As a national breast cancer charity, we often find ourselves approached by the media to add a “real life” angle to a story (Anyone here been abused and wears a size 10?, April 14). More often than not we are asked for young and/or “attractive” case studies.
Breast cancer in an attractive woman in her 30s or 40s may make a more aesthetically pleasing story, but it can give an unrealistic perception of who is typically affected by the disease. Around 80% of the 44,000 new cases each year are actually in post-menopausal women and breast cancer does not discriminate when it comes to beauty.
We need the support of the media to help us convey the reality rather than a skewed perception of this devastating disease.
Jackie Graveney, director of communications and marketing, Breast Cancer Campaign
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We set up askcharity.org.uk to help the media get case studies from charities. Most requests are fine but one journalist emailed all the domestic violence charities on the site to ask if they could provide a woman who had fallen in love with her stalker/abuser, while another asked a charity if the cancer patient they were putting forward was pretty.
Charities know they can benefit from the media’s use of case studies but journalists also need to remember that case studies are real people.
Penelope Gibbs, founder, askcharity.org.uk
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It is with great regret that I can confirm that newspapers as well as magazines increasingly want case studies who are pleasing to the eye. The press is perpetuating unreality and adding to the distress of countless others who, although they have survived and have a good story to tell, do not look a million dollars.
One editor of a national’s health section always wants women in skirts and kitten heels and men in casual trousers, not jeans, with a shirt, not a T-shirt. Another often wants to know what the case study looks like before commissioning. How do you ask someone who is just out of hospital or taking a new drug with unpleasant side-effects if they are photogenic?
It is a matter of great concern to those of us in the Guild of Health Writers. Most of our members depend upon these editors for their bread and butter, so it is difficult for them not to accede to this request. But their readers would prefer an honest reflection of the story.
Judy Hobson, secretary, Guild of Health Writers
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Letters to Guardian Media http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/apr/21/3 re a story the previous week Anyone here been abused and wears a size 10?
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(Please note this is not included to discourage women from working with Women’s Aid to get media coverage – but just to illustrate how hard it is for women’s issues to get proper and thoughtful coverage in the media. WiL)
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Cancer does not come dressed in kitten heels
22 April 2008 in England, Equality, Media, Opinion Comment, Women's Group
As a national breast cancer charity, we often find ourselves approached by the media to add a “real life” angle to a story (Anyone here been abused and wears a size 10?, April 14). More often than not we are asked for young and/or “attractive” case studies.
Breast cancer in an attractive woman in her 30s or 40s may make a more aesthetically pleasing story, but it can give an unrealistic perception of who is typically affected by the disease. Around 80% of the 44,000 new cases each year are actually in post-menopausal women and breast cancer does not discriminate when it comes to beauty.
We need the support of the media to help us convey the reality rather than a skewed perception of this devastating disease.
Jackie Graveney, director of communications and marketing, Breast Cancer Campaign
———————————————————————————
We set up askcharity.org.uk to help the media get case studies from charities. Most requests are fine but one journalist emailed all the domestic violence charities on the site to ask if they could provide a woman who had fallen in love with her stalker/abuser, while another asked a charity if the cancer patient they were putting forward was pretty.
Charities know they can benefit from the media’s use of case studies but journalists also need to remember that case studies are real people.
Penelope Gibbs, founder, askcharity.org.uk
—————————————-
It is with great regret that I can confirm that newspapers as well as magazines increasingly want case studies who are pleasing to the eye. The press is perpetuating unreality and adding to the distress of countless others who, although they have survived and have a good story to tell, do not look a million dollars.
One editor of a national’s health section always wants women in skirts and kitten heels and men in casual trousers, not jeans, with a shirt, not a T-shirt. Another often wants to know what the case study looks like before commissioning. How do you ask someone who is just out of hospital or taking a new drug with unpleasant side-effects if they are photogenic?
It is a matter of great concern to those of us in the Guild of Health Writers. Most of our members depend upon these editors for their bread and butter, so it is difficult for them not to accede to this request. But their readers would prefer an honest reflection of the story.
Judy Hobson, secretary, Guild of Health Writers
———————————————
Letters to Guardian Media http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/apr/21/3 re a story the previous week Anyone here been abused and wears a size 10?
———————————————
(Please note this is not included to discourage women from working with Women’s Aid to get media coverage – but just to illustrate how hard it is for women’s issues to get proper and thoughtful coverage in the media. WiL)