Case of The Unnamed Orthodox
Rabbi
Quebec, Canada
An undercover reporter posed as an employee of an escort
service. One of her two clients included a Hasidic rabbi, who masturbated
in a motel room while looking at pornography on television and at the reporter
in her underwear.
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- THE PRESS - EDITORIAL/OP-ED (09/18/1986)
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by Clair Balfour
The Gazzette (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) - September
18, 1986
[FINAL Edition] pg. B.3 Section:
EDITORIAL/OP-ED
Freelance reporter Lindalee Tracey wrote of her experiences
on two dates as an employee of two escort services. Each date led to overtly
attempted sexual activity. Tracey described her avoidance of sexual intercourse
in each case. Her name appeared on the story, but she was not further
described.
Names and physical descriptions were used, including
those of one client described as an Hasidic rabbi, who masturbated in a motel
room while looking at pornography on television and at Tracey in her
underwear.
The story was accompanied by a photo of a woman, shown
from the back and not identifiable, standing in an open doorway. An associated
headline and the photo's caption implied she was a prostitute on her way
into a hotel room.
Jim Peters, assistant managing editor in charge of
local news coverage, said the story was "to point out a glaring loophole
in Canada's strange melange of laws designed to stop prostitution.
"What better way to do so than to prove that prostitutes
- and the people who prey on them - are still making big bucks under the
eyes of the legislators and the police?"
That strikes me as a reasonable explanation overall,
but some aspects are worth scrutiny.
The story was based on surreptitious work which, although
questionable, is ethically acceptable when clear to readers that the writer
was operating in such a manner, as was the case here.
The Gazette's code of ethics says, "Staff members must
not induce people to commit illegal or improper acts."
Some readers considered the story to have contained
improprieties. Although Tracey was not a staff member, clearly she was carrying
out the assignment for the newspaper.
The code also says, "The Gazette and its news staff
should, in the pursuit and presentation of news, be considerate of personal
privacy." Privacy was protected by altering descriptions of some individuals,
other than operators of escort services.
(Since 1975 The Gazette has had a written code of ethics.
It is under review by a newsroom committee.)
While some of those considerations may conflict, some
conclusions may be drawn.
First, the writer ought to have been described as well
as being identified. The Gazette lacks consistency in this area (as do other
newspapers). While non-staff book reviewers and some freelance contributors
to The Gazette's Comment page are described in brief, italic footnotes, the
credentials of freelance reporters rarely accompany news stories.
Such information would help readers evaluate the news.
In this story, partly written in the first person by a known Montreal
personality, the omission seemed glaring.
Tracey's most recent story in The Gazette appeared
July 5; it was about Vietnamese boatpeople who settled in Montreal.
She has been a scriptwriter for the National Film Board,
an announcer on CJAD radio, a researcher for Canadian Broadcasting Corp.,
a film actress, and a stripper who used the name Fonda Peters and started
an annual strip show to raise money for the Montreal Children's Hospital
in 1976. Later she became a lobbyist and activist against pornography.
Helpful skills
Some may argue that her stripping was irrelevant here.
However, it was widely known, has been previously reported several times
in The Gazette and meant that Tracey had some skills helpful to her for this
assignment.
In my view, it was directly relevant and should have
been stated. This would have added to the credibility of the story and the
newspaper.
A second conclusion is that facts, including personal
identifications, should never be altered without warning readers and telling
them why.
The undisclosed, deliberate falsification of even a
single fact is misleading and casts doubt over an entire story. Fakery has
no place in a newspaper that wishes its readers to believe and to trust it.
Indentities can be protected in other ways.
Similarly, the unidentified woman photographed in a
doorway was not a prostitute in a hotel but a temporary Gazette newsroom
secretary, Michelle Sarrazin. She had posed in a doorway to the newspaper's
boardroom.
Readers deserved to know that the scene had been modelled:
No guessing.
Details of Tracey's date with a rabbi troubled some
readers, for obvious reasons.
While names, ages and other details enhance the readability
and believability of any story, selection of dates was a matter of luck.
The other date was with a businessman, also described in some detail. Each
represented about 13 per cent of the story.
But the treatment of the rabbi was unnecessarily harsh.
The story was about prostitution in the escort business, not about a sexual
encounter with a rabbi. The story lost its way here and took to stomping
where it could have tip-toed.
Some readers found parts of the story offensive and
their comments deserve to be heard by senior editors, although taste is
subjective and each reader will have his or her own view. Also, any story
about sex is fraught with possibilities to offend.
Rigorous editing
However, rigorous editing can deal with most trouble
spots in stories of this nature. As stated on the opening page of Stylebook,
the Canadian Press news agency's 358-page guide to news coverage, used at
The Gazette, "good taste is a constant consideration. Some important news
is essentially repellent. Its handling need not be." One or two more passes
through the editing process would have helped this story.
If you have a question, comment or complaint about
fairness or accuracy of news coverage in The Gazette, write to our ombudsman,
Clair Balfour, at 250 St. Antoine St. W., Montreal H2Y 3R7, or telephone
282-2160.
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