An Exchange with Walter Robinson, Editor of the Spotlight Series on the Scandal in the Church.

"Spotlight Team Puts Female Victims on Its "To-Do List," 11/15/02

"Flood the Zone with Innuendo: Walter V. Robinson's Approach to the News," 9/05

Posted on 11/20/02

Last month, after it began to seem that the Spotlight Team would never do a piece on female victims, I wrote to Spotlight reporters to point out that they had been missing one-third to one-half of the story on clergy sexual abuse.  Meanwhile, Bella English, a Globe reporter who is not a member of the Spotlight Team, had independently begun to search out contacts for a story on female survivors.  After a back and forth which is included below, Robinson agreed to allow English to do the story.  Then, even though English had started interviewing female victims, Robinson suddenly stopped her in her tracks and gave the story to Sacha Pfeiffer, a member of the Spotlight Team.

For some reason, Robinson did not inform the survivors on English's list of his decision.  If he had, he would have saved everyone a great deal of trouble because all of the survivors on the list refused to speak with any member of the Spotlight Team.  After all, since most of us had already spoken to Spotlight reporters, and our stories had been rudely rejected as not credible or not newsworthy, it hardly made sense to put ourselves through the distressful ordeal of speaking with them again.

Admittedly, Ann Hagan Webb, the Co-Director of New England SNAP, the largest survivors' group in Massachusetts, did not rise to the Spotlight Team's requirements for investigative reporting.  Unlike the other survivors on the list, she did not call the Globe.  To excuse herself, Webb has pointed out that she has been too busy taking calls from the media to contact the Spotlight Team.

We have asked Robinson to allow English to continue her work, but he has not replied.  Consequently, Pfeiffer is probably scrambling to find alternative contacts.  If she manages to find any, the publication of the story will be both unfortunate and ironic: unfortunate because it will illustrate the Spotlight Team's indifference to victims' wishes, and ironic because finding alternative contacts will belie the Spotlight Team's previous inability to identify credible women who were victimized as children.

> Dear Ms. Gallagher,
>
> I'm a little taken aback by your complaint. We have never reported that the
> vast majority of victims are male. We have written about women victims,
> though it is well-known that women are less willing to come forward than
> men.
>
> I would be happy to discuss this with you, though I am not happy with your
> very unkind remarks. The plain fact is that next week will mark 15 months
> of work by us on this issue. And all along, it has been about the victims;
> it is they that keep us motivated and involved.
>
> Please call me if you like.
>
>
> Walter V. Robinson
> The Boston Globe
> Boston MA 02107-2378
> telephone: (617) 929-3048
> facsimile:    (617) 929-2016

For a different view of the Spotlight Team's failure to report on female victims, see Christine Chinlund's emailed response to our complaints.

For a another take on Robinson's concern for victims, see Gary Bergeron's letter to the Globe about the Spotlight Team's decision to crash the private meeting between the Birmingham victims and Cardinal Law.

Click here to see published letters to the editor related to the Globe's failure to report on female victims of sexual abuse.

> Dear Walter Robinson,
>
> Here's one example of a Globe story that directly contradicts your
> assertions.  However, even though the Globe has  reported that the vast
> majority of victims are boys, I may be wrong that you have never reported on
> any woman who was victimized as a child.
>
>  If you could provide an example of a story about a female victim, I would
> be grateful.  None of the victims I've spoken with--male and female--can
> recall a single one.  Also, I've searched your data base and so far haven't
> found any.
>
> Finally, you should know that the female victims who show up at SNAP usually
> come despite the impression created by the Globe that all victims are boys.
> In fact, I am surprised at your surprise at hearing this complaint since it
> is voiced all the time among SNAP members and by members of other survivors'
> groups.
>
> If we are wrong, we would certainly appreciate being corrected.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Susan Gallagher
 

Attachment: http://www.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/stories/031702_adolescents.htm

Also see: http://www.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/stories3/110602_ban.htm

> I'd suggest that you take another look at the article you sent me. It does
> not say that at all. It is an article by our religion writer, citing
> specialists in the field, and reporting on the overwhelming majority of
> priests, not victims.
>
> As I said, if you would like to talk about this, you are welcome to call.
> We have published more than 600 news articles since January. If you want to
> research them all, feel free to do so.
>
> Walter V. Robinson
> The Boston Globe
> Boston MA 02107-2378
> telephone: (617) 929-3048
> facsimile:    (617) 929-2016
>