It's extremely difficult to define the level of detail that might be
acceptable in stories, particularly those involving sex crimes. The
line between prurient and pertinent, or revolting and relevant, can
shift depending of several factors.
In general, let's be guided by the philosophy that when stories
involve details that may be offensive because they're gory or sexual,
be only as specific as necessary.
The trick is defining "necessary."
Some factors to consider:
* How significant is the story? Is it a page 1 article involving
extraordinary circumstances or a routine, marginal brief? The more
important the story, perhaps the more specifics we owe readers.
* How pertinent is the possibly disturbing information? The mention
of semen in a rape case might be frivolous, offensive detail or a
necessity in a report on a trial hinging on DNA.
* Can we relate the gist of the information in a more delicate
manner? Try to isolate the most pertinent facts, then work to express
them in the sparest language possible. Often, the devil is in the
details. For example, in a story about a roundup of men who have
solicited prostitutes, they may have asked for oral sex, but it
probably would suffice to report that they asked for sex. Why do
readers need to know the difference? How a child was raped is
generally secondary to the fact of the rape. Does the method add
significantly to the story?
* Do readers need to understand how appalling the event was?
Sometimes we want readers to know about an event in its horrible
reality, not in some sanitized abstraction. Still, there are many
ways to describe the same circumstances. We could say an auto
accident victim's head was torn from his body, that he was
decapitated, that he died of massive head and neck injuries, or that
he simply was killed. We could say it in the headline, in the second
graph or weave it in 12 graphs down.
* Can we explain our decision? If a family member of someone involved
in the story called to wonder why we included graphic details, what
would our response be? Would it sound reasonable?
As in all difficult leave-it-in/take-it-out decisions, those
involving graphic details should not be make in isolation. Talk to an
editor.
