Melissa Dittrich – Thesis

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Conversation Changer: Reporting on College
Sexual Assaults in the New York Times and
Los Angeles Times
A Thesis Presented to the Department of Sociology in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts with Honors
University of California, Davis
Sunday, May 22, 2016
Research Mentor: Kimberlee Shauman
By: Melissa E. Dittrich

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Abstract
Media coverage of sexual assaults on college campuses has increased dramatically since
2010, as reports of assaults have also increased. The issue has reached the attention and
concern of the federal and some state governments, with California and New York passing
‘Affirmative Consent’ laws that aim to educate students about sex and redefine consent as a
firm and enthusiastic yes rather than saying no. As these states begin to address sexual
assaults on college campuses, has there also been a shift in public attitude toward the
problem? By using a sample of articles and columns in the Los Angeles Times and New York
Times from 2005 to 2015, my research investigates if trends in reporting on sexual assault
cases, including rape myths and lack of focus on the victims, have continues in print media
even as new laws and a wider discussion about consent and sexual assault take place.
These prominent news sources are ideal in that their reporting is based in the two states
that have started conversation about sexual assault through passing Affirmative Consent
laws.

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Introduction
Have you heard of Emma Sulckowicz? You might know her as the girl who carried
her mattress across Harvard during the 2014-2015 school year in protest against the
administration, who did not remove her rapist from the school. Did you watch the Oscars
this year? You may have heard of a performance done by pop icon Lady Gaga, who sang
“’Till It Happens to You.” It’s a piece written for the award winning film on college sexual
assault, The Hunting Ground. In the middle of her haunting piano performance, dozens of
survivors of sexual assault came to stand with her in solidarity.
These are two major examples of pop culture exposing the high rates of sexual
assault on college campuses across the U.S., but they are by no means the only examples.
Sexual assault on college campuses has gained increasing attention since 2010, with more
news, more films and more activism working to end this prevalent and devastating
problem. The online news outlet Huffington Post now devotes a whole section to college
sexual assault. California and New York passed state laws to require affirmative consent in
colleges and create a more intentional and coordinated effort toward prevention.
The rise in the knowledge of and activism against sexual assault on college
campuses revealed that many college administrations have ignored or responded
improperly to past assaults. One highly publicized example comes from 2011, when
assistant football coach of Penn State, Joe Paterno, was convicted of molesting underage
boys; one of the most significant parts of the exposure of this crime was that administrators
who knew what was happening did nothing. Administration has covered up or restrained
investigating numerous assaults and murders across the nation, like the Paterno scandal. It
was in the second half of the 21st century that these cover-ups were exposed in media and

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popular culture, which has eventually changed how the public learned about sexual assault
cases.
The increase in college sexual assault news reporting spiked around 2010 and
continued increasing through 2014 and 2015. News outlets started exposing the high
amount of assault reports that had gone ignored in colleges across the country. Outside
investigations of Title IX complaints in Universities increased dramatically (Pope, 2012).
Writers covering the college beat for their newspapers started specializing in college sexual
assault reporting. But has a trend in the media actually lead to a change in the way we view
sexual assault as a culture? How has it affected the way that the public sees victims and
perpetrators of sexual assault?
Laws that have been created to protect victims can show an increasing cultural
concern toward sexual assault. Some previous and relevant laws include Title IX, which
was passed in 1972 and aimed to end discrimination in schools based on sex or gender. The
Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, which
was named after a woman who was raped and murdered in her dorm at Lehigh University
in Pennsylvania, was signed in 1990. The act required that campuses keep and disclose
information about violent crimes, like rape and sexual assaults, on and near the college
campus in order to increase transparency. Similarly, the Violence Against Women act,
which was signed and passed in 1994, allocated finances to U.S. colleges to increase
investigations and prosecutions for crimes against women. Protections within the body of
the text include men, though the name of the law brings a focus to violence against women
(RAINN.org, 2015).

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Most recently, California and New York passed Affirmative Consent Laws in 2014.
The laws increased training for incoming college students and required that they learn
about consent, sexual health and advocacy centers. The laws also emphasized the
importance of affirmative consent, a term that means every sexual experience should be
met with a firm and enthusiastic yes by all of the people who are involved. Previous
dialogues have defined rape as any sexual encounter in which one person said, “no.” With
affirmative consent laws, anything other than “yes,” would be defined as rape or assault.
California and New York were exclusive in passing Affirmative Consent laws and
legislating an increase in sexual assault prevention. Seeing this, I thought it would be
intriguing to track the changes in news coverage on college sexual assault in the two states
around the time the laws were passed.
A note about the language I will be using throughout this paper: I will primarily
refer to those who were attacked in cases of sexual assault as victims and those who were
accused of sexual assault as perpetrators. Although many who have been assaulted and
harassed prefer the term survivor, which implies having power over their situation, the
terms are often used interchangeably in sexual assault activism, research papers and news
articles. Victims are both victim to the crime of sexual assault, which brings about the term
in my research, yet they are also survivors of the experience (WeEndViolence.org).
Perpetrators, on the other hand, may have been accused of harassment or sexual assault
and not convicted, or may have been accused and convicted. In terms of my research, they
are those who are primarily being accused of a crime. However, using this language in
everyday life and in public conversations about sexual assault may not be preferred and
should be discussed first.

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Literature Review
How Media Frames Perception
Research has proven that readers’ perceptions can be changed based on what they
read and gather from the media. For example, promoting rape myths and stereotypical
ideals of beauty can lead to a perpetuation of blaming victims for rape or believing that
beauty ideals are concrete in readers’ minds (Knight and Giuliano, 2002; Edwards, et al.
2011; Franuik, et al. 2008). In relation to my study, the ways in which perpetrators, victims,
administrators and assault cases are reported on in LA Times and NY Times articles can
affect how readers perceive the social issue of college sexual assault.
Knight and Giuliano (2002) found that undergraduate college students in their
study, who read fabricated sports articles that the researchers wrote, were more likely to
judge a female athlete as being unattractive if she was described as athletic, and a male
athlete as more attractive if his athletic ability was described in depth. The study shows
that the words an author uses to describe a subject can change the reader’s perception
about that subject (Knight and Giuliano, 2002). Pre-inscribed notions about what is
beautiful and attractive for men and for women also inform how readers reacted to the
study (Kane, 1996). However, the fact that the descriptions the audience read informed
how they felt about an athlete proves that descriptions about people in articles can have an
impact on the reader (Knight and Giuliano, 2002).
Previous studies have also found that asserting rape myths in media can be
detrimental to how victims feel about themselves, and can lead to readers being more likely
to blame the victim in sexual assaults and rape cases. Rape myths are arguments that the
victim was acting in a way that provoked rape (Burt 1980, Edwards, et al. 2011). Franuik,

