RAPE MYTHS in the LOCAL and NATIONAL NEWSPAPER COVERAGE of the BROCK TURNER CASE by Juana Campos a Thesis Submitted to the Depar

Running head: RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

RAPE MYTHS IN THE LOCAL AND NATIONAL NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

by Juana Campos

A thesis submitted to the Department of Sociology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

in Sociology

Chair of Committee: Samantha S. Kwan, Ph.D.

Committee Member: Amanda Baumle, Ph.D.

Committee Member: Jennifer Arney, Ph.D.

University of Houston December 2020 RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First, I would like to thank my committee chair, Dr. Samantha Kwan not only for her expertise and feedback but also for her understanding, empathy, and support during rough times. Without her guidance, I don’t think I could have pushed through to finish these last steps in my thesis.

Additionally, I would like to thank Dr. Amanda Baumle and Dr. Jennifer Arney for their time, patience, and feedback.

For funding, I would like to thank the Department of Women and Gender Studies for awarding me the Blanche Epsy Chenoweth Graduate Fellowship. I would also like to the Department of Sociology for awarding me their Department Research Grant. Their funding made it possible for me to fund my education and the additional coder.

Last but certainly not least, I am thankful for the generous support from my friends and family. Thank you for lending me your wifi and your support.

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RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

ABSTRACT

Rape myths are false claims that pardon perpetrators, blame victims, and justify sexual assault. They are invoked when a case of sexual assault deviates from the socially constructed definition of “real rape,” in which a deranged man attacks an innocent woman despite her physical resistance. When characteristics or actions by the victim and perpetrator defy this definition, the victim can be held responsible. Rape myths help their endorsers explain and distance themselves from sexual assault. Previous studies focusing on high profile sexual assault cases found rape myths in the print media coverage of such cases. My study focuses on the Brock Turner case. Turner, a white Stanford student athlete, was found guilty of sexually assaulting an intoxicated and unconscious Emily Doe. He successfully used Doe’s intoxication, sexual history, apparel, and partying history to excuse his behavior.

Because rape myths surfaced during the trial, they may surface in the media coverage of this case. Specifically, I examined rape myths in the reporting of this case in newspapers (n=50).

Using a quantitative coding scheme, I documented the prevalence of these myths and how often journalists criticized these myths. Research shows when journalists report on cases of sexual assault, they often frame stories in which the victim is to blame. In the newspaper coverage of the Brock Turner case, 68 percent of articles contained at least one rape myth.

The most prevalent rape myth was “rape is insignificant” (54 percent). The myth to receive the most criticism was “rape is insignificant” (60 percent).

Keywords: content analysis; news media; quantitative; rape myths; sexual assault

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ...... III Abstract ...... IV List of Tables ...... VI I. Introduction (Rape Myths in the Local and National Newspaper Coverage of the Brock Turner Case) ...... 1 II. Literature Review ...... 6 Sexual Scripts, Real Rape, and Rape Myths ...... 6 Rape Myths in the Media ...... 10 III. Methods ...... 16 Sample ...... 16 Prevalence...... 19 Variables Coded ...... 19 Rape Myths about the Victim ...... 19 Rape Myths about the Perpetrator ...... 21 Journalist Endorsement/Condemnation ...... 21 Measures of Portrayal ...... 21 Article Characteristics ...... 22 Coding and Analysis ...... 23 Process of Coding ...... 23 Reliability ...... 23 Analysis ...... 24 Research Questions ...... 24 IV. Results ...... 25 Information about Journalists ...... 25 Prevalence of Rape Myths ...... 26 Measures of Portrayal ...... 29 Commentary on Rape Myths ...... 29 IV. Discussion ...... 32 Limitations ...... 36 Future Research ...... 37 References ...... 40 Appendix Codebook ...... 51 Tables ...... 66

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

LIST OF TABLES I. Prevalence of Rape Myths Across All Variables ...... 66 II. Measures of Portrayal Across All Articles ...... 67 III. Commentary on Rape Myths Across All Articles ...... 68

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

Rape Myths in the Local and National Newspaper Coverage of the Brock Turner Case

In the early morning of January 18, 2015, two students found Brock Turner penetrating an unconscious and half naked Emily Doe1 behind a dumpster on the Stanford

University campus.2 Turner is a white man in his early twenties with an upper middle-class upbringing. At the time of the incident, he was a Stanford student and an award-winning swimmer. Doe, a white woman3 in her early twenties had recently graduated college and was spending time with her younger sister at the same party Turner attended prior to the assault.

When the two students approached the scene, Turner bolted but eventually was restrained by the two students until police arrived and took him into custody. The victim awoke three hours later in a gurney in a hospital hallway, unaware of the sexual assault. On February 2, 2015,

Turner was indicted on five charges. Though two charges (one count of sexual penetration by a foreign object of an intoxicated woman and one count of sexual penetration by a foreign object of an unconscious woman) were dropped in October 2015, Turner was found guilty on three charges (one count of rape of an intoxicated person, one count of rape of an unconscious person, and one count of assault with intent to commit rape) on March 30, 2016.

Of the recommended maximum 14 years of prison, the judge sentenced Turner to six months

1 In September 2019, Emily Doe revealed her identity as Chanel Miller. Because the study began before she revealed her identity, she will be referenced as Emily Doe (Whittaker 2019).

2 Information about the Brock Turner case comes from newspaper articles (Knowles 2016; Xu 2016). Emily

Doe’s statement (Baker 2016), Brock Turner’s statement (Levin and Wong 2016), Dan Turner’s statement from court (Kingkade 2016), and published court documents (People v. Turner 2016).

3 In the 2015 police report for the assault, Doe’s race was listed as White. However, Doe addresses the mistake on the police report stating she identifies as Asian and White (Weiner 2019).

1 RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE in jail, followed by three years of probation4. The court ordered him to attend a rehabilitation program for sex offenders and deemed him a sex offender for life. Due to good behavior, he only served three months in a Santa Clara County jail.

During the trial, Turner’s attorney questioned Doe to cast doubt upon her story.

Despite laboratory tests stating both Turner and Doe were intoxicated, Turner’s attorney used

Doe’s memory loss against her, while Turner’s statements were taken seriously even when he exhibited inconsistency. For instance, when he was first questioned by the authorities, he maintained that he was unsure of how he ended up behind a dumpster on the floor with Doe.

He also stated he was not intending to take Doe back to his dorm, nor did he run away from the two witnesses. A year later, he changed his story. He then maintained he was taking Doe to his dorm and on their way there, he and Doe somehow fell onto the ground. At this time, he claimed he received consent. Turner’s attorney stated his story should be trusted over

Doe’s, despite documentation stating he lied about running away and had reconstructed his story of the night a year later.

During the trial Turner’s attorney made various attempts to invalidate Doe’s accounts.

Despite rape shield laws in the United States prohibiting sexual history to be brought up in court the victim’s sexual history, apparel, and partying history were all questioned by

Turner’s attorney. His attorney attempted to portray Doe as a promiscuous alcoholic who knew what was coming to her. When the probation officer recommended a sentencing of a year or less,5 his justification was the victim’s intoxication, as well as Turner’s intoxicated

4 In December 2017, Turner filed for an appeal to overturn the sexual assault charges (Elias 2018; Park 2018).

In August 2018, Turner lost the appeal to overturn the convictions (Park 2018).

5 In California, probation officers can make recommendations for sentences (California State Association 2014).

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE state, loss of athletic scholarships, college enrollment, and athletic titles. In both Turner’s and his father’s, Dan Turner’s, statements, alcohol consumption was used to excuse Turner’s sexual violence. Moreover, Dan Turner stated that incarceration and registration as a sex offender was “a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of 20 plus years of his life”

(Kingkade 2016). In justifying his sentence of six months in a Santa Clara county jail, the judge seemed to express more concern for the defendant’s wellbeing than the victim’s by voicing, “A prison sentence would have a severe impact on him. I think he will not be a danger to others” (Stack 2015).

Statements made by Judge Aaron Pesky, as well as Brock Turner’s attorney, are known as rape myths. Rape myths are claims that pardon perpetrators, blame victims, and justify sexual assault (Brownmiller 1976; Burt 1980; Payne, Lonsway, and Fitzgerald 1999).

They are commonly used when a case of sexual assault deviates from a rape script where an innocent young woman is attacked and raped by a strange deranged man despite her attempts to fight him off (Burt 1980; Estrich 1987; Stevenson 2000). Endorsement of rape myths can allow women to distance themselves from victims and feel that they can reduce the possibility of being sexually assaulted (Lonsway and Fitzgerald 1994). Statements such as

“She was dressed promiscuously,” are assigned to victims and aid in building a false idea that rape only occurs to those who deserve it (Lonsway and Fitzgerald 1994; Kahlor and

Morrison 2007). Rape myths place blame onto victims and excuse perpetrators of sexually violent behavior. They are similarly used to distance men away from perpetrators and reduce possibilities of being accused of sexual assault.

Although the Turner case caught the attention of the nation, it is not a unique sexual assault case. Turner represents 24 percent of convicted rapists who receive 11 months or less

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE for their crimes (Senate Judiciary Committee 1993); 57 percent of perpetrators who are white

(U.S. Department of Justice 2013); 90 percent of perpetrators who committed sexual assault alone; and .6 percent of sexual perpetrators who are convicted of sexual assault (U.S.

Department of Justice 2016). Emily Doe was 22 at the time, representing 54 percent of sexual assaulted victims who were assaulted between ages of 13 and 34 (U.S. Department of

Justice 1997, 2014). That Doe consumed alcohol the night of the incident was not rare either; in fact, 68 percent of sexual assault victims consumed alcohol before an assault (Horvath

2006). Despite the case having common statistics of sexual assault, the media coverage may portray the case as an irregular case of sexual assault.

Because the media is an important tool in learning sexual values and behavior (Bryant and Zillman 2002), the exposure of rape myths in the media can be impactful. Rape myths can be embedded into people’s sexual values and behavior through media. Rape myths were found in multiple media platforms such as prime time television (Brinson 1992; Kahlor and

Morrison 2007), pornography (Allen, D’Alessio, and Brezgel 1995), and print news media

(Soothill and Walby 1991; Benedict 1993; Los and Chamard 1997; Meyers 1997; Franiuk et al. “Rape Myths in Print Journalism” 2008; “Rape Myths in Headlines” 2008). Researchers focusing on rape myths in the media found victims are discredited in multiple ways, including justifying the perpetrator’s violent actions as an act of love (Soothill and Walby

1991; Bryant and Zillman 2002); accusing the victim of lying; inferring the victim’s gesture and/or apparel provoked the perpetrator; and arguing that a lack of physical defense does not constitute as rape (Soothill and Walby 1991; Benedict 1993).

