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People often blame the media for sensationalizing crime stories; what
they donˇ¦t realize is that the police often act as an accomplice in creating
such stories. In fact, the media could never have uncovered so many pieces
of sensational news without insider information provided by the police,
information that would help make live sensational broadcasting possible in the
first place.
The complicity between the police and the media has not
only sacrificed the suspects' right to privacy and their dignity, but has come
to affect the allocation of police force as well as their methods of
investigation. For instance, the
entrapment of overweight girls involved in enjo-kosai -- a Japanese term
referring to freelance prostitution by female students -- is more sensational
and brings in six times more merit than the arresting of common criminals that
might truly endanger the safety of our society.
As this kind of news is more likely to be widely reported, making the
police look efficient and effective, it encourages the police to target
marginal and stigmatized (e.g. fat or transgendered) populations for criminal
investigation so as to prepare more sensational news for the media.
The case is made clear in a recent scandal involving the Taipei police force.
In a routine obscenity sweep of the traditional red light district of
Taipei, the Juvenile Police Branch (JPB) of the Taipei City Police Department
arrested two street hookers, one of which turns out to be a hermaphrodite.
The police were thrilled to see their favorite kind of prey and quickly
informed the media. The media then had a field day with this case, but
unexpectedly, the arrested prostitute later claimed that she had been sexually
assaulted by a member of the police during interrogation.
Whether she was truly violated by a policeman or an informant who
happened to be at the police station remains to be seen.
Yet this case, coupled with an earlier case in which another
hermaphrodite was also outed and greatly hurt by the police-media
collaboration, highlight the plight of the differently-gendered in this
gossip-infested society.
In countries that uphold human rights, investigations of alleged crimes are
never made public until they formally enter the legal process.
That is to say, a case appears in front of the TV camera only when the
investigation has come to a definite closure and irrefutable evidence has been
collected. Thatˇ¦s why we only
see the suspects either in a courtroom setting or while they exit the
courthouse. And in the case of a
juvenile suspect, on-spot filming is replaced by sketching in order to protect
the suspect's right to privacy. After
all, he or she will remain a suspect, not a criminal, before a verdict is
officially reached through due legal process.
In Taiwan, however, the abuse of human rights during criminal investigations
is exemplified by the regular presence of the media at select police stations.
In fact, the media no longer make much effort searching for news; they
simply perch themselves in the police stations and wait for sensational news
to be brought home by the police. Even
if they are not around all the time, the police will contact them
spontaneously if some bizarre news should emerge.
As panic-filled images of suspects dodging the camera are narrated by
an emotional and sensational news broadcasting language, the people
ˇ§capturedˇ¨ by the camera and the police are often thought to be guilty of
the crime immediately. And the
police-media duo helps pass the verdict without a trial.
Such a method that ignores human rights and judicial justice is particularly
inimical for those on the fringe of society who are constantly being defamed.
A few days ago, a transgendered friend of mine was stopped by the
police for a random check when he was window-shopping in a dress.
The police asked for his ID card and entered his ID number into their
portable computer only to find that he has no criminal record.
Despite the fact that my friend has a decent job and had not committed
or attempted to commit any illegal acts while shopping -- the police
still threatened him that his basic data had been entered into police data
bank now and that they would inform the media to come and film him if he were
caught wearing a dress again.
This kind of case shows that the police are using possible media exposure to
threaten our transgendered friends to give up their right to use public space.
While the transgendered population cause no harm to others nor violate
others' rights or interests, their basic human rights are constantly trampled
by both the police and the media.
Not long ago, TV actor Jonathan Chen made the
headlines by visiting a shopping center in a dress at night.
This sensational news should have already increased the public's
initial awareness of transgendered people's right to their own choice of
clothing styles and their freedom of movement.
Still, the recent cases of transgendered people being
harassed/assaulted by the police as well as the media have made it clear that
the police are in great need of a (trans)gender education that surpasses the
narrow framework of two sexes -- so that they can appropriately handle cases
involving transgendered people. Furthermore,
government agencies and media monitoring organizations should look into the
complicity between the media and the police so as to root out such gross
violations of human rights by the media.
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