A gang rape in Pakistan: analyzing international news coverage through the lens of ethics

Abstract

In the summer of 2002, Mukhtar Mai was gang raped by four men in revenge for a crime her 12-year old brother was accused of. She became the first person in her country to put the tribal system of justice on trial and win. The international media took great interest in the case, but the media only focused on one side of the story. This study analyzes the international media coverage of the Mukhtar Mai rape case by reviewing the content of more than 100 published articles and wire stories. This study uses the Mukhtar Mai case to illustrate the repercussions of deviating from basic principles of journalistic ethics as presented in ethics codes observed by professional newspeople in the United States and in other countries that honor Western ideas of press freedom and responsibility.