Furthermore, the exposure to rape myths was found to be influential. For example,

Franiuk et al. (“Rape Myths in Print Journalism,” 2008) analyzed print news media articles

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE covering the Kobe Bryant case.6 After finding 65 percent of articles containing at least one rape myth, the researchers conducted an experiment. They found that rape myth acceptance was higher in participants who were exposed to rape myths compared to those exposed to rape myths being challenged (Franiuk et al. “Rape Myths in Print Journalism,” 2008, “Rape

Myths in Headlines,” 2008).

The Kobe Bryant and Brock Turner cases are similar in that multiple media platforms highly publicized both cases and the defendants were both athletes. Although class and athlete status come at an advantage for both (Ardovini-Brooker and Caringella-MacDonald

2002; Ash, Sanderson, Kumanyika, and Gramlich 2017), Turner is White and Bryant is

Black. The media often frames Black individuals as violent and hostile while the media is more sympathetic to white individuals (Leonard 2004; Kosse 2007). Turner’s race may help his portrayal in the media unlike Bryant’s race, which contributed to Bryant’s media portrayal as a sexually aggressive individual (Leonard 2004).

My research attempts to examine the prevalence of rape myths in the newspaper coverage of the Brock Turner case, and the prevalence of comments made by journalists towards the rape myths. Additionally, I examine whether journalists’ comments challenges or endorse these myths. Investigating the prevalence of rape myths and journalists’ criticism about these myths will allow us to understand media’s framing of sex crimes. Has media continued to reproduce gender biases? Are they making efforts to reduce the reproduction of

6 In 2003, Kobe Bryant was charged with sexual assault. The media published hundreds of articles on the case and gained further attention due to Bryant’s celebrity status. During the trial, information about the case was leaked to the media. Due to this, the alleged victim felt she would be unable to receive a fair trial. She refused to testify, and the charges were dropped (Franiuk et al. “Rape Myths in Print Journalism,” 2008).

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE gender biases? Before turning to my research methods, I first situate my study in the extant literature on sexual scripts, rape myths, and framing analysis.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Sexual Scripts, Real Rape, and Rape Myths

Sexual scripts are culturally dependent understandings that provide general meaning of sexual interactions based off pre-condition(s), dependent elements, locations, and roles

(Schank and Abelson 1977; Simon and Gagnon 1986; Ryan 2011). There are three types of sexual scripts: cultural scenarios, interpersonal scripts, and intrapsychic scripts (Simon and

Gagnon 1986). Cultural scenarios shape sexual attitudes and actions based off culturally appropriate views of sexuality. They are involved in both interpersonal and intrapsychic scripts. Interpersonal scripts assist an individual in navigating a sexual interaction based off socially appropriate behavior in terms of sex and relationships. Finally, intrapsychic scripts are involved in an individual’s personal sexual preferences. While sexual scripts inform others of sexual interactions in general, rape scripts inform others specifically about the nature of sexual assault (Ryan 2011).

The definition of “real rape” script is a sexual script (Schank and Abelson 1977;

Simon and Gagnon 1986). The “real rape” script involves a deranged stranger attacking an innocent woman who struggled to fight off the man (Burt 1980; Estrich 1987; Stevenson

2000). “Real rape” is a sexual script as it defines how a case of rape should occur based on the sex of the victim and perpetrator(s), the violence done by the perpetrator(s), and the victim’s actions during the assault. The “real rape” script is a cultural scenario that shapes understandings of rape scripts as the script must often be met in order for an assault to be

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE taken seriously (Simon and Gagnon 1986). Oftentimes, when characteristics of sexual assault deviate from the “real rape” script, individuals turn to other cultural scenarios carried into sexual interaction or used to interpret a sexual interaction.

Rape myths are false claims that pardon perpetrators, blame victims, and allow the justification of sexual assault (Brownmiller 1976; Burt 1980; Payne, Lonsway, and

Fitzgerald 1999). Rape myths are used in multiple ways, but in general, they aid in establishing a false belief in women that rape will never occur to them. They can also be used to help women distance themselves from victims (Lonsway and Fitzgerald 1994; Stevenson

2000; Kahlor and Morrsion 2007; Franiuk et al. “Rape Myths in Headlines,” 2008). With the endorsement of rape myths, a rape myth such as “she asked for it” can help women differentiate themselves from the victim. In other words, when rape myths become a part of a woman’s intrapsychic and interpersonal scripts, they help them construct what they deem are appropriate and safe sexual interactions among others.

Rape myths also help men distance themselves from perpetrators (Lonsway and

Fitzgerald 1994; Franiuk et al. “Rape Myths in Headlines,” 2008). Rape myths such as “a disturbed man commits rape” (Burt 1980) imply that the perpetrator exhibits certain characteristics—for example, he must be mentally unstable or psychotic. When men use rape myths in their intrapsychic and interpersonal scripts, they set boundaries between themselves and a convicted rapist. These boundaries allow men to disassociate themselves from rapists.

Another reason why men use rape myths is to eliminate the possibility of being falsely accused of sexual assault. When studying date scripts in college students, Clark and Caroll

(2008) found that women wrote more “real rape” scripts, in comparison to men who wrote more about wrong accusation scripts. If men are afraid of false accusations, then they would

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE attribute rape myths such as “she’s lying” and “he’s not that kind of guy” to a man believed to be falsely accused of rape. In addition, rape myths can allow men to justify sexual assault

(Grubbs and Turner 2012). The myth “she went to his apartment on the first date” (Burt

1980) allows perpetrators to justify sexual assault on the premise that her actions warranted the assault.

Since the feminist movement, the literature on rape myths has grown (Brownmiller

1975; Burt 1980; Lonsway and Fitzgerald 1994; Payne, et al. 1999; Stevenson 2000).

Researchers argue that these myths can be organized into three broad categories (Bohner et al. 2009): (1) myths that suggest the victim is lying, (2) dismiss that rape occurred, and (3) myths that shift responsibility onto or directly blame the victim. Rape myths suggesting that the woman is lying include: she was cheating (Payne, et al. 1999; Stevenson 2000); she regretted the consensual sex (Stevenson 2000); she wants attention (Burt 1980); and she wanted revenge (Payne et al. 1999). Rape myths suggesting that rape never occurred include: there was no injury (Payne et al. 1999); she did not fight him off (Burt 1980; Payne et al.

1999); no weapon was used against her (Payne et al. 1999); and she is not a virgin (Burt

1980). Rape myths suggesting that the victim is responsible or blameworthy include the claim that she asked for the assault under the belief that: she was intoxicated (Payne et al.

1999); she was promiscuous (Lonsway and Fitzgerald 1994; Stevenson 2000); she dressed and/or acted provocatively (Brownmiller 1975; Payne et al. 1999); she was teasing (Burt

1980); she went to his apartment on the first date (Burt 1980); she was in a dangerous area

(Burt 1980); and women secretly want to be raped (Burt 1980; Payne et al. 1999).

Similarly, rape myths about the perpetrator pardon his actions and justify the sexual assault. Rape myths pardoning his actions consist of: he is not that kind of guy (Burt 1980);

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE he did not mean to (Burt 1980); he was unable to control himself (Brownmiller 1976; Burt

1980); the conviction will ruin his life (Stevenson 2000); middle class men do not commit rape (Payne et al. 1999); he did not realize she was resisting (Payne et al. 1999); and men who commit rape are psychologically disturbed (Payne et al. 1999). Examples of rape myths that allow justification consist of: rape is insignificant (Burt 1980); women overreact about rape (Payne et al. 1999); and being raped is not the worst thing to happen (Payne et al. 1999).

Rape myths are used to justify sexual assault when they deviate from the “real rape” script (Brownmiller 1975; Lonsway and Fitzgerald 1994). However, statistics do not support the high prevalence of the deranged man-resistant woman “real rape” script. Data show perpetrators do not only consist of strangers, but acquaintances as well. In fact, 71 percent of sexual assaults are committed by someone the victim knew (U.S. Department of Justice

2016). Another misconception about rape is the assault could never occur in the victim’s home (Payne et al. 1999). Yet, 55 percent of sexual assault cases occur at the victim’s home or in the surrounding area (U.S Department of Justice 2013), with 12 percent occurring at a relative’s home or in the surrounding area (U.S. Department of Justice 2013).

Finally, researchers have debunked the myth that there are a large number of false reports of sexual assaults. Kahlor and Morrison (2007) found that college students perceived the number to be at 19 percent; yet only 2 to 8 percent of reported sexual assaults are actually false (Lonsway, Archambault, and Lisak 2007). These data show that the “real rape” script does not accurately represent the empirical reality of sexual assault. However, print news media also lacks accuracy in portraying the empirical reality around sexual assault (Soothill and Walby 1991; Benedict 1993).

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

Rape Myths in the Media

Television, friends, and pornography are the biggest influential sources of sex education for adolescents, along with other forms of media (Bryant and Zillman 2002). For instance, researchers found high levels of acceptance for male domination and female submission in men and women who watched pornography weekly (Zillman and Bryant

1988a,1988b). If rape myths are present in, and endorsed by the media, they can normalize myths. As media is a key source of sex education for adolescents, when adolescents see that journalists endorse rape myths, they could then incorporate these myths into their interpersonal and intrapsychic scripts. This is consistent with a study by Emmers-Sommer et al. (2006) where they found high rates of rape myth acceptance in men who watched pornography that included sexual coercion.

In analyses of newspapers, researchers found that print news media does not accurately report sex crimes (Soothill and Walby 1991; Benedict 1993). There is some evidence that print news media reframes sex crimes based on the “real rape” script, which can potentially change a reader’s interpretation and understanding of sexual assault (Goffman

1974). For instance, Benedict (1993) found journalists labeled victims based off two categories, “virgin” or “vamp.” A victim who met the criteria of the real “real rape” script was portrayed as a “virgin.” A victim who deviated from the “real rape” script was labeled a

“vamp” or the promiscuous woman who teased vulnerable men to lust and were unable to control their sexual urges. Eight themes were behind the “vamp” label: she knew the perpetrator, no weapon was used against her, the victim and the perpetrator shared the same race, the victim and perpetrator shared the same ethnicity, the victim and the perpetrator shared the same class, she was young, she was “pretty”, and if she deviated from traditional

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE female gender norms. When these themes were found in high numbers, journalists endorsed rape myths in newspapers covering the cases.