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et al. (2008) found that endorsement of rape myths in articles written about the Kobe
Bryant rape case lead to readers thinking that Bryant was innocent (Franuik, et al. 2008). It
has also been found that endorsement of rape myths can lead to victims being blamed for
the assault, and they may be less likely to report their rape (Check and Malamuth, 1985;
Linz, Donnerstein, and Adams, 1989, Edwards et al., 2011).
False reporting is another form of power that journalists have and can abuse, which
can lead to readers losing trust in reporters. Gordon (2015), a music professor at the
University of Virginia, expresses the importance of not contriving facts and quotes after she
experienced the aftermath of a Rolling Stone article in 2014, which falsely depicted a gang
rape that happened on the campus. Without quoting perpetrators, or administrators
accused in the article, the author told the truth from only the victim’s perspective, a
mistake known as gonzo journalism (Thompson, 1971). In gonzo journalism, articles tend
to focus on only one person’s perspective and may not include objective facts (Draper,
1990; Mosser, 2012; Thompson, 1971; Othitis, 1997). Members of the school community
who denied rape and victims’ stories were able to use the false article as leverage against
rape prevention. Misrepresenting facts and testimonies by interviewees is a mistake that
journalists need to be careful of when writing (Draper, 1990; Gordon, 2015; Kosse, 2010).
The media can also shape how the public perceives social issues like rape, sexual
assaults and crime. Moriearty (2010) found that over reporting of “superpredators,” people
who were often described as non-white and potential attackers against women, in media
lead to a bias against people of color in juries and a heightened fear of predators, when
realistically crime had decreased (Moriearty, 2010). Other studies have found that media
tends to sensationalize rapes, focusing only on major scandals and underreporting on the

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effects that rape and assault has on the victim (Caringella-MacDonald, 1998; Kosse, 2010;
Meyer, 1997).
Media opens the doors to social issues and sparking changes that can lead to laws in
that politicians are also consumers of the news, and are affected by what is being reported
on (Benson, 2004; Sampert, 2010). Benson (2004) found that the media could and should
be used as an independent variable in evoking political and cultural change (Benson, 2004;
Compton and Benedetti, 2010; Reese and Shoemaker, 2016).
The Intersection of Athletes, Sexual Assault, and Journalism
Athletics significantly intersect with journalism and college sexual assault in
relation to my study. From 2005 to 2011, a majority of articles on college sexual assault
were those that were also related to college athletics. A three-year study showed that while
athletes make up only 3.3% of the U.S. population, they make up 19% of sexual assault
perpetrators and one in three college sexual assaults are committed by student athletes
(Benedict, Crosset and McDonald 1995; athleticbusiness.com, 2015).
The media has reported extensively on sexual assault and rape related to sports,
both professional and at the collegiate level (Wenner, 1989; Bergen, 1998; Gage, 2008).
Bergen (1998) expresses concern in her book Issues in Intimate Violence that although
reporting on sexual assaults in the media is important, reporting does not actually show if
there is a scientific connection between athletics and sexual violence. The media is
expected and required to report when incidents of sexual assault happen (Bergen, 1998).
However, focusing on athlete assaults may make it appear that sexual assault is contained
within athletics rather than being an issue across college campuses.

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Previous studies have found evidence of male athletes in college being accused in
reported rapes and assaults against women more often than non-athletes (Koss and Gaines,
1993; Frintner and Rubinson, 1993). One showed that college athletes were
overrepresented as perpetrators ofsexual assault in the assaults that were reported to
judicial affairs as opposed to those reported to the police and campus officials (Crosset,
Benedict, McDonald 1995). Books such as Missoula by John Krakauer (2015) and The
System by Armen Keteyian and Jeff Benedict (2013) have also detailed personal accounts
from victims of assaults by college athletes onto female students, which exposed the issue
of sexual assaults within college athletics.
The culture of masculinity that college sports create has been posed as an
explanation for the heightened reporting and number of assaults of male athletes onto
females (Frintner and Rubinson, 1993; McKay, Messner and Sabo, 2000; Gage, 2008).
Sports that are at the front of attention for student audiences and the media, like football
and basketball, assert higher amounts of masculinity and competition among athletes,
which has been theorized to lead to aggression outside of the sport (Curry, 2000; Gage,
2008). Along with that, both male and female athletes consume more alcohol than non-
student athletes, which has been posed as an answer for how athletes get involved in
situations that lead to sexual assaults (Cashin, et al. 1998). Alcoholism and the pressures of
being a member of a hyper-masculine group are important in understanding why athletes
are overrepresented in college sexual assault cases. They are important aspects to keep in
mind when learning statistics of athlete overrepresentation in sexual assaults, but
journalistic reporting does not usually specify reasons for overrepresentation, and instead

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much of the reporting on athlete-student assault happens because the athletes were well
known or the case was widely publicized (Bergen, 1998; Kosse, 2010; Meyer, 1997).
Feminist Theory/Gender Theory
Many articles on college sexual assault report on female victims and male
perpetrators, which creates an assumption that all victims of sexual assault are women,
who were previously in heterosexual relationships with men (Bergen, 1998; Gage, 2008).
This assumption is wrong, and the idea that all people fall into two genders with prescribed
roles, leads to a concept known as heteronormativity (Kitzinger, 2005), in which all people
are expected to be heterosexual and cisgender and exhibit stereotypical traits. For example,
it is expected that men are aggressive and women are submissive, which leads to a
perpetuation of the idea that men would be perpetrators of assault and women would be
victims (Butler, 1996; Hlvaka, 2014; Kitzinger, 2005). People who do not identify
according to typical gender norms and are trapped outside of the norms completely
(Jackson, 2006; Lovaas and Mercilee, 2007; Schilt and Westbrook, 2009).
Previous studies have found that being a victim of sexual assault can make women
feel powerless. Hlavka (2014) focused on girls’ experience with gendered sexual assault
and violence, along with the fact that many laws and policies have ignored their lived
experiences. Through interviews with female victims of sexual assault, Hlavka found that
many of the girls faced everyday objectification with limited safe spaces to turn to where
they could avoid male violence. Drawing upon feminist theory on gendered violence,
Hlavka concludes that these experiences are a result of heteronormativity and normalized
sexual violence in our culture, which often stop girls from reporting rape (Hlavka, 2014;
Kitzinger 2005). Other studies have found that women are less likely to report assault or

