What Journalists Should Remember When Covering Hate Crimes
Hate crimes are a sad reality that have far too narrow a legal definition and a far too broad suspected execution around the world. Hate crimes are on the rise in the United States, with a particularly large 339 percent increase in anti-Asian hate crimes across the nation. With some lawmakers now making comments meant to incite violence against minority communities, covering the scope and breadth of what makes a hate crime happen can be pretty daunting.
How can one start?
Here are some valuable tips.
LOOK UP THE STATE’S HATE CRIME LAWS, CHECK OUT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S
Be prepared to compare and contrast them and their respective histories. Over time, states and the federal government have updated their respective laws to include or disinclude attacks against communities as a “hate crime.” Many laws will also have differing statutes on what constitutes an attack and the burden of proof around “bias,” the underpinning offense that distinguishes a hate crime from a “simple” assault.
CHECK OUT THE SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER’S “HATE MAP”
The Southern Poverty Law Center classifies quite a few groups that identify everything from religious groups to country clubs as “hate groups” based on their actions, donations, public statements, and other available evidence. Hate crimes don’t happen in isolation; geographically, some of these hate groups occupy huge swaths of space.
COMMUNITY IMPACT IS WHERE THE PUBLIC’S EYES NEED TO BE
Hate crimes don’t just affect the victim, they affect the victim’s loved ones and all of the people around them. And remember: Marginalized communities do not need to be told by the district attorney that the offense is or is not a hate crime—and should be informed on whether or not the offense is being investigated as one. In this case, the journalist can be a tool to help the community push for the justice they deserve.
IF YOU KEEP SHOWING UP, SO WILL SOURCES
The breaking news story isn’t the end of the community’s struggle to get truth or justice for a crime. It’s only the beginning. People who have been through trauma most often won’t trust people outside the community, including journalists, unless that person keeps showing up and reporting even after the original breaking news item.
We forget that someone who has been through an extreme experience with hate when they’re speaking with you, it might only be their first or second time they’re opening up about it,” says Tara Rosenblum, an award-winning senior investigative reporter for the News 12 Network.
She adds:
“Realize that people express pain and trauma … in so many ways beyond words. They express it through art, through poetry, through music … There’s tentacles to trauma, and it’s not always going to be in the most obvious verbal forms during an interview.”
FOLLOW THROUGH WITH THE COMMUNITY
Most marginalized communities are used to not having their voices heard and suffering unimaginable pain and sorrow at the hands of an unforgiving system that aids and abeds the people who want to hurt them. Continuing to report with and elevate voices in the community will build valuable trust with that community.
Hate crimes are an awful topic for anyone. They tend to be vicious and brutal and they expose the greater inequities and underbellies of the society we live in—tensions always running below the surface but stoked by other powers at work. In order to heal communities and reduce hate crimes, journalists can continue to report the truth and take responsibility for how intersectional truth actually is when engaged in our line of work.
