Five Things 'Nightline' Could Have Done Better In Its Special On Transgender Children
By Zack Ford on Sep 1, 2011 at 11:00 am
http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2011/09/01/309882/five-things-nightline-could-have-done-better-in-its-special-on-transgender-children/ (http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2011/09/01/309882/five-things-nightline-could-have-done-better-in-its-special-on-transgender-children/)
Last night, ABC's Primetime Nightline ran an hour-long special on transgender identities, focusing in particular on the experiences of transgender young people. Overall, the special was positive and affirming, but it also fell into some journalistic traps and missed some important opportunities to highlight challenges the transgender community faces. Here are five critiques of last night's special:
1. FALSE BALANCE: One of the five segments focused on an adult individual named Charles Kane, who transitioned to female and then back to male. Claiming that he regrets his transition, he had disparaging things to say about the transgender experience, including calling puberty blockers for young trans people "brainwashing." His experiences are unfortunate, but not representative, and he has absolutely no expertise in transgender health to be critiquing other people's transitions. His inclusion was unnecessary, irrelevant, and represented false balance .