On WAMU's The Kojo Nnamdi Show, Media Matters' Pam Vogel discusses the #MeToo movement and role the media plays

From the August 30 edition of WAMU's The Kojo Nnamdi Show​:

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KOJO NNAMDI (HOST): What if the person who was harmed has one idea of justice -- you mentioned the case of Louis CK who arguably prevented women from making an income for maybe years at a time -- how do you deal with that and at the same time, the public seems to have another view of restorative justice? Because it's my understanding that Louis CK received a standing ovation even before he performed when he showed up unexpectedly in this comedy club, and another standing ovation at the end of his performance. However, that was not quite the same response that we saw on social media to his performance. So how can those two ideas of justice be reconciled?

PAM VOGEL (MEDIA MATTERS FOR AMERICA): I think that's what is so interesting about the #MeToo conversations in general is that because we all exist in these oppressive structures, because so many people in the U.S. have experienced harm on some level that could be similar to what Louis CK did to these women or could be similar to some of the other cases we've seen being litigated, sometimes in actual courts but also in newspapers and also on social media. There's a tendency to almost project -- we don't have the vocabulary to talk about every specific instance as clearly and precisely as we probably should in order to understand what that means for each one of us as individuals. But I think that's part of why that public reaction can be so different from the reaction of someone in the audience. And I also think that's something that media plays a really helpful role in because some people who were in the audience for that standup show talked to reporters and they described an actually, a slightly different version of that experience, which was that there were a lot of women in the audience who felt really uncomfortable. And I think being able to add those details and talk to more people, and help us understand the context of any specific case like that, it also, it can help us to have a stronger understanding of where to go from here, and also help us to strengthen our own internal moral guidance about how we feel. 

To listen to the full interview, click HERE. 

Previously

Who gets the luxury of a media comeback?

How news outlets have treated reports of sexual harassment in their own newsrooms

Video: Coverage of #MeToo must include marginalized voices