The Tweeting of a Brothel Raid – Who Benefits?

Nick Kristof, the multi-award winning New York Times journalist, recently live tweeted a raid on a Cambodian brothel. This has raised a large number of ethical issues regarding the benefits of this type of reporting. It is essential that good media reporting is of benefit to society and this is why the media can be so important. So who benefited from this?

The women in the brothel. It is unlikely that these women benefitted. It is hoped that this raid would have taken place with or without Kristof’s live tweeting of the situation. However, there is an argument to say that the Cambodian officials may have acted more professionally with the eyes of an American reporter watching. It was the observing of the raid rather than the reporting of it on Twitter that may have indirectly benefited the girls but this is only a slight benefit, if any.

Other women in other brothels in Cambodia. It is extremely unlikely to be of benefit to these women. One of the most powerful uses of investigative reporting should be to give those who are in a similar position the knowledge that they are not alone in their suffering and to empower them to escape their damaging situations. Only around 0.5% of Cambodians can be described as regular internet users, according to the CIA World Factbook and it is extremely unlikely that any of these women in brothels are followers of Nick Kristof on Twitter! These people do not benefit from this type of reporting and neither does anyone else within Cambodia as it is, simply, not accessed by them.

The Wider Community. In-depth reporting of the incident that Mr Kristof described, if written intelligently and with a certain degree of perspective, could help to educate the wider community both in Cambodia and in the rest of the world. By raising awareness amongst everyone of these practices in a balanced and sensitive manner, everyone can benefit. However, live tweeting does not do this. The best case scenario is that someone on Twitter will read these tweets and this will spark an interest leading them to read more widely on the subject. Just reading tweets that say things like ‘Girls are rescued, but still very scared. Youngest looks about 13, trafficked from Vietnam’ does not add enough to people’s knowledge of the situation for it to be beneficial.

The Reporter. The increased twitter following and the rewarding pat on the back for doing something that seems to many at first glance as a positive thing will only increase the author’s reputation with no thought for the damaging effect or lack of effect that this reporting may have.

Is this an unfair portrayal of the situation? Who do you think benefits from this type of reporting?

Source: Storify