When the victim is labeled a “vamp,” press coverage focuses on the victim’s sexual history, abnormal behavior, and straying of female gender roles. However, when a victim is labeled the “virgin” script, the press coverage focuses on the perpetrator removing the victim’s innocence and their disturbing traits. Benedict (1993) shows how news coverage can vary based on a victim’s script. She examines a 1983 gang rape in New Bedford,

Massachusetts. When news broke out, newspapers were sympathetic to the victim. Afterall, the perpetrators met the criterion of a rapist according to the “real rape” script: They were of lower class, they were strangers, they were not handsome, and were terrifying. In an interview with a police officer by the Providence Journal, the police officer mentions the sexual assault was nothing he had seen in 18 years of service and the victim did nothing to cause such a tragedy. In the eyes of the officer, her sexual assault was not warranted as she did nothing to bring attention to herself. However, after The Herald published an interview where one of the defendants claimed the victim led the perpetrators on, newspapers investigated the victim’s character and her actions the night of the assault. After their investigation, the media was no longer sympathetic to the victim as journalists discovered features about the victim that met all eight of Benedict’s (1993) “vamp” qualifications: she deviated from traditional female gender roles by drinking at a bar regularly, she knew the perpetrators prior to the assault from the same bar she frequently attended, she shared the same class and race as the perpetrators, the victim and the perpetrators were of Portuguese heritage, she was young and attractive, and no weapon was used against her.

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

Benedict’s (1993) findings about how print media reframe the events of a sexual assault is consistent within other studies of newspapers. For example, researchers found that newspapers disproportionately misrepresent sexual assault statistics. While 71 percent of sexual assaults are committed by someone the victim knew, newspapers tend to report perpetrators who are strangers with disturbing and threatening characteristics (Soothill and

Walby 1991). Perpetrators who are known to a victim are often framed sympathetically, such as in cases of marital rape or sex and murder crimes. In cases of rape and murder, the media frame sexual assault as a justifiable act of “passion” or “love” (Soothill and Walby 1991;

Bryant and Zillman 2002). Soothill and Walby (1991) found similar themes in their research, even after a victim’s death she was held responsible for her own death as the press wrote,

“Girl’s lustful touches drove me to killing” (p. 50) after the perpetrator discovered the victim cheating and killed her.

While the perpetrator may qualify as a deranged individual, blame is still assigned to a victim. For example, Soohill and Walby (1991) discuss a case where two girls riding the bus home from a concert were sexually assaulted by six males. While the case was unusual because it was a gang rape involving Black perpetrators, newspapers, as well as the police and legal counsel, invoked rape myths, maintaining that the girls acted recklessly by staying out late and attending a concert.

Newspapers have even gone as far as to discredit sexual assault studies (Soothill and

Walby 1991). For example, in 1985, Ask Any Woman (Hall 1985)7 asked women in the

7 Ask Any Woman (Hall 1985) published findings from a survey conducted by an organization called Women

Against Rape in the greater London area. The book was controversial because British newspapers refused to accept the book as a “an authoritative source” (Soothill and Walby 1991:107).

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE greater London area about sexual assault. The study found that one in six women in the greater London area had been raped, one in three had been sexually harassed, one in seven said their husbands had raped them, and eight in ten thought marital rape should be a crime.

Upon release of the findings, The Daily Mail, a national British newspaper discredited these findings by turning to multiple rape myths (Soothill and Walby 1991). The newspaper stated the study had lost credibility by including marital rape,8 arguing that marital rape did not constitute rape. Additionally, the newspaper claimed “[a] quarter of rape victims ‘are lying,’” pulling from a survey conducted five years prior to the publication. In addition, in their reporting, The Daily Mail focused particularly on one case, an American case where a woman confessed to fabricating an assault.

In 2008, researchers analyzing print news media covering the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case found 65 percent of articles containing at least one rape myth (Franiuk et al.

“Rape Myths in Print Journalism,” 2008). The most reported rape myth found in the print news media coverage of the Kobe Bryant case was “she was lying.” The high prevalence of

“she was lying” was consistent with a different study by Franiuk et al. (“Rape Myths in

Headlines,” 2008) on the Kobe Bryant case where 10 percent of headlines contained at least one rape myth. In addition, presence of rape myths in print news media can be influential.

Franiuk and colleagues (“Rape Myths in Print Journalism,” 2008) demonstrated how rape myths can influence a verdict on a high-profile sexual assault case. Before the charges were dropped, the study showed participants articles that either challenged or endorsed rape myths on the Kobe Bryant case. Participants who read articles endorsing rape myths were less likely to believe Kobe Bryant was guilty. Participants who read articles challenging rape myths

8 Marital rape was legal in 1985 in Britain (Soothill and Walby 1991).

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE were more likely to believe Kobe Bryant was guilty. Although information was leaked to the media, the results are consistent with the alleged victim’s concern about not receiving a fair trial. This further demonstrates how influential rape myths can be. If endorsement of rape myths in the media can potentially sway jurors and pardon a perpetrator, they could potentially sway readers.

Although the cases occurred over ten years apart, the Kobe Bryant case and the Brock

Turner case are similar in that they both involve affluent, former athletes. Researchers found that class can reduce blame from the perpetrator in the media (Ardovini-Brooker and

Caringella-MacDonald 2002). In addition, athletic status has the potential to act as a protective status against allegations. Bryant’s athletic status was a protective status against allegations of sexual assault on Twitter (Ash et al. 2017).

Despite Turner and Bryant’s shared status as affluent former athletes, race could have worked in favor of Turner’s portrayal in the media (Teebagy 2018). Media frames Black individuals as violent criminals and show more sympathy to White individuals involved in crime (Kosse 2007). While the charges against Bryant were dropped due to the alleged victim’s refusal to testify, the media assigned blame to Bryant due to his race (Leonard

2004). Turner may have a positive portrayal because of his race and white privilege (Teebagy

2018). Teebagy (2018) makes this argument, in which Turner was shown compassion in comparison to the Cory Batey, a Black football player9. While Batey’s orange-prison suit mugshot was shared in the news, the media shared photographs of Turner swimming.

9 In 2016, Corey Batey, a Black Vanderbilt football player and four others were charged with sexually assault of an intoxicated woman in a college dorm room. He was sentenced to 15-years in prison (Bruke 2016; Teebagy

2018).

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

The Brock Turner case has potential to contain rape myths and influence endorsement of rape myths in readers like those found in the print news media coverage of the Kobe

Bryant case. Analyses and experiments of the Kobe Bryant case (Franiuk et al. “Rape Myths in Print Journalism.”2008; Franiuk et al. “Rape Myths in Headlines,” 2008) demonstrate the influence of rape myths. Not only do media endorsement of rape myths potentially sway public attitudes (Bryant and Oliver 2009), but the media could reproduce gender inequality

(Franiuk et al. “Rape Myths in Print Journalism.”2008; Franiuk et al. “Rape Myths in

Headlines,” 2008).

Unlike Kobe Bryant, Turner was found guilty on three charges. Turner is now a registered sex offender and he must complete a state approved rehabilitation program for sex offenders. While he was convicted, Turner suffered minimal consequences. He was only given a sentence of six months in Santa Clara county jail out of the recommended 14 years in prison, with three years of probation. He was released in three months due to good behavior.

The Judge’s concern for Turner was voiced when he said, “A prison sentence would have a severe impact on him. I think he will not be a danger to others” (Stack 2016). The Judge, as well as others such as Turner’s father, and his attorney evince the dangers of endorsing rape myths that impact women’s lives. While Turner was found guilty of sexual assault, Emily

Doe was portrayed as an intoxicated party goer who destroyed an award-winning swimmer’s life.

Despite the fact Doe was sexually assaulted by a stranger, fitting into the “real rape” script, the assault deviated from this script. Specifically, in court Doe was chastised for drinking alcohol and her intoxication. In this way, she deviated from traditional gender scripts, namely that a woman should stay at home late at night and away from trouble.

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

Moreover, based on Benedict’s (1993) eight qualifications for the “vamp” classification, Doe meets over half of them: no weapon was used against Doe; Tuner and Doe are both white,

Doe is young and attractive, and she deviated from traditional gender roles by drinking and attending a party.

The Brock Turner case is an important case to analyze as it contains characteristics that deviate from “real rape” and exhibits similarities to previous sexual assault cases where the perpetrator was exonerated such as in the Kobe Bryant case. While newspapers are not the most popular form of news, they are still important as 31 million people read newspapers during the weekday (Pew 2018). In this study, I analyze the prevalence of rape myths in newspapers covering the Brock Turner case. In addition, I examine the values newspaper journalists exhibit when publishing information about the case. How prevalent are rape myths in the coverage of this case? How often do journalists challenge or endorses these myths?

METHODS

Sample

I analyzed national and local newspaper articles that covered the Brock Turner case. I choose articles from national and local newspapers in order to have in wide range of newspapers. In my analysis, I looked at two national newspapers (New York Times and

Washington Post) and two local newspapers (East Bay Times and Mercury News). The printed national newspapers are published for a national audience. The printed local newspapers are published for the local California audience, where the assault occurred. I choose my national articles because New York Times and Washington Post rank in the top ten

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE circulated national newspapers (Lawlor 2018). I chose my local newspapers because East

Bay Times and Mercury News rank in the top ten circulated local newspapers in California

(Mercier 2018). I gathered my articles through Nexis Uni, a news source database.

I searched for articles published between January 18, 2015 and August 2, 2016. While the incident occurred in the late evening of January 17, most of the incident took place early morning of January 18, 2015. Although the earliest news article was published on January

27, 2015, I want to include the earliest article published by using the date of the incident. I also wanted to include articles discussing reactions to Brock Turner’s sentence. My closing date ends two months past the sentencing date (August 2, 2016), at which articles covering his sentence dissipated.

With this date range, I searched “Brock Turner sexual assault” in the Nexis Uni search bar. I also search “Brock Turner rape” in the Nexis Uni search bar, but the results were similar, so I continued to use “Brock Turner sexual assault.” I put the settings on news, and newspaper as publication type. With these exact settings, I was able to locate a sample of 767 local and national newspaper articles. I then proceed to select two national and two

California newspapers. My two national newspapers are The New York Times (n=22) and

The Washington Post (n=13). My two California newspapers are The Easy Bay Times (n=58) and The Mercury News (n=79)10. This gave me a total of 172 newspaper articles.

Out of 172 newspaper articles, 99 articles were duplicate articles, 24 were ineligible articles, and 49 were non-duplicate articles. While there is a setting in Nexis Uni to group duplicate articles, my search nevertheless resulted in duplicates. A duplicate article was an article published more than once. Duplicates often surfaced in local newspapers. A duplicate

10 Previously known as Contra Costa Times and San Jose Mercury News, respectively. 17

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE article would be published in one California newspaper and would then appear in my other

California newspaper. New York Times had two duplicate articles and was the only national newspaper to contain duplicates. I read both articles and concluded they had the same content. I randomly choose one of the two and was left with one New York Times duplicate article. Local newspapers had a total of 97 duplicate articles. East Bay Times had 49 duplicate articles and Mercury News had 48 duplicate articles. Twenty-four articles from

Mercury News were published again in East Bay Times. However, one of the 24 duplicate

East Bay Times articles had two additional replicas, one in East Bay Times and one in

Mercury News.