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harassment if they believe they will be victimized by law enforcement, and that fear of
sexual assault over other crimes like robbery is higher for women than it is for men
(Ferraro, 1996; Meier and Nicholson-Crotty, 2006).
Hlavaka (2014) found that many of the women she interviewed were victims in non-
consensual sexual situations, when they asked not to be touched by the male (Hlavaka,
2014). The definition of consent is significant in that some studies have shown that college
students define consent as being an overall attitude that affirms positive sexual health,
others have shown that students believe consent is about preventing sexual assault and
asking only the woman for permission to have sex, which is known as the traditional sex
script (Anthony, 2014; Jozkowski and Peterson, 2013).
The divide between men and women in women’s fear of victimization and men’s
lack of fear reflects a divide between men as attackers and women as the attacked that I
saw in my own research. The divide reflects a form of heteronormativity, in which men are
exposed to models of masculinity and become expected to fill a role of aggression, while
women are expected to be submissive (Butler, 1999; Kitzinger, 2005).
Methods
I collected and analyzed a total of 117 articles written between 2005 and 2015 from
two prominent news sources in California and New York, the Los Angeles Times and New
York Times. I chose these sources because they are primary news outlets in the two states
where affirmative consent laws were enacted in 2014. I analyzed articles and opinion
pieces from these sources in order to observe the shifts in journalism over the past ten
years and connect them to cultural shifts that have taken place in the two states where the
conversation about consent and sexual assault has progressed at the political level. The

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choice to use factual articles as well as opinions was to observe what these two news
sources were publishing, and interpret the effects that those published pieces would have
on readers. I expected the trends I saw across articles and opinion pieces to show the
cultural change and discussion happening from 2005 to 2015.
My data collection consisted of searches for “college sexual assault” in the New York
Times website database and the LA Times database, which was run through ProQuest. From
2005 to 2009, I also searched for “college rape,” in order to collect data. Previous to the
second half of the decade, media stories did not specifically differentiate between rape and
sexual assault. The search term “college sexual assault” became more relevant to the types
of articles I wanted to focus on in my study after laws and prevention targeted all sexual
assaults rather than just rapes.
I pulled five to ten of the most relevant articles from search results for coding.
Relevant stories were defined as including the coverage of either a victim or perpetrator of
sexual assault on a college campus, a focus of how college campuses handle sexual assaults,
which regarded sexual assault reports or new protocol regulations, and articles discussing
activism against sexual assaults on college campuses.
After collecting articles, I first identified the primary frames of each article. These
were organized by the main focus of the article. The five primary frames I used were
assault prevention, assault report, college athletics, college transition and government
focused. Examples of articles in assault prevention include those that focused on programs
instituted in colleges that aim to prevent assault or articles related to student activism
against assault on campus. Assault report articles were those that gave the basic details of
assaults that occurred on a college campus or to a college student. The college athletics

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frame included articles that were focused on an assault or rape that an athlete was accused
of. It also included articles that exhibited details about how an athlete’s possible
suspension or punishment would affect the team. The college transition frame focused on
articles that reported on the changes colleges were making to prevent sexual assault.
Similarly, government focused articles were those that reported on laws and discussions
from state and federal governments that addressed sexual assaults on college campuses.
After categorizing articles into frames, I created codes to analyze the selected
articles. I coded aspects of the articles that included victim description, which specified
whether the article indicated gender, race and appearance of the victim and did the same
for perpetrator description. I also coded for government involvement and laws, college
administration involvement and law enforcement. In terms of article structure, I created
codes for article length (whether brief or long), headline descriptions, category of the
article, and gender of author, if it was known. My goal was to summarize the reporter focus
on the perpetrator and victim descriptions, on their stories, and the quotes and sources
used.
Findings
While my research yielded an abundance of interesting results, I will focus here on
the most significant findings I discovered, in terms of how victims were described, how
perpetrators were described across articles and how college administration was depicted
across articles and opinion pieces. In terms of the difference between New York Times and
Los Angeles Times articles, I found that the New York Times reported more widely on
assaults happening around the country, while the LA Times reported more often on assaults
that took place in California state.

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Victim Descriptions
Descriptions of victims of sexual assault and rape in the articles and opinion pieces I
read ranged from short and basic, naming only the victim’s age and gender, to extended
descriptions of the traumatic aftereffects that the assault had on them. All of the victims
among the articles I read identified as female, according to the authors of the articles. While
1 in 6 women will be victims of sexual assault and 1 in 33 men will be victims (rain.org,
2015), women are not the only sexual assault victims that exist, but were overrepresented
in the articles I read.
The following sections will develop the types of victim descriptions that I analyzed
throughout my study. The sections include how victims are described in sports articles, and
how victims are given a voice through articles written on sexual assault activism.
Victim Descriptions in Athletic Articles
Descriptions about the victim in regards to athletics were short, and often more
likely to focus on the athlete than the victim. Along with that, the victim’s identity often gets
lost in the description of who the athlete is. In doing this, readers will focus on the
perpetrator more than the victim, and the assault may become more about the effect it had
on the perpetrator and his team rather than the effect on the victim.
Here are some examples of articles from before 2010 that detailed male athletic
assaults on female college students and only included the victim’s age and gender:
The worksheet said the 18- year-old student who made the allegations against
Wright was intoxicated on the night she met Wright at a party. (Klein, 2005)
Florida State's leading tackler, the senior linebacker A. J. Nicholson, was
suspended from the team Thursday after a 19-year-old woman accused him of
raping her at the hotel where the Seminoles are staying for the Orange Bowl.
(Nobles 2005)

