Letter to Houston Chronicle

Chronicle debating old-ladies issues

To the Editor of the Houston Chronicle

James Campbell's piece (Sunday, May 6, 2006) on the pipe attack story was a huge disappointment. Yes, the attack in Spring TX can teach us a lot, but not unless we are willing to think outside the box.

In my opinion, it is now time to rethink media policies about the names of sexual assault victims in general. In addition, we need to redefine sexual assault. James Campbell's headline shouts "sexual assault." Other Chronicle headlines bark "pipe attack." Which was this? It's really, really time to think outside the box on these policies.

In my opinion, it is now arcane to think reporting the name of the victim of sexual assault serves any real purpose. Many victims of such attacks are testifying about it themselves at public rallies and gatherings around the country. In feminist circles, such victims achieve at times the status of war veterans.

The old laws and media policies are rooted in the suspicion that a woman looses her value by being raped, hence we should be nice. What an old talisman!

The victim of the pipe attack is not really much different than Frida Kahlo, the wife of prominent Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. She was impaled in the vagina are during a city bus accident. There has never been any need to hush this up. No one says she was sexually assaulted.

Likewise, the victim in the pipe attack in Spring TX will lose nothing by the publication of his name. On the contrary, many readers like myself already feel strongly sympathetic with him and would love to be able to put a face and a name to the man. This isn't cheap voyeurism. It's love and compassion.

Yours truly,

Tim Campbell

(Not for publication. I made these comments to James Campbell, the Readers' rep by phone last week. He chose to ignore my whole theme in his article. Lou Gelfand, the Readers' rep at the Minneapolis StarTribune treated readers with more respect.)

"Campbell, James" Chronicle's readers rep wrote:

Mr. Campbell,Great name. The charge against the suspects is aggravated sexual assault, not aggravated pipe assault. Had police charged the suspects with felony aggravated assault, I would not have used sexual assault. I also think not using the victim´s name protects him from further embarrassment outside of his community. If he goes off to college and meets someone in another and says his name a person from another state might remember that he was the victim in a brutal attack and began spreading that news around campus. Yes, people in the immediate community know him, but I don´t see the value of spreading his name beyond the general knowledge in his community.James Campbell