View all newsletters
Sign up to our newsletters

Support 110 years of independent journalism.

17 March 2011updated 17 Jan 2012 5:01am

A step forward for privacy and dignity

Channel 4 launches a significant memorandum of understanding.

By David Allen Green

Earlier this week, Channel 4 hosted the launch of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which it has entered into with Trans Media Watch, an organisation set up to combat prejudiced, sensationalist, and inaccurate depictions of transgender people in the media. The MoU is a practical and constructive attempt to improve the depictions of transgender people. I was honoured to be invited to speak at this launch, alongside Lynne Featherstone MP, the excellent Lib Dem equalities minister.

But why is this important to anyone else, other than transgender people? Why have the presence of the equalities minister and a media lawyer? The reason is that the adverse treatment of transgender people by mainstream print and broadcast media has long been a scandal. Private citizens, who have made no effort to be public figures, are often suddenly subjected to humiliating features and commentary. Tabloids often carry stories involving transgender people, usually with “before and after” pictures, for no reason other than to try and entertain their readers. Television programmes commonly use transgendered people as figures of fun or ridicule.

This treatment of transgender people is thereby not a marginal issue; it is instead a general issue about media standards and the privacy of the individual. Transgender people may be undergoing intimate bodily surgery, but one would not for a moment expect others going under similarly intimate surgery to be the subject of sensationalist tabloid stories and distorted representations. Transgender people may also be negotiating sensitive relationships with family, friends and work; they may also be having counselling and have vulnerable mental states during their period of intense change; and so the last thing which they need or can cope with is sudden national exposure and sneering copy from some tabloid hack.

There is no good reason why any event becomes newsworthy just because someone involved happens to be transgendered. There is no good reason why those who happen to be going through this undoubtedly difficult process of transition and self-realisation should have their privacy and dignity attacked by any form of media.

Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com Our Thursday ideas newsletter, delving into philosophy, criticism, and intellectual history. The best way to sign up for The Salvo is via thesalvo.substack.com Stay up to date with NS events, subscription offers & updates. Weekly analysis of the shift to a new economy from the New Statesman's Spotlight on Policy team. The best way to sign up for The Green Transition is via spotlightonpolicy.substack.com
  • Administration / Office
  • Arts and Culture
  • Board Member
  • Business / Corporate Services
  • Client / Customer Services
  • Communications
  • Construction, Works, Engineering
  • Education, Curriculum and Teaching
  • Environment, Conservation and NRM
  • Facility / Grounds Management and Maintenance
  • Finance Management
  • Health - Medical and Nursing Management
  • HR, Training and Organisational Development
  • Information and Communications Technology
  • Information Services, Statistics, Records, Archives
  • Infrastructure Management - Transport, Utilities
  • Legal Officers and Practitioners
  • Librarians and Library Management
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • OH&S, Risk Management
  • Operations Management
  • Planning, Policy, Strategy
  • Printing, Design, Publishing, Web
  • Projects, Programs and Advisors
  • Property, Assets and Fleet Management
  • Public Relations and Media
  • Purchasing and Procurement
  • Quality Management
  • Science and Technical Research and Development
  • Security and Law Enforcement
  • Service Delivery
  • Sport and Recreation
  • Travel, Accommodation, Tourism
  • Wellbeing, Community / Social Services
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU

The MoU between Trans Media Watch and Channel 4 may be a small step; but it is nonetheless a step in the direction of a more liberal society where the autonomy of the individual is placed higher the needless and often spiteful interferences of the commercial media.

 

David Allen Green is legal correspondent of the New Statesman and a practising media lawyer

Content from our partners
The promise of prevention
How Labour hopes to make the UK a leader in green energy
Is now the time to rethink health and care for older people? With Age UK

Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com Our Thursday ideas newsletter, delving into philosophy, criticism, and intellectual history. The best way to sign up for The Salvo is via thesalvo.substack.com Stay up to date with NS events, subscription offers & updates. Weekly analysis of the shift to a new economy from the New Statesman's Spotlight on Policy team. The best way to sign up for The Green Transition is via spotlightonpolicy.substack.com
  • Administration / Office
  • Arts and Culture
  • Board Member
  • Business / Corporate Services
  • Client / Customer Services
  • Communications
  • Construction, Works, Engineering
  • Education, Curriculum and Teaching
  • Environment, Conservation and NRM
  • Facility / Grounds Management and Maintenance
  • Finance Management
  • Health - Medical and Nursing Management
  • HR, Training and Organisational Development
  • Information and Communications Technology
  • Information Services, Statistics, Records, Archives
  • Infrastructure Management - Transport, Utilities
  • Legal Officers and Practitioners
  • Librarians and Library Management
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • OH&S, Risk Management
  • Operations Management
  • Planning, Policy, Strategy
  • Printing, Design, Publishing, Web
  • Projects, Programs and Advisors
  • Property, Assets and Fleet Management
  • Public Relations and Media
  • Purchasing and Procurement
  • Quality Management
  • Science and Technical Research and Development
  • Security and Law Enforcement
  • Service Delivery
  • Sport and Recreation
  • Travel, Accommodation, Tourism
  • Wellbeing, Community / Social Services
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU