info Sheet: 10 Ways News Media Can Be Better Allies to Survivors of Sexual Assault  

• The Careless Language of Sexual Violence – by Roxanne Gay, on The Rumpus.net

• Reporting Sexual Assault: A Guide for Journalists – produced by the Michigan Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence 

• The Grammar of Assault: Salisbury Paper Learns Why ‘performing a sex act’ Misrepresents the Crime (Poynter.org article) 

• Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma  - topics: Sexual Violence, Interviewing Victims  (a project of Columbia Journalism School)

Want to read more?! The National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) has a Media Packet with a series of handouts available as PDF downloads.