*Anita Bennett’s compelling new story for The Wrap explores the increase in street harassment reporters face while covering stories in public. Specifically, the piece covers the disturbing trend involving hecklers running up and grabbing microphones from reporters and yelling the infamous phrase “F-–k her right in the pu-–y” into the camera.
“It’s a brand of harassment I was not expecting when I chose this profession,” NBC4 Southern California reporter Beverly White tells TheWrap. “The acronym ‘F her in the P’ is constant. Total strangers, typically young men, shout that profanity like they have a right, and I beg to differ. It is deeply offensive and it’s infuriating.”
The first known incident of the obscene interruption was said by a heckler during a live broadcast in Cincinnati, Ohio. The footage went viral, but the stunt turned out to be a hoax. Still, the copycat incidents started to gain notoriety in May 2014.
“Sometimes it just blows your train of thought,” White explained. “We’re accustomed to disruptions, helicopters flying overhead, barking dogs, sirens, those disruptions come with the territory. But this level of again, profanity, directed at mostly female correspondents, in the presence of a camera, is so upsetting.”
According to experts, the problem stems from a generation of young men who grew up consuming prank-based shows like “Jackass” and “Punk’d” and feel compelled to act out in public and film themselves for social media amusement.
“It’s really indicative of the misogyny and extreme sexism that’s out there in our society,” Elisa Lees Munoz, executive director of The International Women’s Media Foundation said. “It’s infuriating that there are people out there using gender-based acts to stop women from performing their professional activity.”
While the insults are usually hurled at female reporters, women are not the sole targets.
Check out Anita Bennett’s full report at TheWrap and watch her interview below with Beverly White.
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