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Sexual Harassment Allegations Further Taint Media's Image, Observes Prof. Jeff McCall '76

Sexual Harassment Allegations Further Taint Media's Image, Observes Prof. Jeff McCall '76

November 22, 2017

"A wave of sexual harassment allegations is ripping through the White House press corps and broadcast networks, forcing a reckoning on sexism and power dynamics inside newsrooms at a time when the media's credibility is already under attack," begins an article in The Hill.  Jonathan Easley writes, "The cascade of claims of misconduct has opened the media to charges of hypocrisy as it covers allegations of sexual harassment and assault from Hollywood to Capitol Hill."

Jeffrey M. McCall, professor of communication at DePauw University, tells the newspaper of Capitol Hill, "The news media is supposed to be a surrogate for the public, and most Americans don't like the thought that our surrogates are living in and endorsing workplace environments in which sexual harassment now seems to be too common. Further complicating the media's image in mccall may242010all of this is the sanctimonious manner in which the media has covered sexual harassment in other corners of society."

The professor observes, "It is difficult for the news media to parade around as haughty overseers of right and wrong in broader contexts of society when they clearly have in-house confusion about first principles of decency."

Access the complete story here.

Jeff McCall, author of the book Viewer Discretion Advised: Taking Control of Mass Media Influences, is a former journalist and 1976 graduate of DePauw where he was a Rector Scholar and speech (communication) major and worked on student radio station WGRE, which he now serves as faculty adviser. McCall earned a master's degree from the University of Illinois and a Ph.D. from the University of Missouri.ectower dusk

The professor has been cited in stories by more than 100 American newspapers -- including the New York Times and Washington Post -- in articles covering media matters.  McCall recently wrote a column for The Hill on Megyn Kelly's new NBC program and his column on misunderstandings of the First Amendment appeared in newspapers across America.

Source: The Hill

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