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Maiberger said that a student at U.S.C. said she was sexually assaulted at 12:30
a.m. Wednesday and identified Sanchez as her attacker. The police did not
disclose the location of the alleged assault. (Evans, 2006)
The university [University of Illinois] has also been embroiled in
recriminations over the handling of a reported sexual assault of a woman last
year by two football players in a dormitory, a case that led to the dismissal of
two top university administrators. (Johnson, 2008)
These samples come from the earlier part of the timeframe in my study because that
is when most sexual assault articles related to athletics were written. The majority of
articles written after 2011 were about activism or college administration problems. In
articles focusing on activism, the victim’s description and experiences were detailed more
fully. However, a general trend across athletics articles is that they have very short victim
descriptions. Descriptions of the victim here are sparse, giving only the facts (age and
gender) necessary to the sexual assault case but not going farther than that, and that is all
she, as the victim is a woman in all cases, is identified in the article. Articles that detail
athlete assaults focus on the perpetrator, usually an athlete that sports readers would
know, and glosses over the victim. In this way, articles written on athlete-student assaults
do not give the reader any notion of who the victim is, and how that victim has been hurt.
Reporting on male athletes assaulting female college students also perpetuates the
binary of the male as an attacker and female as victim. By continually writing about sexual
assault within these contexts, readers do not learn any more about the student other than
her status as a victim. This creates facelessness to the victims of college sexual assaults.
Along with that, it also leads to a perpetuation of the heteronormative idea that the only
victims are straight females, which is not the case. Because descriptions of victims in
athlete assaults often do not go beyond age and gender, their identity remains hidden
beneath the identity of the athlete.

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Reporting on Activism, Giving Victims a Voice
The exclusion of victim accounts from articles eliminates half of the story of sexual
assault. While it is possible that victims did not want to be interviewed or speak out due to
privacy issues and danger, the exclusion of first-hand accounts from articles on sexual
assault decreases readers’ awareness of the effects of sexual assault from the person who
was attacked. As reporting on sexual assaults increased, victim’s experiences increased as
well. One way that this happened was through the reporting on activism against sexual
assaults on college campuses. In articles that focus on activism and sexual assault
prevention, the reasoning behind prevention, namely the victim’s experience, is revealed as
well.
One example of an entire victim account from my collected articles comes from a
2014 New York Times article, titled “Stepping Up to Stop Sexual Assault.”
According to a police report and interviews with prosecutors, at 1:16 a.m. on
Labor Day, an 18-year-old freshman stopped a young woman heading home
alone from a party. Both had been drinking. He pinned her against a tree and
began kissing and biting her neck. “I remember his grip around my neck
making it harder to breathe,” she told the police. “I was trying to yell but I
couldn’t because of the way he had his hands.” After 10 minutes, she was
thrown to the ground, her legs “forced open,” her underwear “moved to the
side,” and raped. (Winerip, 2014)
This passage includes exact quotes from what the victim experienced. By framing the
situation with her own words, the article is allowing her voice and experience to be
heard by consumers of this New York Times article. While articles before 2010 often
only included the victim’s age and gender, quotes like this one show exactly what she
experienced.

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Substantial victim quotes like the above increased significantly in 2012 and
continued rising until 2015. Almost all of the articles I analyzed for 2015 included a
substantial victim quote, by which I mean the victim’s direct words, or a summary of the
victim’s statement, and detailed what happened to them or how it affected them
afterwards. The rise in victim quoting is possibly related to a number of social changes,
including a greater amount acceptance for victims and support within their communities
that may make them more comfortable in stating their thoughts.
In 2008, the LA Times ran an opinionated piece by Heather MacDonald titled, “What
Campus Rape Crisis?” which argued that colleges were spending too much time supporting
campus crisis rape centers and that the crisis was nonexistent. This piece showed one LA
Times contributor’s opinion, but a different opinion piece that was published and titled,
“Blaming the Rape Victim,” called Macdonald out for ignoring a very real crisis. This was
put together by an assortment of testimonies by women, both sexual assault survivors and
activists.
One quote from the latter opinion piece can be seen here:
As a rape survivor and someone who volunteered at a community rape crisis
line for nine years, I knew where Heather Mac Donald was headed. She begins
with the implication that she spent countless hours sitting by a college rape
crisis phone but nobody called. If this were the truth and not a myth, Mac
Donald would have stated it outright. If Mac Donald were to respect women's
self-identification as rape survivors -- something she demands of feminists --
she couldn't label up to 50% of women who report rape as liars, and she
couldn't try to label the rest as promiscuous young women who got what they
deserved for not being chaste (Anonymous, 2008).
This opinion piece, gave a voice both to people who disagreed with MacDonald’s
column, but also allowed the voices of victims to be heard. By publishing the voices of
people who have experienced rape or sexual assault firsthand, this opinion piece gives

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power to victims through allowing their experiences to be published. Similar to the last
example of the victim gaining justice after 28 years, this article is another form of activism
in that victims and supporters of sexual assault prevention are joining together to have
their voices heard and support other victims of sexual assault.
As I’ve stated, the primary focus of most articles in which victims were quoted were
those involving sexual assault prevention and activism. Because there were not many
articles before 2012 written on prevention, there were less stories with victim quotes.
However, they still existed within my study. One article from 2007 in the LA Times titled
“Rape Victim gets justice 23 years after the attack,” tells a complete story of a victim’s
experience gaining justice after an assault that happened when she was in college in 1984.
The author of the article gives a reason for why the victim told her story in stating:
“Seccuro [the victim] went public with her name and story, hoping to inspire other
sexual assault survivors to seek help” (Gelineau, 2007). By including the victim’s
reasoning for being interviewed, it shows readers that she is reaching out to those who
have been also been assaulted. It also creates empathy for any victims who are reading the
story, and can allow them to be more confident about getting help or coming forward with
their story. Including a victim’s reasoning for telling her story shows general readers what
that victim has gone through.
The only direct quote the author uses is: “‘As Maya Angelou said, ‘I may be
changed by what happened to me, but I will not be diminished by it’” (Gelineau, 2007).
The rest of her story is summarized based on what she said throughout her trial. Including
a direct quote gives readers an idea of who she is as a person, and allows them to
understand her reaction to the assault. In contrast to articles that only list a victim’s age

