Insensitive—again

JEERS TO several news organizations for their insensitive treatment of the coming out story of American Olympic champion Caitlyn Jenner, formerly known as Bruce Jenner.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer published online on June 2 an Associated Press (AP) report on Caitlyn Jenner’s debut as a transgender woman on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine with the headline: “Kim Kardashian’s ‘dad’ now a ‘mom.’” Kardashian is a reality television program star and Jenner’s step daughter by former wife Kris Jenner.

AP’s headline read: “Bruce Jenner completes transition to Caitlyn in Vanity Fair” (http://bigstory.ap.org/article/f79d0c67a57d48dfb2fe145cef98ef63/trans-woman-bruce-jenner-debuts-caitlyn-vanity-fair)

After netizens hit the newspaper for oversimplifying Jenner’s transitioning and putting her in the shadow of her step daughter’s fame, the Inquirer changed its headline to “Olympic great Bruce Jenner: Call me Caitlyn.” This was published in the June 3 newspaper but the previous headline is still reflected in the URL of the online post. (http://entertainment.inquirer.net/171552/kim-kardashians-dad-now-a-mom)

Twitter user Kim Patria (@kimpatria) first tagged the Center for Media Freedom & Responsibility (CMFR) about the Inquirer headline (https://twitter.com/kimpatria/status/605683244894289920). Inquirer’s twitter account responded and said: @kimpatria @cmfr Thanks for the feedback, Kim. Looping in @NenyP, Readers’ Advocate. (https://twitter.com/inquirerdotnet/status/605689137895587840)

The stories which were published in Philippine broadsheets were mostly from such news agencies as AP, Agence France Presse (AFP) and Reuters. Below are the headlines of the newspapers which published stories about Jenner’s debut as a transgender woman:

• Philippine Star: “Caitlyn Jenner, formerly Bruce, introduces herself in Vanity Fair”
• Manila Bulletin: “Jenner debuts post-Bruce look, breaks Twitter record”
• The Manila Times: “From poster boy to cover girl”
• Malaya Business Insight: “Jenner reveals new name Caitlyn, breaks Twitter record”
• BusinessWorld: “Jenner debuts new look, breaks Twitter record”

CMFR also looked at how 24 Oras, Aksyon, Network News and TV Patrol reported on Jenner in their June 2 newscasts.

GMA 7’s 24 Oras ran four teasers with the same Inquirer treatment: Jenner as Kardashian’s “stepfather”. The teasers also treated Jenner as a glamorous magazine cover girl.

The 24 Oras report lead in was: “Bruskong Olympic champion noon, cover girl na ngayon. Yan ang big twist sa buhay ng dating stepdad ng Kardashian sisters na si Bruce Jenner. Kilalanin natin ang bago nyang katauhan sa Chika ni Nelson Canlas.”

While their report lead was: “Usap-usapan ang July cover ng Vanity Fair magazine. Sexy yet classy ang tampok na celebrity. Pero aakalain nyo bang ang cover girl na yan ay ang dating bruskong si Bruce Jenner?”

Only 24 Oras ran several teasers among the primetime newscasts.

Meanwhile, TV Patrol’s lead tagged Caitlyn Jenner’s look as something surprising:

“Bumulaga sa cover ng Vanity Fair magazine ang bagong Bruce Jenner bilang transgender na si Caitlyn. Suot ang white corset, nakakagulat nga ang transpormasyon ng dating asawa ni Kris Kardashian at gold medalist sa decathlon ng 1976 Olympics.”

Aksyon had this for lead:

“Out na out na ang bagong katauhan ng stepdad nila Kim Kardashian. Hayan na po ang ex-olympian na ngayon ay si Caitlyn Jenner sa kanyang photo shoot para sa Vanity Fair magazine.”

Network News ran a CNN story by Randie Kaye.

Below are the headlines the newscasts used:

• Aksyon: “Stepdad nina Kim Kardashian ipinakilala na bilang si Caitlyn Jenner”
• Network News: “No more Bruce: Meet Caitlyn Jenner”
• TV Patrol: “Dating si Bruce Jenner, ipinakilala bilang si Caitlyn Jenner”
• 24 Oras: “Dating Olympian at stepdad ng Kardashian sisters na si Bruce Jenner, si Caitlyn na ngayon”

Some of the news reports highlighted Jenner’s Twitter account @Caitlyn_Jenner  as the fastest to reach one million followers.

Despite the treatment by the Inquirer and 24 Oras of Jenner’s story, they were the only ones which presented Jenner’s effect on the struggles of transgender women and men. The Inquirer published a separate AP report “Transgender movement looks to benefiting from Jenner’s shift” while the 24 Oras report had an interview clip of Drian Juarez, program manager with the Los Angeles LGBT center, on what Jenner’s story can do for the cause of transgender women and men.

GLAAD, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy group which was formed in the US as the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, has a tip sheet for the media on covering Jenner. This was also shared to CMFR by Patria, who objected to the Inquirer headline. (http://www.glaad.org/releases/glaad-responds-vanity-fair-cover-featuring-caitlyn-jenner-releases-updated-tip-sheet)

GLAAD has an extensive media reference guide on transgender issues which can be accessed here: http://www.glaad.org/reference/transgender.