An email sent to a news outlet in NZ re: Canadian Shooter

[2021x]

I sent this email to a news outlet in NZ when reporting the recent Canadian shooter.

I would be keen to know how many people feel that I am being unreasonable.

I’m writing to seek clarification on Stuff’s editorial guidelines regarding the use of female pronouns to describe a male assailant.

I became confused when reading this article: https://www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/360937660/canada-shooting-who-was-shooter-suspect-jesse-van-rootselaar. The use of “her” pronouns, alongside a photo of a male person and references to the shooter’s mother, made it difficult to understand who the “her” in those paragraphs was referring to. Female school shooters are extremely rare and therefore, the pronoun choice stood out and created uncertainty about the factual details of the case.

My understanding is that news reporting should prioritise clarity and factual accuracy- especially for such a tragic event. Using female pronouns to describe someone who is male may suggest an ideological or political framing, which raises concerns for me about impartiality in reporting at Stuff.

I’m aware that raising questions about pronoun usage can sometimes lead to assumptions about a person’s views, resulting in my concerns being dismissed as bigoted rather than considered on their merits. My intention is not to be inflammatory, but to understand why a political stance appears to have been taken in a situation where a neutral approach—such as using the individual’s name or simply “the shooter”—could have avoided confusion and not detracted from the article.

I would appreciate clarification on the editorial reasoning behind this choice.

No, I don’t fully agree with your statement as written. I have a more nuanced opinion.

Do I think that cisgender men belong in female spaces? No. Straight, cisgender men are statistically the highest risk group for women in terms of violence and sexual assault.

Do I believe that trans women, non-binary, etc belong in female spaces? Generally, sure, if that’s what they want. It makes no difference to me. The only thing I think needs some guardrails are in certain competitive sports, or sports where someone with male hormones through puberty would have much more muscle mass and could cause unavoidable injury, etc, Although this is not a simple thing either and needs nuance, as I suspect that many of the specific cases that come to mind were likely people who were born intersex, not “men pretending to be women”.

It makes no difference to you, but you can't imagine why it would to other women and girls?

It's such a frightening lack of empathy.

Because it’s not actually him is it now he identifies as her! If the news article is going to report the shooter as a trans woman then show the up to date photo of said woman and not one taken bloody years ago as said boy ! That OK with you ?

Like commenting on a website, on a topic that you feel is so unimportant?
Pot, kettle…

Nope just google the name and you’ll see her photo

Most mass shooters in these kind of cases in schools reported over the years are male (not sure if I’ve ever seen a female) so be transparent in showing a woman

It’s not actually him? He’s a completely different person? Or do we just have to believe that? If The Rock decides he’s a woman now, does that mean all previous photos are no longer him?

This thread is specifically about news coverage in New Zealand. Others are available or there is always the option to start one.

There are no figures that I know of apart from prison figures that explore how many trans people commit violent crimes, so you’re not in a position to make that statement. And the prison figures are not favourable to your worldview. As things stand, given that a “trans woman” is any man who says he is a woman, there is zero reason to believe that they don’t pose as much statistical risk to women as any other man.

Its important to know that a picture of male attempting to look like a female look like a male trying to look like a female.

Males with severe gender dysphoria who take passing seriously- spend huge amounts of money and use heavy filters online and after even after decades they still can’t pull it off.

My point is that even they had an updated photo, it still would have been confusing to use the pronoun “her” when describing a male. It will always be confusing and a national news outlet should take that into account.

This is where I disagree.

Female only spaces exist for the privacy and safety of females because there is a risk that some males will take advantage and assault them.

There is no evidence that TW or non-binary folks are any less dangerous than any other type of man.

Women have not been included about the use of their spaces for males. Even if some women don’t mind, they can’t consent on my behalf and I do it want any males in any female spaces.

Did you see that one of the media outlets in Canada changed the appearance of the killer to make him look more feminine?

And the BBC is still calling him 'female'

That's exactly the be kind messaging the killer's mother had been saying for the last few years.

He murdered her first.

Yep. Poor cow. Feeding their delusion may make you feel warm and fuzzy, but it isn't helping them, nor is it going to save you.

Personally I am broadly on your side (OP) about this stuff. It's very relevant that the shooter is male. I do find your email disingenuous though. You weren't confused at all you just disagree with them using his preferred pronouns. The article is very clear that he was male. Complaining they use female pronouns for trans women is a valid complaint - why pretend you're complaining about something else?

Honestly can’t remember where I first read about this. Probably BBC but not definitely. However, the report was about a suspect dressed in female clothing. To me it was clear from the start that it was likely a male who was transitioning.

It’s utterly chilling, put like that, isn’t it.

There are certainly very few but there have been at least a couple in recent years.
December 2024 — Abundant Life Christian School Natalie "Samantha" Rupnow, killed 2 people and injured 6 others before killing herself

March 2023 — The Covenant School Audrey Hale (biological female, identified as transgender FTM using he/him pronouns.) Killed 6 people (3 children and 3 adults).

Yes, and in 2019 Alec (Maya) McKinney together with a boy, Devon Erickson.

In the first paragraph they use “her” a couple of times before clariying that the shooter was male who was transitioning. Then later on in the article they use the mothers online posts as ”he like guns”.

When I was reading it this morning I was confused about whether they were talking about the same person or whether the “her” was the teenage mother and I had to read it several times to understand they were using -what they must have assumed- to be the preferred pronouns.

They could have just used “the shooter”
and state that the shooter was in the process of transitioning. They chose to use her.

I also think “I don’t like Mondays” shooting was a female.

I would also say that I feel it promotes a political perspective, because there are societal changes that requires laws and lobbying to take affects

Therefore the queer theory and ideology are being implemented rather than remaining theories.

You weren’t confused OP clearly.

You have too much time on your hands.

Thank you for your opinion.

Have a nice day.