I gathered the remaining 97 duplicate articles (East Bay Times=49, Mercury

News=45).and read the content to notice any differences. If the content of a duplicate article differed from its replica, I counted both replicas as separate individual articles. Four articles that were published twice contained content that differed from its replica, thus I counted them as separate articles (East Bay Times=4, Mercury News=4). One of these independent duplicate articles was the East Bay Times article that had two additional replicas. The article’s content was independent from its Mercury News replica, but not the East Bay Times replica. I used a heads and tails coin flip simulator to decide which of the remaining 89 duplicates would remain. Out of the initial 99 duplicate articles, 8 duplicate articles were declared independent (East Bay Times=4, Mercury News=4) and 44 duplicate articles remained (New York Times=1, East Bay Times=17, Mercury News=26).

Additionally, I removed articles that contained letters. There was a total of 23 letter articles. Content in these articles consisted of letters from readers or letters by public figures and organizations. These articles violated my coding criteria as I only wanted to code articles

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE written by journalists. Out of the 23 letter articles, 16 were duplicates. However, because they were eliminated due their letter content, I did not include them with the rest of the duplicate articles. All but one letter article came from a local newspaper (New York Times=1,

East Bay Times=9, Mercury News=13).

One out of 50 non-duplicate articles were also removed. The discussion of the case in this Mercury News article was only available in the graphic caption of the article, which was not involved in the coding process. After the removal of the Mercury News article, 49 non- duplicate articles remained (New York Times=19, Washington Post=13, Mercury News=26).

This left my total at 101 articles (New York Times=20, Washington Post=13, East Bay

Times=21, Mercury News=47). Due to time constraints, I analyzed a random sample of 50 articles from the 101 articles (New York Times=9, Washington Post=5, East Bay Times=8,

Mercury News=28). From the randomly selected 50 articles, 29 were duplicates (New York

Times=1, East Bay Times=8, Mercury News=20) and 21 were non-duplicates (New York

Times=8, Washington Post=5, Mercury News=8).

Prevalence

To document the prevalence of rape myths in these articles, I looked for language that excuses Turner’s behavior and blames Doe. Rape myths are claims that pardon perpetrators, blame victims, and justify sexual assault (Brownmiller 1976; Burt 1980; Payne et al. 1999). I coded myths pertaining to both the victim and the perpetrator.

Variables Coded

Rape myths about the victim. Myths about the victim consist of: (1) she’s lying; (2) she wanted it; (3) rape is insignificant; (4) It happens to “certain” women; (5) no weapon was used; (6) she asked for it; (7) she regretted the consensual sex; (8) she wants attention;

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

(9) she wants revenge; (10) she didn’t fight him off; (11) she was intoxicated; (12) she was promiscuous; (13) she was teasing him; and (14) she dressed provocatively.

“She’s lying” consists of any statement suggesting the victim is falsely reporting the sexual assault. “She wanted it” consists of any statement suggesting the victim secretly wanted to have sex. “Rape is insignificant” consists of any statement invalidating the significance of the sexual assault. “It happens to “certain” women” consists of any statement suggesting rape only occurs due to women straying from gender roles, or the “good” girl persona (Benedict 1993). “No weapon was used” consists of any statement suggesting the sexual assault is invalidated as no weapon was used. “She asked for it” consists of any statement suggesting the victim provoked the perpetrator into sexually assaulting her. “She regretted the consensual sex” consists of any statement suggesting the victim gave consent to the perpetrator, regretted the sex, and now claims they did not give consent. “She wants attention” consists of any statement suggesting the victim is claiming she was sexually assaulted to gain attention from people. “She wants revenge” consists of any statement suggesting the victim reported the sexual assault with intentions to harm the perpetrator. “She didn’t fight him off” consists of any statement suggesting the victim was not actually sexually assaulted as she did not physically fight the perpetrator off. “She was intoxicated” consists of any statement suggesting the sexual assault is invalidated due to the victim’s capability to grant or deny consent, even in an inebriated state. “She was promiscuous” consists of any statement suggesting the victim is responsible for her sexual assault due to her previous and current sexual behavior. “She was teasing him” consists of any statement suggesting the victim provoked the perpetrator sexually. “She dressed provocatively”

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE consists of any statement suggesting the victim is responsible for the assault due to her revealing attire.

Rape myths about the perpetrator. Myths about the perpetrator consist of: He’s not that kind of guy; he didn’t mean to; he was unable to control himself; the conviction will ruin his life; and he was intoxicated. “He’s not that kind” is any statement suggesting the perpetrator is not responsible for or could commit sexual assault due to his character. “He didn’t mean to” is any statement suggesting the perpetrator was not intending to commit sexual assault. “He was unable to control himself” is any statement suggesting the perpetrator is not responsible for sexual assault due to being unable to control his sexual urges. “The conviction will ruin his life” is any statement suggesting the perpetrator’s life is ruined due to the victim reporting the sexual assault. “He was intoxicated” is any statement suggesting the sexual assault is invalidated because the perpetrator’s inebriated state resolves him of responsibility.

Journalist endorsement/condemnation. I also coded for journalists’ stance on each rape myth. With each myth I coded (1) if the journalist(s) made any commentary pertaining to the myth; (2) if the journalist(s)’ commentary challenged the rape myth; and (3) if the journalist(s)’ commentary endorsed the rape myth. Commentary on the myth consists of any remark or expression made by the journalist on the rape myth. A challenge was a statement

“caution[ing] readers against employing rape myths” (Franiuk et al. “Rape Myths in Print

Journalism” 2008:297). An endorsement was a statement agreeing with the rape myth.

Measures of Portrayal. I coded for the presence of alcohol or intoxication in each article. Specifically, I coded for any mention of Turner’s intoxication, Doe’s intoxication, or

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE both. I coded any mention of Turner and Doe’s intoxicated behavior and potential effects of their intoxication.

In addition, I coded for mentions of Doe’s injuries and Turner’s athletic career.

Mentions of Doe’s injuries consist of statements discussing Doe’s injuries as a result of the assault. Mentions of Turner’s athletic career are statements highlighting any details or accomplishments of Turner’s athletic career.

I also examined the language reporters used to describe Emily Doe and Brock

Turner. Do they report Emily Doe as the “victim” or the “accuser” (Katz 2004), “alleged accuser,” “alleged victim,” “survivor,” “woman,” or as “Emily Doe?” As for Turner, do journalists discuss his former affiliation with Stanford? Do journalists refer to him as

“swimmer,” “athlete,” “offender,” “perpetrator,” “defendant,” or any variation of “Brock

Turner” such as Turner?

I refer to the labels measuring alcohol, portrayal of the assault, and labels about the victim and perpetrator as measures of portrayal.

Article characteristics. I coded for the article’s properties. This includes the title of the article, date of publication, the newspaper, word count, the number of journalists, the first journalists’ name and if applicable, the first journalists’ sex. Because of duplicate newspaper articles, I also coded for their duplication status. While I coded the number of journalists credited in the article, I only coded the name of the first journalist and the sex of the first journalist. I also coded for writers other than journalists because some articles were not credited to be written by journalists, but by news groups. Options include news groups, news staff, and editorial staff. My entire coding scheme can be found in the appendix.

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

Coding and Analysis

Process of coding. After I read each article, I coded for variables using the instrument in the Appendix. I thoroughly read and analyzed each article to ensure I collected the proper variables. Because I wanted to code rape myths and journalists’ criticism of rape myths, certain articles or areas of an article were excluded. I dropped articles that republished letters written by public figures or readers of the newspapers because they were not written by journalists. The only content in an article I did not analyze were graphic captions and lists of article suggestions. Graphic captions were descriptions of images included in the articles when originally published. The images were not included in the articles I gathered from

Nexis Uni, but the graphic captions nonetheless remained. The graphic captions were the same repetitive captions and often lacked a credited author. Lists of article suggestions included headlines of articles already included and coded in my sample. Additionally, quotes or paraphrasing of other’s words could not be coded as any type of commentary because they were not made by the journalist themselves. I recorded the data onto a coding sheet in an

Excel document.

Reliability. I enlisted the assistance of a second coder. A second coder is necessary to establish intercoder reliability, or the agreement between two or more coders on content under investigation using the same instrument (Neuendorf 2002). The coder was a male not familiar with the case, which helped to soften bias. I trained this coder by providing him the instrument and walking him through each variable. We trained using the same 30 randomly selected articles from the sample. After training, we each coded the same 50 articles that were randomly selected from the sample. After independently coding the articles, we examined the reliability of each variable to ensure that it meet the .90 coefficient standard or

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE high on percentage agreement. Initially the measure of reliability was Cohen’s kappa.

However due to the size of my sample and the conservative nature of the Cohen’s kappa, percentage agreement was selected as the new measure of reliability. My second coder and I went through three rounds of codebook training and independent coding, in which the third round is where we succeeded in having a .90 percentage agreement across all variables.

Analysis. My statistical analysis involved descriptive statistics. I reported the frequency and percentage of rape myths about the victim and perpetrator, challenges and endorsement on rape myths about the victim and perpetrator, and measures of portrayal. I also reported the frequency and percentage of journalists credited to an article and the sex of the first journalist, if applicable.

Research Questions. My first research question is: What is the prevalence of rape myths in the local and national newspaper coverage of the Brock Turner case? Based on sexual script and media framing literature, I expect rape myths to exist in the newspaper coverage of the Brock Turner. My second research question investigates how often journalists criticized rape myths within the newspaper coverage of the Brock Turner case. I expect journalists to make more endorsements than challenges. I base my research questions and expectations off Benedict’s (1993) analysis of sex crimes and Franiuk and colleagues’ studies (Franiuk et al. “Rape Myths in Print Journalism” 2008; “Rape Myths in Headlines”

2008). Once cases of sexual assault met more than four out of eight “vamp” themes or deviate from the “real rape” script, journalists engaged in victim blaming attitudes (Hall

1985; Soothwill and Walby 1991; Benedict 1993). Even though Turner was a stranger to

Doe, journalists may find a way to twist his stranger status onto Doe by criticizing her attendance at a party (Soothwill and Walby 1991; Benedict 1993). Additionally, the coverage

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE of 1983 gang rape in New Bedford, Massachusetts demonstrates how quickly journalists turned from sympathetic towards the victim to insinuating she was a promiscuous woman just because she visited the bar often (Benedict 1993). Finally, articles in Franuik and colleagues’ (Franiuk et al. “Rape Myths in Print Journalism” 2008) Kobe Bryant study contained more positive comments about Bryant as a person and athlete (50.7 percent) compared to negative comments (16.7 percent). This means journalists may be more likely to endorse myths due to Turner’s character and athletic career.

