BBC news reports

[Notmyrealname85]

On radio 4 this morning, a reporter said of the embassy worker’s murder in Beirut “do we think this is a politically motivated murder or just a murder and rape”. You could hear as he ended the sentence that he knew he’d messed this up but it really stuck out all morning - that the reporters were so excited to report what could be a political event and forget that someone has lost their life in terrible circumstances, that a person’s rape and murder is ever a “just”

Not sure why I’m posting, just saddened me so much

Wow, that's awful. I can see that it was a mistake, but I totally agree with you.

But then I have to do a review, sometimes by video - but when I have to word things carefully I do a written review as it's so easy to say something in a way that comes across in a way that was unintended. But I'm not a professional! Well, not in that field anyway. They don't have that option.

Very sad, I hope none of her friends and family heard it.

Horrible turn of phrase. Violence against women is just normal, not of interest or newsworthy it seems. So sad for this young woman and her family.

The thing is, the sentence would have made perfect sense if he had ended it at "Do we think that this is a politically motivated murder?".

Stupid phrasing, poor woman.

I see he totally made a mistake and really didn’t mean to phrase it like that, but ultimately it seemed to be what he really meant.

It made an interesting insight into the general problem of this sort of low-key, harder to spot sexism? Like a seemingly educated BBC man thinks rape and murder less notable, and particularly not as “exciting” as if it’d been politically motivated. He was all geared up for a “big story” and instead they realised this is “just” a rape and murder and have now categorised it as such.

Makes me realise - different context but... when there are reports of war, it’s the “big story” stuff that gets headlines, the power plays. Which general did what, which politician said what - any rape used as warfare for example, any other violence against civilians (not just women), it’s just not exciting to the news guys. There are no repercussions for those crimes, no big court cases the reporters can say clever sound bites over, no grandstanding about the fall of a general or despot, and so the reporters seem to care less. One murder, one life lost, means less than a power play - it’s like it’s less real to them, like a game of soldiers

But in this context the reporter realised it seemed crass, but he meant it all the same and no one else on the programme pulled him up on it

(Eg the Congolese rape trials being so notable, because a conviction is so rare)

YANBU. Makes it sound like "oh, just another murder and rape, we have those at home all the time. What's the big deal" kind of thing.