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and gender, articles that directly quote the victim allow readers to get a fuller picture of the
victim and how this traumatic experience has shaped them.
In my sample of articles, starting in April 2012, victim quotes tended to include a
critique of the victims’ experiences with college administration and reporting their assault
to campus officials. In an LA Times article on the Title IX inspections that were increasing
throughout the country in 2011, college student and sexual assault victim Kristina
Ponischii is quoted on her experience running into her attacker around campus: “‘I was
just constantly worried I would run into him,’ Ponischii said”. After finding an
administrator who helped her in filing a report, which lead to her attacker being
suspended, she is quoted saying, “‘I was able to start healing…When I was constantly
afraid, there was no healing. It was just constant fear’” (Pope, 2012).
This direct quotation shows exactly what Ponischii is thinking and feeling about
seeing the perpetrator on campus. By using a direct quotation, her voice is revealed to
readers, and her personal experience of fear and then healing is also revealed. Similar to
Ponschii’s quote, another victim spoke out about her experience attending the same school
as her attacker in a later published NY Times article:
For the entirety of my last year in college, I continued to live every day in fear,”
Kenda Woolfson, a recent graduate, said at the news conference. “In May, I
watched as my rapist shook the hand of our college’s president and received
his diploma, and I wished I had not been discouraged by a dean from reporting
the rape. (Pérez-Peña and Lovett, 2013)
Another short quote from the New York Times in 2014 shows the victim’s experience, to
those of her peers around the country who are faced with the issue of seeing their attacker
on campus:

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“Each time I see him, it’s really hard, emotionally, and just walking around
school, there’s this total paranoia that I’m going to run into him,” she said.
(Pérez-Peña, 2013)
A common trend among the three quotes by victims speaking out about their
experiences is that they address being faced with their attackers, sometimes daily, because
of college administration not prosecuting perpetrators. While showing their terrible
experiences in being assaulted, these victim quotes also show the frustration they have
with college administration and the lack of protection students felt they were receiving
from college campuses. Their frustrations with administration emphasize the holes in the
system, and when authors of the articles include these quotes, they call out the
administration within the articles. Not only that, but quotes addressing how administration
mismanaged a sexual assault case also allows readers to be warned about how those
colleges treat sexual assaults. It also allows readers to understand and connect with victims
who do not get justice when the perpetrator is not punished, and portrays sexual assault as
a serious problem in how it negatively affects victims.
The following quotes from 2012 and 2013 exhibit two victims’ experiences of not
getting help after telling school administrators about being assaulted. The first quote, in a
New York Times article, “Rape in the Spotlight,” was pulled from the Amherst school
newspaper:
“Eventually I reached a dangerously low point, and, in my despondency, began
going to the campus' sexual assault counselor," the woman wrote in The
Amherst Student. "In short I was told: No you can't change dorms, there are
too many students right now. Pressing charges would be useless, he's about to
graduate, there's not much we can do. Are you SURE it was rape?" (Pérez-Peña,
2013)
Another quote from The New York Times in 2013 states:

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Carly Mee, now a senior, said, “When I told an administrator that I did not feel
safe, I was told that I had nothing to worry about, that she had met with my
rapist, and that he didn’t seem like the type of person who would do
something like that.” She said that even after the man was found responsible
for assaulting her and two other women, he would be allowed back to
Occidental, while she was afraid to return. (Pérez-Peña and Lovett, 2013)
Both of these quotes have the commonality that the victims have run into problems with
how administration has approached their situations. These direct quotes about what the
victim experienced when attempting to get help from administrates reveal what they are
experiencing when reaching out for help and justice. Readers can theoretically connect
with victims through these and recognize the fear that must have felt at school. By
including testimonies from victims, articles are allowing readers to understand the
situation of sexual assault and understand the experiences of people who they were not
exposed to before.
Perpetrator Descriptions
This section will include descriptions about perpetrators who were athletes, and
quotations in articles from athletes. Because many of the perpetrators in these articles
were also athletes, their descriptions are more extensive. Quotes from athletes often serve
as a defense for the assault that took place, and allows them to have a say in the matter.
The final portion will focus on non-athlete perpetrators, who were often students suing the
school for mishandling assault cases.
Descriptions of Athlete Perpetrators
Articles from 2005 to 2009 primarily described those accused in sexual assault
cases in the context of college athletics. This included statistics about their scoring, how
they were performing in the sport that quarter and their physical appearances. Perpetrator
descriptions in the context of college athletics also tended to either praise or acknowledge

22
the player’s success on the field, providing context for the accused’s identity as a college
athlete. These descriptions often have nothing to do with the sexual assault at hand, or they
emphasize the effect of the loss for the team if the player has been suspended from school
or the team due to the crime. The highly covered issue of a U.S.C. player, Mark Sanchez,
being suspended from the football team in 2006 describes him on the field as:
Rated as the nation's top prep quarterback coming out of Mission Viejo High
School last year, Sanchez, a 6-foot-4, 215-pounder, did not play last season, but
he led the Trojans through their recently completed spring practice after John
David Booty, a junior quarterback, sustained a back injury that required
surgery. (Evans, 2006).
Readers are informed about Sanchez’s position as quarterback, his height and
weight, but not in relation to the sexual assault case he was suspended for. There is also
praise for Sanchez as the top quarterback at his high school. Including statistics and his
athletic strength leaves an impression on the reader that U.S.C.’s football team will sorely
miss this quarterback. Through Sanchez’s description, the negative outcome that the
conviction will have on the team is made more significant in the reader’s mind than the
actual sexual assault he was convicted for.
Another, similar quote shows Sanchez’s athletic status in which the readers are
again informed of his athletic identity and his identity as a perpetrator can be seen here:
“USC quarterback Mark Sanchez, who was battling to become the Trojans' starter,
was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of sexual assault.” (Klein and Leovv, 2006)
An article from 2005 illustrates Eric Wright, another football player for USC as:
Eric Wright, a starting cornerback for USC, is free on bail after being arrested
on suspicion of felony sexual assault, a Los Angeles Police Department
spokeswoman said Sunday.

