Readers need the truth, not sensationalism
In 2014, before I wrote my first report on autism as a young reporter, one of the questions I asked in preparing it was whether there were any links between the developmental disorder and high intelligence.
I almost started the story by referring to one autistic “genius” in particular, until my tutor, a senior editor in the China Daily office with 30 years’ experience, stopped me.
“You can try catching people’s attention, but not in this way”, he told me in a low but firm voice, adding, “It is not fair on the patients.”
Seven years have passed since my story appeared and I now think his words have sunk in.
It is easy to obtain more readers’ clicks by highlighting sensational aspects in a story, but in doing so journalists risk misleading people into believing that such points are the main consideration. For autistic patients in general, this means they will lose much-needed public attention.
The problem is that many journalists do not seem to understand this. Numerous online reports about autism link it to “geniuses” or high intelligence. Journalists have every motivation to do so because such stories get more clicks.
If they focused on just one autistic “genius” among 10,000 people who have the disorder, this would clearly be bad news for the remaining 9,999.
The public would mistake them for being geniuses, too, and would be disappointed on finding that they were not.
After reading such reports, the parents of autistic children might hesitate in sending them to a doctor, losing an opportunity to give their offspring the help they deserve.
Donations, favorable policies and prompt medical treatment are required for children with autism. Without having the requisite knowledge, teachers might think that such students are being disobedient.
We need to tell the public more about those with autism — how they live, how much help they require and what needs to be done to enable them to lead lives that are as normal as possible.
The truth might not be what people want to hear, but it’s our job as journalists to bring it to them.