RESULTS

Information about Journalists

To provide some context for my results, I will first present information about journalists. I coded for the number of journalists credited to an article and the sex of the first journalist, if applicable. Most articles were written by one journalist (New York Times=8,

Washington Post=5, East Bay Times=8, Mercury News=19). A small number of articles were written by two (Mercury News=1) or three journalists (Mercury News=2). Some articles were not written by individual journalists but instead written by groups of journalists. There were three types of groups: News groups (Mercury News=1), news staff (Mercury News=1) and news editorial staff (Mercury News=4). The one article to not contain a credited journalist or group of journalists was a New York Times article. In terms of sex, female journalists (New

York Times=4, Washington Post=3, East Bay Times=8, Mercury News=19) wrote more articles than male journalists (New York Times=2, Washington Post=2, Mercury News=3).

Coding for the sex of the first journalist was not applicable for groups of journalists or lack of journalist. Thus, the instances in which the sex of the first journalist was unknown

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE corresponds to articles written by groups of journalists (Mercury News=6) or when an article lacked a credited journalist (New York Times=1).

Prevalence of Rape Myths

Out of 50 articles, 68 percent of articles contained at least one rape myth. I measured for 19 rape myths about the victim and perpetrator however, only eight myths surfaced. The number of myths within an article ranged from one to eight myths. Most articles contained one myth (30 percent). Only one article (2 percent) contained the eight rape myths that surfaced. Some of the myths not recorded were “She was promiscuous” (a statement suggesting the victim is responsible for the sexual assault due to her previous and current active sexual behavior) and “He couldn’t control himself” (a statement suggesting the perpetrator was not responsible for the sexual assault due to being unable to control his sexual urges). As demonstrated in Table 1, the most prominent rape myth out of the eight rape myths was “Rape is insignificant” (a statement invalidating the assault against Doe).

The myth showed up in 54 percent of all newspaper articles.

Out of 19 myths, 14 myths were about the victim. From the 14 myths about the victim, four myths surfaced. As shown in Table 1, the four myths that surfaced about the victim were, “Rape is insignificant” (54 percent), “She’s lying” (18 percent), “She wanted it”

(16 percent), and “She was intoxicated” (16 percent). Table 1 shows “Rape is insignificant” was the most prevalent myth about the victim and surfaced at triple the rate of “She’s lying.”

Most times the myth “Rape is insignificant” surfaced when journalists discussed events from the trial. Such as this article where the journalist discusses Judge Persky’s justification for

Turner’s short sentence:

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

The prosecutor sought a six-year prison term but Judge Persky concluded that a term

of less than 10 percent of that time, as well as three years of probation was

appropriate. He noted that both the defendant and the victim were intoxicated –

witnesses confirmed she was unconscious – and cited the “severe impact” a prison

sentence would have on Mr. Turner (Freedman 2016).

Not only did the rape myth “Rape is insignificant” surface in the statement above, but another myth about Doe (“She was intoxicated”) and two rape myths about Turner (“He was intoxicated” and “The conviction will ruin his life”) appeared as well. Oftentimes when a statement was coded to have the myth “Rape is insignificant,” another myth was present within the same statement. “Rape is insignificant” also surfaced when journalists mentioned

Dan Turner’s letter in which he portrayed Turner as the victim suffering from “20 minutes of action” (Marcus 2016) or whenever Turner denied raping Doe because he “never pulled down [his] pants and made contact with her vagina” (Lee 2016b). Myths “She’s lying” and

“She wanted it” often surfaced together anytime journalists mentioned Turner “maintained that he believed he had consent and didn’t realize the woman was unconscious” (Murphy

2016). However, there was an instance in which a journalist was insinuating Doe fabricated the assault: “And I’ll leave it to the jury of eight men and four women to decide just how unconscious or drunk the then-22-year-old victim: She says she remembers nothing of the encounter” (Herold 2016).

The 10 myths about the victim that did not surface were: (1) It happens to “certain” women; (2) No weapon was used; (3) She asked for it; (4) She regretted the consensual sex;

(5) She wants attention; (6) She wants revenge; (7) She didn’t fight him off; (8) She’s promiscuous; (9) She was teasing him; and (10) She dressed proactively.

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

Five out of 19 myths were about the perpetrator. Four out of five myths about the perpetrator were present in the articles. Table 1 shows the four myths about the perpetrator that surfaced were: “He’s not that type of guy” (34 percent), “He was intoxicated” (14 percent), “The conviction will ruin his life” (12 percent), and “He didn’t mean to” (8 percent). The most prevalent myth about the perpetrator was “He’s not that type of guy” and surfaced a little over double the rate of “He was intoxicated.” The only myth out of the five to not surface was “He can’t control himself.” Though the most prevalent myth about the perpetrator showed up in 34 percent of articles, the most prevalent myth about the victim

(“Rape is insignificant”) surfaced at almost double the amount of “He’s not that type of guy.”

Myths about the victim slightly outnumber myths about the perpetrator with the exception of

“Rape is insignificant” and “He’s not that type of guy.”

Like the myth “Rape is insignificant,” the myth “He’s not that type of guy” surfaced when journalists discussed “Persky cit[ing] Turner’s youth and his lack of criminal record as

“unusual circumstances” warranting leniency” (Kaplan 2016). Statements that contained the myth “He’s not that type of guy” often involved other myths such “The conviction will ruin his life” and “He was intoxicated:”

The judged…handed Mr. Turner, a champion swimmer, far less than the maximum

14 years after he was convicted, pointing out that he had no “significant” prior

offenses, he had been affected by the intense media coverage, and there is “less moral

culpability attached to the defendant who was...intoxicated” (Stack 2016).

The myth “He didn’t mean to” often surfaced when journalists mentioned Turner denying raping Doe. One journalist wrote he wanted to “remind readers that Turner has pleaded not

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE guilty to the three sexual assault charges” (Herold 2016) because according to Turner “he fondled the woman but did not rape her” (Herold 2016).

Measures of Portrayal. I also coded for variables that did not consist of myths. They can be found in Table 2. These variables measured the portrayal of the victim and the perpetrator. There were four categories: Portrayal of the assault, measures of alcohol, labels about the victim and labels about the perpetrator. There was a total of 23 variables; however only 16 surfaced. In the first category, portrayal of the assault, all two variables were present:

Turner’s athletic career (38 percent) and Doe’s injuries (10 percent). Three out of six variables for measures of alcohol surfaced. Articles mentioned the victim’s intoxication (38 percent), more than the perpetrator’s intoxication (18 percent). Two variables measured for mentions of the victim and perpetrator’s reckless behavior, however, only mentions of the victim’s reckless intoxicated behavior surfaced (2 percent). For labels on the victim, five out of eight variables surfaced. Doe was referred to in five different ways: Unconscious (66 percent), victim (56 percent), woman (50 percent), alleged victim (6 percent), and survivor (2 percent). Six out of seven variables measuring labels on the perpetrator surfaced. Turner was referred to in 6 different ways: Turner (100 percent), Stanford (82 percent), swimmer (22 percent), defendant (20 percent), athlete (16 percent), and offender (6 percent). Because

Turner’s name was included in the search phrase during my search for articles, Turner’s name showed up in every article.

Commentary on Rape Myths

Journalists did not comment on all eight myths. Table 3 shows journalists did not comment on the myths “She’s lying” and “She wanted it,” both myths about Doe. Journalists commented on the myth “He was intoxicated” (2 percent) but they did not challenge nor

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE endorse the myth. Table 3 shows two myths were challenged and endorsed (“Rape is insignificant” and “The conviction will ruin his life”). The myth to receive the most commentary was “Rape is insignificant” (60 percent). Table 3 shows most commentary made by journalists was on this myth about Doe. Journalists challenged this myth in 42 percent of all articles. When journalists challenged “Rape is insignificant” it was often journalists disputing Turner’s short sentence:

So when Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky sentenced 20-year old Brock

Turner to six months in jail and three years-probation, we and many others were

outraged. When the assault survivor’s 23-page heartbreaking statement to the court

was released online, we all felt her pain and anger. And when commenters continue to

defend the sentence, we’re enraged all over again. How could our justice system have

let her down so spectacularly (Duncan and Frank 2016)?

The only other myth about Doe to receive commentary was the myth “She was intoxicated”

(4 percent). The only article that challenged (2 percent) the myth raised awareness about how rape myths affect boys’ sexual scripts (Schank and Abelson 1977; Simon and Gagnon 1986;

Ryan 2011): “[t]he real culture shift has to be holding men responsible—the Turner verdict was the start—and raising boys to not think it’s OK to take advantage of an intoxicated woman” (Mercury News Editorial 2016).

The myth about Turner to receive the most commentary was “He’s not that type of guy” (8 percent). When journalists challenged this myth (6 percent), they criticized Persky’s decision to give Turner a lenient sentence due to his character, specifically, his lack of prior record. Cordell (2016) noted Turner’s privilege as a white affluent male was a huge factor behind Turner evading prison:

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

I believe the unconscious bias, the hobgoblin of all judges, unduly influenced his

decision. Turner’s privileged upbringing and his status as a star athlete at a

prestigious university were among the factors that led the judge to conclude that

prison as too harsh a punishment. I doubt a poor young man of color with little

education would have fared as well.

The only myth journalists did not challenge nor endorse about Turner was “He was intoxicated” (2 percent). The journalist instead made a comment (2 percent) about people’s reaction to Judge Persky stating alcohol lessened responsibility:

At Mr. Turner’s sentencing hearing Judge Aaron Persky said a defendant who is

intoxicated has “less more capability…” yet the outraged reaction to Mr. Turner’s

light sentence suggests it has become increasingly unacceptable to excuse sexual

aggression because of drinking (Bazelon 2016).

Another myth that contained commentary in one article was “He didn’t mean to.” One article challenged (2 percent) Turner’s remorse stating “[t]hough he says he regrets his actions that

January night in 2015, Turner continues to show no real remorse” (Duncan and Frank 2016) because he still failed to take personal responsibility by blaming the assault on risky behavior. Challenges against the myth “The conviction will ruin his life” were made towards the lack of accountability for Turner’s crime. For instance, Hagan (2016) wrote:

Our nation is entitled to be outraged over Pesky’s decision to protect Turner from the

savageries of prison rather than hold him accountable for his reprehensible acts and

incalculable damage that he inflicted on the victim, her family, friends and

community at large.