23
Wright, a redshirt sophomore from San Francisco, started the final four games
last season and intercepted a pass in the Trojans' victory over Oklahoma in
the Orange Bowl. (Gary, 2005)
This article, along with the two about USC football player Sanchez, were published
under the sports section of the New York Times and LA Times; therefore, it is important to
recognize that the intended audience would like to know who these perpetrators are as
athletes, because they are reading in order to learn about sports. However, these were the
only articles informing the public about sexual assaults on college campuses, especially
during 2005-2010. Not only does this frame sexual assault as something that only athletes
were committing, but it also gives very little knowledge to readers who do not consume
sports articles. The fact that a majority of articles addressing college sexual assault from my
sample of articles describe the perpetrator in such detail, without giving attention to the
victim, also shows a sway toward focusing more on the perpetrator than the victim in
earlier years in reporting.
Athlete Perpetrator Quotes and Defenses
Quotes from perpetrators who were athletes, sometimes well-known athletes, allow
readers who already know of the perpetrator as an athlete to read their side of the story
and understand their defense of why they committed an assault. When athletes are under
fire, it is possible that the readers will demand to hear their side of the story, as they are
public figures. For instance, in the repeatedly covered 20006 Duke gang-rape case, in which
members of the Duke Lacrosse team were accused of raping an African American dancer at
a party, one LA Times article reports,
Police have filed no charges in the March 13 incident, and the captains of
Duke's lacrosse team -- a top contender for the Division I national title -- have
issued a statement calling the rape allegations ‘totally and transparently false.’
(Fausset, 2006)

24
This quote, which calls the allegations false, allows the Lacrosse team to protect its players.
Because the team is a public entity, it is necessary for it to issue a statement to media about
these accusations. Also because the team is so public, the media will flock to interview and
quote them in articles. Including it here allows the team to defend itself in the gang-rape
allegations. As mentioned in the previous section, however, many articles did not tell the
victim’s side of the story. Quoting only perpetrators and athletes gives more attention to
the athletes’ defense. Without including the victim’s side of events, readers will understand
the case from how the perpetrator’s experience, or statement of an experience, rather than
from how the victim experienced it. This is giving more power to the perpetrator’s,
especially when they are athletes, because they know the media will cover their side of
events. This is taking power away from the victim in that their experience is not written
about.
In a different case from 2010, where Pittsburgh Steelers player Ben Roethliserger
was accused of assaulting a 20-year-old female college student, he released a public
apology statement to fans and his teammates, which read:
‘The commissioner's decision to suspend me speaks clearly that more is
expected of me. I am accountable for the consequences of my actions. Though I
have committed no crime, I regret that I have fallen short of the values
instilled in me by my family,’ Roethlisberger said in the statement.” (Foster,
2010)
Despite being cleared of charges, Roethlisberger was still suspended from the team and
accepted that the consequences for his actions were deserved. Similar to the Duke Lacrosse
team case, it is likely that fans expected him to give a public statement, because he is a
public figure. The ability to issue a planned statement about the effects the assault will have

25
on the team keeps the focus of the assault on the sport and allows it to veer away from the
crime itself.
One case that serves as contrast to the Duke Lacrosse and Roethlisberger cases is an
accusation that happened at Florida State. School quarterback Jameis Winston was accused
and not convicted of raping a fellow student, a woman who spoke about her experience in
the documentary The Hunting Ground. I list this as a contrasted case because her version of
events was told in The Hunting Ground movie. However, in articles that covered the case,
Winston was still framed as the main subject, and, again, the victim’s experience was not
included. Here is one example in which a statement he released was quoted in a New York
Times article.
On Thursday, he issued a statement thanking his "family, friends, coaches and
teammates for standing by me during a difficult time."
The statement continued: ‘I also want to thank the State Attorney's Office for
examining all of the facts and reaching a decision in a conclusive manner. It's
been difficult to stay silent through this process, but I never lost faith in the
truth or in who I am. I'm very relieved I will be able to continue my education
at Florida State, and I'm excited I can now get back to helping our team
achieve its goals.’” (Drape, 2013)
A different article in the New York Times from a press conference with Winston
includes a quote in which he asks the audience, “How y’all doing?” And, according to the
article seems, “at ease.” Later in the article, the writer directs attention to the assault
accusation with:
Winston was asked a question indirectly related to the sexual
assault complaint: A reporter wanted to know whether it had been business as
usual for the Seminoles in the past week.
"Always, always," Winston said. "That's how we go into every game, prepare
the same. We came out victorious.” (Giler, 2013)

26
The above quote allows Winston to identify as an athlete, rather than a perpetrator,
to the audience he is addressing and to the readers of this article. Although the question he
was asked relates to the assault accusation, he is able to turn it around to be a focus on the
team and the way the Seminoles play every game. By reporting on the statements athletes
give and the quotes at press conferences, reporters bring focus back to the athletes’
identity as athlete, whether they mean to or not, instead of their identity as a perpetrator of
sexual assault or rape.
Becoming the Anonymous – Perpetrators and Lawsuits
As lawsuits against colleges for sexual assaults have occurred, so too have lawsuits
against colleges for punishing a perpetrator who believes the case was mishandled. While
one majority of perpetrators in my study were athletes, public figures who the media
searched for in order to quote, the other majority were those male perpetrators who felt
they had been wrongfully accused, and wanted to tell their stories without being identified.
In the 2015 LA Times article, “UC appeals in sex assault case; Earlier, a judge ruled
that UC San Diego treated a student accused of sexual misconduct unfairly,” a description of
the case is given here:
The case involved an un- identified male student who has continued to attend
classes but faced a suspension of one year and one quarter after UC San Diego
investigators found he had violated the university's student sex offense policy
by making unwanted, physical advances toward another student.
The male student made physical advances toward the woman the next
morning, Feb. 1, but stopped touching her after she repeatedly asked him to
leave her alone, according to the suit.
They had consensual sex in her apartment the following night, but later had a
falling-out, according to the lawsuit. (Warth, 2015)

27
Both the victim and the perpetrator are anonymous here. Although this article was written
in 2015, at a time when victims who were activists were often identified, the lawsuit and
the nature of this case has lead to both parties being anonymous. The description of the
2015 case also shows where consent fits in to the situation, and defines the encounter as
being consensual. Explicit concern about consent is important here in that this article was
written after Affirmative Consent laws were passed in New York and California, which
shows that the definition of consent in this sexual encounter may play into whether or not
the perpetrator is innocent. However, allowing the perpetrator to tell their story while
being anonymous exhibits a form of power for them. They can represent all perpetrators
who believe they were wrongfully accused, without risking their identity being damaged.
Another situation in 2014, from an LA Times article, “More College Men are Fighting
Sexual Assault Cases,” details a story about an Occidental student who goes by, according to
the article, “John Doe.”
The details are told in the article as:
He said he had learned in campus presentations on sexual misconduct that
those who are too drunk cannot give consent for sex. But he said he believed
his classmate was lucid enough to consent.
The college's investigative report, performed by an outside firm, said both
parties agreed on the following facts: Both had been drinking, she went to his
room, took off her shirt while dancing, made out with him and returned to his
room later for sex, asking if he had a condom. When friends stopped by the
room to ask if she was OK, she told them yes.
The crux of the case was whether she was too drunk to understand what she
was doing -- and whether he knew or should have known of her impaired
condition. (Watanabe, 2014)

28
Later in the article, John Doe is quoted as saying, “’Occidental is turning drunken sex
into rape,’ he said. ‘In an effort to curb the epidemic of sexual assault on campus, the
pendulum is swinging too far the other way.’"
These examples illustrate the seemingly switched forms of danger for the accused
and the accusers. Victims were quoted less in the earlier 2000’s. Their stories were not told
as often. As awareness of sexual assault on college campuses increased, the likelihood of
being accused increased as well. The danger of losing a lawsuit if perpetrators come
forward is added onto the pressure of not giving out their name. However, the contrast
between how much information is given from perpetrators who are athletes and the lack of
information given from those who are not is notable.
Not all articles that show the other side of tighter campus sexual assault laws have
anonymous perpetrators. One LA Times article from 2012, “Title IX tackles campus sexual
assaults,” tells a story similar to the ones above, but closer to the time when Title IX laws
were being reinforced. The perpetrator is not anonymous. His name and detailed story are
given, but he has also already been expelled by the time the story was written.
Caleb Warner has seen the flip side of Title IX enforcement.
Warner, too, was enmeshed in a "he said, she said" encounter. During finals
week in 2009, he says, a fellow University of North Dakota student with whom
he'd hooked up before, and been texting with ever since, invited herself over.
They had sex -- consensual, he insists -- a second time, then again the next
morning, after she spent the night. He liked her, but she stopped responding
to his calls and texts. He went home for the holidays and let it drop.
But when Warner returned to school, an administrator pulled him from class.
He'd been accused of rape, and he would have to face charges in the campus
disciplinary system -- within 10 days.
What followed, as Warner and his mother describe it, was a "kangaroo court"
campus trial where a hostile administrator attacked Warner's witnesses as
just standing up for a fraternity brother. He was found guilty and banned from
any state school for at least three years. (Pope, 2012)
Warner is quoted directly once here:

29
“’I'm actually a big Bison fan now,’ he says, referring to University of North
Dakota's rivals, North Dakota State. He's driving a delivery truck for a national
shipping company, trying to pay back legal bills to his family, and unsure if
he'll ever return to college. (Pope, 2012)
Looking at Warner’s profile next to those of anonymous boys who were accused of similar
crimes shows the risk, for everyone involved, of suing a school. Warner did not go through
the process, but had to accept being expelled. For those who did sue the school, they did
not risk going public about their identities. Both sides of the story are shown in later years
of sexual assault awareness: the side of the victim and the perpetrator, or the accused, side.
The articles regarding accused students’ experiences also show the major divide
between perpetrators, portrayed in these articles as men, and victims, portrayed as
women, regarding campus sexual assault. There is not only a divide between the two sides,
but also an added divide between genders. This reinforces a dichotomy between the two
identities, which reinforces their roles as perpetrator and victim. Rather than creating a
safer campus for all people by fighting sexual assault, no matter what your gender, these
accounts show that the difference between identities is solidified within these articles.
Institutions and College Sexual Assault
Many articles reported on how much accountability college administration took to
react to and prevent sexual assault. In 2005 and 2006, the accountability was focused on
the way administration reacted to athlete and team assaults. While the media can serve as a
watchdog over administration that exposes their faults in sexual assault cases, it also uses a
balance in allowing administrators to explain themselves and their schools’ position in
sexual assaults.
Administration Accountability – Athletics

30
The following example comes from an August 2006 LA Times article, “Two-Year
Schools Run into Troubles.” The article details a community college football player who
assaulted a young woman in Fresno. It points out that when two-year schools are recruiting
players for their team, they sometimes overlook previous issues that players have had in
favor of being a good athlete:
But critics say California coaches regularly violate the first- contact rule, and
some try to find ways around the financial aid barriers. They say this reflects
the same fervor to win that prompts coaches to turn a blind eye to warning
signs in an athlete's behavior.
"It's our experience that athletic departments operate outside the rules," said
Mullendore, a former chief of Pasadena City's campus police. (Pringle, 2006)
The quotation here exhibits how college athletics are sometimes above the law in
how they recruit and how athletes behave after joining a team. The use of this passage of
the article exposes the fact that colleges may not be taking accountability in how they
recruit athletes. Through putting this in an article about sexual assaults that take place
within athletes at two-year colleges, the exposing of irresponsible recruiting on the
college’s part shows readers that the college may not be doing all it can to prevent these
assaults.
Similarly, on an article regarding a review of the Duke Lacrosse Team gang-rape
again addresses a lack of checking in on team behavior. The quote, from the New York
Times addresses that oversight from administration over the team was weak:
Communication problems and a lack of alarm by some university
administrators at the behavior of the lacrosse team were a common theme in
the review. "Their extensive record of repetitive misconduct should have
alarmed administrators responsible for student discipline," the review of the
team found. (Yardley, 2006)