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

Not only was the myth challenged, but it was also endorsed (2 percent). Both the myths “Rape is significant” and “The conviction will ruin his life” were endorsed in the same newspaper article within the same statement. In addition, not only was “Rape is insignificant” endorsed, but it was challenged in the same article. The journalist starts off by calling Dan Turner “[d]isgusting, especially in his failure to recognize the true victim”

(Marcus 2016) for his “tone deaf letter to the judge pleading for probation” (Marcus 2016).

However, the journalist suddenly changes their tone by empathizing with Brock’s parents:

And yet, parents, ask yourself: If this were your son, would you not ante up whatever

you could for the best defense possible? Would you not do what you could to spare

him form the terrors awaiting him from bars? Would you not argue for the lightest

possible punishment, no matter how much you reviled his behavior or berated him in

private? I know I would. Say all you want about logical consequences and taking

responsibility. The parental urge is primal and instinctive, activated by the sound of a

clanking cell door (Marcus 2016).

The myth “The conviction will ruin his life” was challenged and endorsed however they were not included in the same article.

DISCUSSION

Compared to the 65 percent of articles that contained at least one rape myth in

Franiuk’s initial Kobe Bryant study (Franiuk et al. “Rape Myths in Print Journalism,” 2008), the prevalence of rape myths in the newspaper coverage of the Brock Turner case are similar to Franiuk and colleagues’. I found 68 percent of articles contained at least one statement that pardoned the perpetrator, blamed the victim, or allowed the justification of the assault

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

(Brownmiller 1976; Burt 1980; Payne et al. 1999). Franiuk and colleagues’ (“Rape Myths in

Print Journalism,” 2008) most prevalent myth (“She’s lying”) showed up in 42.3 percent of their articles while my most prevalent myth (“Rape is insignificant”) showed up in 54 percent of all articles. However, the myth “She’s lying” was the second most prevalent myth about

Doe (18 percent).

The presence of myths within the newspaper coverage of the Brock Turner case is consistent with sexual scripts and media framing literature. Sexual script theory states when a case of sexual assault deviates from the “real rape” script, victims are often susceptible to being invalidated (Burt 1980; Simon and Gagnon 1986; Estrich 1987; Stevenson 2000). The

“real rape” script is defined as the assault of an innocent woman by a deranged male stranger despite her resistance (Burt 1980; Estrich 1987; Stevenson 2000). The script informs cultural understandings about sexual assault (Schank and Abelson 1977; Simon and Gagnon 1986;

Ryan 2011). Although Turner was a stranger, Doe was intoxicated, which is a deviation from traditional gender roles. Furthermore, this script is what often frames the coverage of sexual assault cases, specifically the portrayal of the victim, in the media (Soothill and Walby 1991;

Benedict 1993). Details about the assault that deviate from the “real rape” script are often used against the victim in the media (Soothill and Walby 1991; Benedict 1993).

Benedict (1993) noted when the victim deviated from more than four out of eight themes, she was portrayed as a “vamp” or a promiscuous woman. These themes are based off the “real rape” script (Estrich 1987). The assault against Doe meets five out of eight themes: they shared the same race, no weapon was used against Doe, she is a young and attractive woman, and she deviated from traditional gender roles by drinking at a party (Benedict

1993). Two of the 14 myths about Doe focusing on weapon use (“No weapon was used

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE against her”) and her appearance (“She dressed provocatively”) did not appear. However, variables measuring Doe and Turner’s intoxication did surface. Despite the fact both Doe and

Turner were intoxicated, the mention of Doe’s intoxication and intoxicated behavior was higher than Turner’s. Not only did 16 percent of articles mention the myth “She was intoxicated,” 38 percent of all articles mentioned Doe’s intoxication. Turner’s intoxication was only mentioned in 18 percent of all articles, and only 14 percent of articles mention the myth “He was intoxicated.” I measured for mentions of both Doe and Turner’s reckless intoxicated behavior, however, only mentions of Doe’s reckless intoxicated behavior were present in articles (2 percent). This is consistent with Benedict’s (1993) analysis of a 1983 gang rape in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Once the media discovered the victim was intoxicated, this feature was one of eight “vamp” themes used to portray the victim as a promiscuous woman. Though journalists did challenge the myth “She was intoxicated,” journalists did not challenge the myth “He was intoxicated,” as seen in Table 3. This may be a reflection of journalists’ sexual scripts. The idea that a woman’s intoxication does not justify sexual assault may be in their sexual scripts. But journalists may not be quite ready to challenge statements suggesting Turner’s intoxication exonerates him from the assault.

Between labels about the victim and the perpetrator, Doe was portrayed as an intoxicated, unconscious woman while Turner was portrayed an accomplished ex-Stanford swimmer. In fact, only one article (2 percent) used empowering language by calling Doe a

“survivor.” The labels used to describe Doe are consistent with Katz’s (2004) argument about

Kobe Bryant’s alleged victim. Katz (2004) argued the manner in which victims are referred to can sway reader’s attitudes about the victim’s motives. In terms of the Brock Turner case,

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE the most frequent labels about Doe, “unconscious” (66 percent), “victim” (56 percent), and

“woman” (50 percent), solely frame Doe’s identity around the assault committed against her.

Meanwhile the most frequent labels about Turner, “Stanford” (82 percent), “swimmer” (22 percent), and “athlete” (16 percent) frame Turner’s identity around his accomplishments rather than his violent actions. The labels used to refer to Doe “put her behavior on trial”

(Katz 2004:1) instead of Turner’s behavior (Katz 2004). Like Turner’s attorney, the media is focusing on Doe’s drinking behavior rather than the crime Turner committed.

Finally, it is interesting journalists did not make any comments on the myth “She’s lying.” This one of the most prevalent myths to surface in media reporting sex crimes

(Soothill and Walby 1991; Benedict 1993; Franiuk et al. “Rape Myths in Print Journalism”

2008; “Rape Myths in Headlines,” 2008). The news coverage of the Kobe Bryant case

(Franiuk et al. “Rape Myths in Print Journalism” 2008) reported 42.3 percent of articles containing statements suggesting the alleged victim in the Kobe Bryant case lied. Six percent of headlines on articles covering the Kobe Bryant case contained the myth “She’s lying”

(Franiuk et al. “Rape Myths in Headlines,” 2008). The Daily Mail discredited the marital rape findings from Ask Any Woman (Hall 1985; Soothill and Walby 1991) and then claimed

“[a] quarter of rape victims ‘are lying,’” pulling the information from a survey conducted five years prior to the publication (Soothill and Walby 1991). And yet, it was one of two rape myths to not receive commentary.

As a Mercury News Editorial (2016) article argued, the reason Turner was convicted for the assault against Doe was because “[t]here were witnesses.” Two students caught

Turner on top of Emily Doe and apprehended Turner when he attempted to flee.

Additionally, Doe’s DNA was found under Turner’s fingernails (Lee 2016a) and Doe

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE suffered injuries often found when there was an absence “of the pelvic tilt and lubrication that exists during consensual sex” (Lee 2016c). This evidence against Turner may be why there was a lack of commentary on the myth “She’s lying.” However, the myth still surfaced in articles. Lack of commentary on such a popular myth can be potentially harmful. Not only does the myth reproduce and possibly increase endorsement when included in articles

(Franiuk et al. “Rape Myths in Print Journalism” 2008), but the lack of challenges towards the myth does as well. The reproduction of the myth can become ingrained into our sexual scripts and the cultural understanding of sexual assault (Schank and Abelson 1977; Simon and Gagnon 1986; Ryan 2011).

Limitations

My first limitation concerns the conceptualization of the rape myth “Rape is insignificant.” The definition of the myth (a statement invalidating the assault against Doe) itself is broad could additionally apply to the presence of other myths such as “He was intoxicated,” because a statement suggesting Turner’s intoxication exonerates his blame from the assault is a statement itself that invalidates the assault against Doe. A method that accommodates the recording of multiple myths within a statement should be considered.

Second, the case has external influences not accounted for in the analysis. As I stated previously, the external influences of race, class, and athletic status can potentially influence the prevalence of rape myths in the coverage of the case. Kobe Bryant and Brock Turner share two of the three: class and athlete status. Researchers have speculated that Bryant’s class and athlete status could have been an advantage for him in court and in news coverage

(Ardovini-Brooker and Caringella-MacDonald 2002; Ash et al. 2017). However, Bryant’s

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE race could have potentially harmed him by portraying him as hostile and sexually aggressive

(Leonard 2004; Kosse 2007), unlike Turner, who would not face such stereotypes.

Future Research

Future investigations concerning the relationship between rape myths and the news coverage of this case should consider a number of things based on previous literature. First, the relationship between the sex of journalists, myths, and criticism towards myths should be investigated. Benedict (1993) noted in the news coverage of a marital rape case11, stories that contained impartial language were written or covered by women. Though the impartial language was not solely attributed to the sex of the journalist (local newspapers’ fear of legal persecution was another reason), articles written by women may contain a lower amount of myths and endorsements (Benedict 1993).

Second, the number of journalists credited to an article should be investigated. The amount of myths may share a positive relationship with the number of journalists, or when a news group is accredited. Franiuk and colleagues’ experiments (Franiuk et al. “Rape Myths in Print Journalism” 2008; “Rape Myths in Headlines” 2008) demonstrate how influential the presence of a myth increases the likelihood of endorsement. If one journalist in a group endorses such myths, their peers may follow along out of peer pressure especially due to the hierarchical and hostile atmosphere journalism can breed (Brummel et al. 2019).

Third, articles about the case published between 2015-2016 should be compared to articles covering Doe’s identity reveal in 2019. In October 2017, the MeToo movement, a movement raising awareness of rape and sexual assault, gained traction after Turner’s short

11 A 1978 marital rape case gained attention due to the nature of the assault and the victim’s forgiveness towards her husband the perpetrator (Benedict 1993). After the victim forgave her husband, the newspaper coverage was filled with myths of regret and deception. This was the only case Benedict investigated in her book that had a high quantity of women involved in the coverage. 37

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE sentence (Hillstrom 2019). The movement brought attention to social and institutional biases against gender violence that made it often difficult to share or discuss the matter, including journalism (Hillstrom 2019). News media took the initiative to renovate their environments and increase the number of women in positions of authority (Hillstrom 2019). Analyzing articles discussing Doe’s identity reveal may contain a historical effect in the manner of how rape myths and opinions on them are handled due to the movement and renovations within news media.