31
By addressing the review, the article is giving the public access to a piece of
information that shows the administration was not checking in and communicating with
the Duke Lacrosse team as regularly as was recommended. This allows readers to
understand the case and also calls on the administration to take more responsibility in the
future so that they will not be blamed through the media when school teams commit
crimes.
Another article on the suspension of USC football player Mark Sanchez includes an
interview with an administrator explaining their decision to suspend.
Michael L. Jackson, U.S.C.'s vice president for student affairs, said in an e-mail
message that Sanchez had been placed on "interim suspension."
According to James Grant, U.S.C.'s executive director of media relations, a
student under interim suspension cannot attend class, participate in activities
sponsored by the university or be on the university premises. Final exams are
May 3 to 10.
"The university takes charges of sexual assault seriously," Jackson said.
"Depending on the facts as established by the L.A.P.D., we will determine the
appropriate action." (Evans, 2006)
Similar to articles that include statements by from athlete perpetrators defending their
position, these articles allow administrators to explain their mistakes in having oversight
when athletes commit wrongdoings. By quoting their statements, authors give readers the
opportunity to see where the school administration is in handling sexual assaults of
athletes on students. It again gives an opportunity for those at fault, like administrators and
prosecutors, to explain themselves, while victims are overlooked.
Explaining their actions – Administrator Quotes and Defenses
Quotes from administrators can also give them a way to explain inaction on their
part, including doubts and dangers of implementing laws and regulations to protect

32
victims. In the LA Times’ 2012 article, “Title IX tackles Campus Sex Assaults,” a quote by a
professional on campus exhibits that type of fear:
But there are some who worry that Title IX rules could force a rush to
judgment. Schools must act immediately to protect alleged victims even while
the case takes its course.
Daniel Swinton, director of student conduct and academic integrity at
Vanderbilt, says the requirement that colleges take interim steps "makes us
nervous because you're starting to sanction or hold someone accountable, at
least temporarily, based on an accusation." (Pope, 2012)
Similar to students sharing their concerns about administration not taking action, quotes
from administration can show the rationale behind what seems like ignorance. Here,
Swinton is expressing nervousness on taking in the accused. In later years, the part that
laws play in endangering schools for lawsuits becomes apparent.
In an article that addresses UC San Diego fraternities that were found guilty of
sexual assaults, a section of the article shows both the school taking action and the
administrator approving of that action:
All fraternity and sorority members will be required to undergo sexual violence
training and will participate in events "that promote an end to sexual violence,"
according to the statement.
There are 44 sororities and fraternities at the college.
School leaders praised the move. "We are pleased to see the Greek community step
forward and acknowledge they have an important role to play in this ongoing
discussion and cultural change," said Eric Rivera, the university's vice president of
student affairs.
San Diego State was one of four schools that was audited by the state this year. The
review found that, in general, resident advisors and athletic coaches often are not
properly trained to respond to reports of sexual assaults and that none of the schools
provide copies of their sexual harassment policies to employees at the start of the
academic year. (Song, 2014)

33
San Diego State halted fraternity events in response to the revelation of what was
happening on their campus, and the university’s vice president of student affairs appears to
be handling the situation by stating that the Greek Community is moving toward change.
This example again shows that the administrators have the situation under control, or at
least are trying to appear as if they do, in preventing further sexual assaults by increasing
education. To the public eye, this is a blatant defense and it is unclear whether sexual
assaults will continue occurring on the campus. However, including this defense can at
least keep the administration accountable of not letting this happen again.
Conclusion
The ways that journalistic articles frame perpetrators, victims, and administrators
will affect the way that readers see these people in relation to college sexual assaults.
Describing perpetrators in more depth than victims may make readers unaware of how the
victim was affected by the assault. Including victim’s accounts will allow readers to
sympathize with their experiences. Including administrator’s testimonies will give a voice
to the school, which may serve as a defense for how the University administration is
managing sexual assault prevention.
My research showed that there was a significant change in the way that victims and
perpetrators were reported on over the course of 2005-2015. As more articles were
written on college sexual assault after 2012, more articles included victim’s lived
experiences than ever before. Instead of only including the victim’s name and age, authors
wrote long-form pieces that showed what a victim of sexual assault went through when
having to face the perpetrator on campus, or not feeling supported by their administration.

34
Along with that, these articles also exposed the victim’s feelings of a lack of action on
the part of the administration. By including their accounts of their interactions with
administration, the articles gave victims power in providing a statement of events from
their perspective. While administrators were given the opportunity to defend themselves
in some of those articles, the power of individual women being able to express that they felt
underrepresented and unsupported on their college campuses is significant. It gives the
readers the perception that the school needs to take action to truly help victims. Including
victim testimonies in news articles allowed there to be power in their activism. Focusing
attention on what these women were going through may have helped encourage the state
laws that were passed to increase sexual assault prevention and require schools to teach
affirmative consent. Along with that, focusing on victim’s experiences was a progressive
move toward giving women a voice, and power in telling their story.
My research reflects how media reporting on college sexual assaults is often
reported on within heteronormative boundaries, but has changed to give women more of a
voice than they have had previously. Many of the portions of my study fall into a
heteronormative set of roles, in that victims are defined as women and men are the
perpetrators. Portraying women as the ones who are attacked and men as the attackers,
especially in cases of athlete-student assaults, might perpetuate the idea that men are more
physically agressive than women, and that women are more submissive. In addition,
framing assault in a heteronormative way lessens readers’ chances to learn about the range
and details of assaults, that include violence between same-sex couples. It is important for
the media to cover a wide range of situations in order to help more victims feel they are

35
being represented in the news and also allow men and women feel that the roles the media
tells them they may fall into, perpetrator and victim, are not definite.
My findings from 2005 to 2010 correlate with previous research about journalism
coverage on rape and sexual assault. Those studies found that news tends to focus on
sensationalized topics when it comes to rape and sexual assault and focus primarily on
cases that involve people like athletes, who are well known to the public. Because statistics
show athletes are more likely to be perpetrators of sexual assault than non-athletes
(Benedict, Crosset and McDonald 1995) it might seem to make sense that many of the
articles written on college sexual assault focus on athlete-student assaults. However, the
fact that for some time, the only articles that were written about sexual assault were those
involving athletes shows that the media may only have been focusing on assaults that could
gain attention from readers. A major change happened when reporting on sexual assault
prevention and activism came into focus. Women were given a voice through articles on
activism, and all groups on college campuses, athletics and fraternities alike, were
encouraged to prevent sexual assault through being shown examples of what other schools
were doing.
While it is a positive development that the media has changed over the past six
years to reflect the experiences of victims and perpetrators, it is important to be critical of
what is in the news. We need to question what we are being told and how it is presented, in
order to gain a better understanding of the social issues in the US.

36
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