Furthermore, the comparison may reveal gender and racial biases against Doe. When

Doe revealed her identity in 2019, she noted the police failed to account for her dual racial identity as an Asian and White woman (Weiner 2019). The police report only recorded Doe as a White woman (People v. Turner 2016). Articles discussing Doe’s identity may contain rape myths based off racial stereotypes as Asian-American women are often subject to sexual and racial stereotypes that objectify them in the media (Shimizu 2007).

Finally, the comparison could reveal whether news media is taking gender literature and expertise into consideration (Benedict 1993; Hillstrom 2018). When Benedict (1993) interviewed journalists reporting on sex crimes, journalists stated they were reluctant to seek external expertise in order to avoid looking “overintellectualized” (Benedict 1993: 272).

Training on combating the use of rape myths should be taken by journalists, especially when reporting on gender issues. However, before training on biases in the coverage of sex crimes can be a point, journalist must challenge the current infostructure in journalism. Brummel and colleagues (2019) argue journalism is hierarchical, meaning those in higher authority determine how often a journalist’s work is featured. If those in higher authority refuse to adjust their attitudes towards challenging rape myths, articles doing so may not be published.

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

Lack of articles challenging rape supportive attitudes can be just as potentially dangerous as publishing articles with endorsing statements about rape myths.

This same idea can be applied to law makers. While rape shield laws (legislation that prohibits the mentions of the victim’s sexual history in court) exist, legislation concerning sexual assault contains gender biases (Levine 2018). For instance, the state of Oregon restricts rape to forced vaginal-penial penetration between a man and a woman (Levine

2018). After the Brock Turner case, California tackled a law stating perpetrators who assaulted unconscious victims would serve less time than perpetrators who assaulted conscious victims (Ford 2016). If law makers are not willing to adjust their beliefs about victim blaming, the production of laws that harm victims for deviating from the “real rape” script (Burt 1980; Estrich 1987) will most likely continue (Levine 2018).

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

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APPENDIX General Instructions Report if a measure is mentioned in the content of the article. This excludes graphic captions and article suggestions. Fill the Excel document with the appropriate code that corresponds to the article and the measure. Report notes and suggestions in a separate Excel file.

Name: Report your name in the Excel document’s name.

Properties of the Newspaper Article Title of Article (TITLE): Report the title of the article.

Date of Publication (DOP): Report the date of publication in the format of month, day, and year (MDY). For example, if the date was March 23, 2020, the date would be typed out 3/23/2020.

Newspaper of Article (NEWS): Report the newspaper source. 1. The New York Times 2. The Washington Post 3. The East Bay Times 4. The Mercury News

Duplicate (DUPL): Report if the article was published more than once. 0. No 1. Yes

Word Count (WORD): Report the word count of the article.

Sex of the Journalist (SEXJ): Report the sex of the first journalist. 0. Female 1. Male 9. Unable to report

Article Author (ARAU): Report who wrote the article.

1. One Journalist 2. Two Journalists 3. Three Journalists 4. News Group 5. News Staff 6. News Editorial Staff 9. No writer identified

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

The Journalist (JOURN): Report the name of the first journalist.

1. Aguilera, Jasmine 26. Kinney, Aaron 2. Anderson, Nick 27. Knowles, Hannah 3. Balingit, Moriah 28. Krieger, Lisa M. 4. Bar-On, Shauli 29. Kurhi, Eric 5. Bay Area News Group 30. Lee, Jacqueline 6. Bazelon, Emily 31. Lemley, Mark 7. Bellafante, Ginia 32. Marcus, Ruth 8. Bromwich, Jonah Engel 33. McPhate, Mike 10. Calefati, Jessica 34. Mercury News Editorial 11. Cordell, LaDrois 35. Mercury News Staff 12. de Sá, Karen 36. Miller, Michael E. 13. Duncan, Debbie 37. Murphy, Katy 14. Dvorak, Petula 38. Nir, Sarah Maslin 15. Dwoskin, Elizabeth 39. Paquette, Danielle 16. East Bay Times Editorial 40. Romero, Nick 17. Freedman, Estelle B. 41. Ross, Martha 18. Fuller, Thomas 42. Schmidt, Samantha 19. Geiselman, Kate 43. Soloski, Alexis 20. Gomez, Mark 44. Somerville, Heather 21. Hagan, Jennifer J. 45. Stack, Liam 22. Herold, Scott 46. Sulek, Julia Prodis 23. Hess, Amanda 47. Sullivan, Margert 24. Johnson, KC 48. Svrluga Susan 25. Kaplan, Tracey 49. Victor, Daniel 50. Zimmerman, Eilene 9. No writer identified

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

Rape Myths About the Victim in the Headlines & Articles She’s lying (LYING): Any statement suggesting the victim is falsely reporting she was sexually assaulted. For example: “Women who are caught having an illicit affair sometimes claim it was rape.” 0. Not present 1. Present

Commentary on “She’s lying” (CMLYING): In any statement, did the journalist(s) comment on this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

Challenging “She’s lying” (CHLYING): In any statement, did the journalist(s) challenge this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

Endorsing “She’s lying” (ELYING): In any statement, did the journalist(s) endorse this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

She wanted it (WANT): Any statement suggesting the victim secretly wanted to have sex. For example: “Many women find being forced to have sex very arousing.” 0. Not present 1. Present

Commentary on “She wanted it” (CMWANT): In any statement, did the journalist(s) comment on this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

Challenging “She wanted it” (CHWANT): In any statement, did the journalist(s) challenge this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

Endorsing “She wanted it” (EWANT): In any statement, did the journalist(s) endorse this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

Rape is insignificant (INSIG): Any statement invalidating the significance of the sexual assault. For example: “Being raped isn’t as bad as being mugged and beaten.”

0. Not present 1. Present

Commentary on “Rape is insignificant” (CMINSIG): In any statement, did the journalist(s) comment on this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

Challenging “Rape is insignificant” (CHINSIG): In any statement, did the journalist(s) challenge this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

Endorsing “Rape is insignificant” (EINSIG): In any statement, did the journalist(s) endorse this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

It happens to “certain” women (CERTAIN): Any statement suggesting sexual assault only occurs due to women straying from gender roles, or the “good” girl persona. For example: “Usually, it is only women who do things like hang out in bars and sleep around that are raped.”

0. Not present 1. Present

Commentary on “It happens to “certain” women” (CMCERTAIN): In any statement, did the journalist(s) comment on this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

Challenging “It happens to “certain” women” (CHCERTAIN): In any statement, did the journalist(s) challenge this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

Endorsing “It happens to “certain” women” (ECERTAIN): In any statement, did the journalist(s) endorse this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

No weapon was used (WEAPON): Any statement suggesting the sexual assault is invalidated as no weapon was used. For example: “If the rapist doesn’t have a weapon, you really can’t call it rape.”

0. Not present 1. Present

Commentary on “No weapon was used” (CMWEAPON): In any statement, did the journalist(s) comment on this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

Challenging “No weapon as used” (CHWEAPON): In any statement, did the journalist(s) challenge this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

Endorsing “No weapon was used” (EWEAPON): In any statement, did the journalist(s) endorse this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

She asked for it (ASKED): Any statement suggesting the victim provoked the perpetrator into sexually assaulting her. For example: “If a woman is willing to “make out” with a guy, then it’s no big deal if he goes a little further and has sex.”

0. Not present 1. Present

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

Commentary on “She asked for it” (CMASKED): In any statement, did the journalist(s) comment on this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

Challenging “She asked for it” (CHASKED): In any statement, did the journalist(s) argue against any statement suggesting the victim provoked the perpetrator into sexually challenge this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

Endorsing “She asked for it” (EASKED): In any statement, did the journalist(s) endorse this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

She regretted the consensual sex (REGRET): Any statement suggesting the victim gave consent to the perpetrator, regretted the sex, and now claims they did not give consent. For example: “Many so-called rape victims are actually women who had sex and “changed their minds” afterwards.”

0. Not present 1. Present

Commentary on “She regretted the consensual sex” (CMREGRET): In any statement, did the journalist(s) comment on this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

Challenging “She regretted the consensual sex” (CHREGRET): In any statement, did the journalist(s) challenge this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting, paraphrasing, graphic captions, and related articles.

0. No 1. Yes

Endorsing “She regretted the consensual sex” (EREGRET): In any statement, did the journalist(s) endorse this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

She wants attention (ATTEN): Any statement suggesting the victim is claiming she was sexually assaulted to gain attention from people. For example: “Women claim to be raped so they can get the spotlight.” 0. Not present 1. Present

Commentary on “She wants attention” (CMATTEN): In any statement, did the journalist(s) comment on this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

Challenging “She wants attention” (CHATTEN): In any statement, did the journalist(s) challenge this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

Endorsing “She wants attention” (EATTEN): In any statement, did the journalist(s) endorse this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

She wants revenge (REVENGE): Any statement suggesting the victim reported the sexual assault with the intentions to harm the perpetrator’s reputation. For example: “Rape accusations are often used as a way of getting back at men.”

0. Not present 1. Present

Commentary on “She wants revenge” (CMREVENGE): In any statement, did the journalist(s) comment on this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

Challenging “She wants revenge” (CHREVENGE): In any statement, did the journalist(s) challenge this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

Endorsing “She wants revenge” (EREVENGE): In any statement, did the journalist(s) endorse this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

She didn’t fight him off (FIGHT): Any statement suggesting any victim was not sexually assaulted as she did not physically fight off the perpetrator. For example: “If a woman doesn’t physically fight back, you can’t really say that it was rape.”

0. Not present 1. Present

Commentary on “She didn’t fight him off” (CMFIGHT): In any statement, did the journalist(s) comment on this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

Challenging “She didn’t fight him” (CHFIGHT): In any statement, did the journalist(s) challenge this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

Endorsing “She didn’t fight him off” (EFIGHT): In any statement, did the journalist(s) endorse this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

She was intoxicated (INTOX): Any statement suggesting the sexual assault is invalidated due to the victim’s capability to grant or deny consent, even in an inebriated state. For example: “If a woman is raped while she is drunk, she is at least somewhat responsible for letting things get out of control.”

0. Not present 1. Present

Commentary on “She was intoxicated” (CMINTOX): In any statement, did the journalist(s) comment on this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

Challenging “She was intoxicated” (CHINTOX): In any statement, did the journalist(s) challenge this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

Endorsing “She was intoxicated” (EINTOX): In any statement, did the journalist(s) endorse this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

She was promiscuous (PROMIS): Any statement suggesting the victim is responsible for the sexual assault due to her previous and current active sexual behavior. For example: “A woman who goes to the home or apartment of a man on the first date is implying that she wants to have sex.”

0. Not present 1. Present

Commentary on “She was promiscuous” (CMPROMIS): In any statement, did the journalist(s) comment on this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

Challenging “She was promiscuous” (CHPROMIS): In any statement, did the journalist(s) challenge this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

Endorsing “She was promiscuous” (EPROMIS): In any statement, did the journalist(s) endorse this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

She was teasing him (TEASE): Any statement suggesting the victim provoked the perpetrator by sexually arousing him. For example: “When a woman is a sexually tease, eventually she is going to get into trouble.”

0. Not present 1. Present

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

Commentary on “She was teasing him” (CMTEASE): In any statement, did the journalist(s) comment on this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing. 0. No 1. Yes

Challenging “She was teasing him” (CHTEASE): In any statement, did the journalist(s) challenge this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

Endorsing “She was teasing him” (ETEASE): In any statement, did the journalist(s) endorse this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

She dressed provocatively (PROVOC): Any statement suggesting the victim is responsible for the assault due to her revealing attire. For example: “When women go around wearing low-cut tops or short skits, they’re just asking for trouble.”

0. Not present 1. Present

Commentary on “She dressed provocatively” (CMPROVOC): In any statement, did the journalist(s) comment on this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

Challenging “She dressed provocatively” (CHPROVOC): In any statement, did the journalist(s) challenge this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

Endorsing “She dressed provocatively” (EPROVOC): In any statement, did the journalist(s) endorse this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

Rape Myths About the Perpetrator in the Headlines & Articles He’s not that kind of guy (GUY): Any statement suggesting the perpetrator is not responsible for or could commit sexual assault due to his character. For example: “Men from nice middle-class families almost never rape.”

0. Not present 1. Present

Commentary on “He’s not that kind of guy” (CMGUY): In any statement, did the journalist(s) make commentary on the rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing. 0. No 1. Yes

Challenging “He’s not that kind of guy” (CHGUY): In any statement, did the journalist(s) challenge this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

Endorsing “He’s not that kind of guy” (EGUY): In any statement, did the journalist(s) endorse this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

He didn’t mean to (MEAN): Any statement suggesting the perpetrator did not intend nor did they realize they committed sexual assault. For example: “Men don’t usually intend to force sex on a woman, but sometimes they get too sexually carried away.”

0. Not present 1. Present

Commentary on “He didn’t mean to” (CMMEAN): In any statement, did the journalist(s) comment on this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing. 0. No 1. Yes

Challenging “He didn’t mean to” (CHMEAN): In any statement, did the journalist(s) challenge this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

Endorsing “He didn’t mean to” (EMEAN): In any statement, did the journalist(s) endorse this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes He was unable to control himself (CNTRL): Any statement suggesting the perpetrator was not responsible for the sexual assault due to being unable to control his sexual urges. For example: “When men rape, it is because of their strong desire for sex.”

0. Not present 1. Present

Commentary on “He was unable to control himself” (CMCNTRL): In any statement, did the journalist(s) comment on this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

Challenging “He was unable to control himself” (CHCNTRL): In any statement, did the journalist(s) challenge this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

Endorsing “He was unable to control himself” (ECNTRL): In any statement, did the journalist(s) endorse this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

The conviction will ruin his life (RUIN): Any statement suggesting the perpetrator’s life is ruined due to the victim reporting the sexual assault. For example: “Due to the victim’s recent accusations, the defendant’s life has been destroyed and his house was burglarized.”

0. Not present 1. Present

Commentary on “The conviction will ruin his life” (CMRUIN): In any statement, did the journalist(s) comment on this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

Challenging “The conviction will ruin his life” (CHRUIN): In any statement, did the journalist(s) challenge this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

Endorsing “The conviction will ruin his life” (ERUIN): In any statement, did the journalist(s) endorse this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

He was intoxicated (PINTOX): Any statement suggesting the perpetrator’s inebriated state invalidates the sexual assault and absolves him of responsibility. For example: “If the rapist is drunk, he is too mentally inebriated to know he did anything wrong.”

0. Not present 1. Present

Commentary on “He was intoxicated” (CMPINTOX): In any statement, did the journalist(s) comment on this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

Challenging “He was intoxicated” (CHPINTOX): In any statement, did the journalist(s) challenge this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting and paraphrasing.

0. No 1. Yes

Endorsing “He was intoxicated” (EPINTOX): In any statement, did the journalist(s) endorse this rape myth? Commentary excludes quoting, paraphrasing, graphic captions, and related articles.

0. No 1. Yes

Portrayal of the Assault Victim’s Injuries (VINJ): Does the article contain any statements on the injuries of the victim? 0. No 1. Yes

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

Athletic Career (ATHCAR): Does the article contain any statement that highlights or discusses Turner’s athletic career?

0. No 1. Yes

Measures about Alcohol Mention of the Victim and Alcohol (VALC): Any mention of the victim drinking, the victim’s drinking behavior, or being intoxicated.

0. Not present 1. Present

Mention of the Perpetrator and Alcohol (PERPALC): Any mention of the perpetrator drinking, the perpetrator’s drinking behavior, or being intoxicated.

0. Not present 1. Present

Reckless Behavior While Drinking for the Victim (VRECK): Any mention of the victim being criticized for engaging in irresponsible, careless behavior due to drinking alcohol.

0. Not present 1. Present

Reckless Behavior While Drinking for the Perpetrator (PERPRECK): Any mention of the perpetrator being criticized for engaging in irresponsible, careless behavior due to drinking alcohol.

0. Not present 1. Present

Alcohol Ruined the Victim’s Life (ALRUINV): Any mention of the victim’s life being damaged or negatively impacted due to the influence of alcohol.

0. Not present 1. Present

Alcohol Ruined the Perpetrator’s Life (ALRUINPERP): Any mention of the perpetrator’s life being damaged or negatively impacted due to the influence of alcohol.

0. Not present 1. Present

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

Labels About the Victim Woman (WOMAN): The victim was referred to as “woman.” This includes any variation in which an adjective is included, excluding “unconscious”. For example: The intoxicated woman was found behind a Dumpster.

0. Not present 1. Present

Unconscious (UNCON): The victim was referred to as “unconscious.” This includes any variation in which an adjective is included. For example: The unconscious intoxicated woman was found behind a Dumpster.

0. Not present 1. Present

Accuser (ACCU): The victim was referred to as the accuser. This includes any variation in which an adjective is included, excluding alleged. For example: The accuser was found unconscious by two witnesses.

0. Not present 1. Present

Alleged Accuser (ALGACU): The victim was referred to as the alleged accuser. This includes any variation in which an adjective is included. For example: The alleged accuser was found unconscious by two witnesses.

0. Not present 1. Present

Victim (VICTIM): The victim was referred to as the victim. This includes any variation in which an adjective is included, excluding alleged. For example: The victim as found unconscious by two witnesses.

0. Not present 1. Present

Alleged Victim (ALGVIC): The victim was referred to as the alleged victim. This includes any variation in which an adjective is included. For example: The alleged victim was found unconscious by two witnesses.

0. Not present 1. Present

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

Survivor (SURVIVOR): The victim was referred to as the survivor. This includes any variation in which an adjective is included. For example: The survivor was found unconscious by two witnesses.

0. Not present 1. Present

Emily Doe (DOE): The victim was referred to as Emily Doe. This also includes Jane Doe, or any other anonymous name and in addition to adjectives. For example: Emily Doe was found unconscious by two witnesses.

0. Not present 1. Present

Labels About the Perpetrator Stanford (STANFORD): The perpetrator was referred to a label using the adjective “Stanford.” This includes any variation in which an adjective is included with “Stanford.” For example: All-star Stanford Swimmer was arrested.

0. Not present 1. Present

Swimmer (SWIM): The perpetrator was referred to as “swimmer.” This includes any variation in which an adjective is included. This excludes “Stanford swimmer.” For example: All-star swimmer accused of sexual assault.

0. Not present 1. Present

Athlete (ATH): The perpetrator was referred to as an athlete. This includes any variation in which an adjective is included. This excludes “swimmer” and “Stanford athlete.” For example: Former athlete Brock Turner was arrested.

0. Not present 1. Present

Offender (OFF): The perpetrator was referred to as an offender. This includes any variation in which an adjective is included. This excludes “Stanford offender.” For example: The white offender was arrested.

0. Not present 1. Present

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

Perpetrator (PERP): The perpetrator was referred to as the perpetrator. This includes any variation in which an adjective is included. This excludes “Stanford perpetrator.” For example: The perpetrator was found guilty of three sexual assault charges.

0. Not present 1. Present

Defendant (DEF): The perpetrator was referred to as the defendant. This includes any variation in which an adjective is included. This excludes “Stanford defendant.” For example: The defendant was found guilty of three sexual assault charges.

0. Not present 1. Present

Brock Turner (TURNER): The perpetrator was referred to as Brock Turner. This also includes Brock, Turner, Mr. Turner, Mr. Brock Turner, and Mr. Brock in addition to adjectives. For example: Turner was found guilty of three sexual assault charges.

0. Not present 1. Present

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

Table 1. Prevalence of Rape Myths Across All Articles

Variable Frequency Percent Victim She’s lying 9 18% She wanted it 8 16% Rape is insignificant 27 54% She was intoxicated 8 16% Perpetrator He’s not that type of guy 17 34% He didn’t mean to 4 8% The conviction will ruin his life 6 12% He was intoxicated 7 14% Note: N=50 Articles

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

Table 2. Measures of Portrayal Across All Articles Variable Frequency Percent Portrayal of the Assault Turner’s Athletic Career 19 38% Doe’s Injuries 5 10% Measures of Alcohol Victim’s Intoxication 19 38% Turner’s Intoxication 9 18% Victim’s Reckless 1 2% Intoxicated Behavior Labels About the Victim Unconscious 33 66% Victim 28 56% Woman 25 50% Alleged Victim 3 6% Survivor 1 2% Labels About the Perpetrator Turner 50 100% Stanford 41 82% Swimmer 11 22% Athlete 8 16% Defendant 10 20% Offender 3 6% Note: N=50 Articles

RAPE MYTHS IN THE NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF THE BROCK TURNER CASE

Table 3. Commentary on Rape Myths Across All Articles Variable Frequency Percent Victim Commentary Rape is insignificant 30 60% She was intoxicated 2 4% Challenge Rape is insignificant 21 42% She was intoxicated 1 2% Endorsement Rape is insignificant 1 2% Perpetrator Commentary He’s not that type of guy 4 8% He didn’t mean to 1 2% The conviction will ruin his life 2 4% He was intoxicated 1 2% Challenge He’s not that type of guy 3 6% He didn’t mean to 1 2% The conviction will ruin his life 1 2% Endorsement The conviction will ruin his life 1 2% Note: N=50 Articles