Word choice key in covering sexual assault

“Rape” is not the same as “sexual assault,” as various media outlets were reminded — including the Globe and Mail, National Post and Ottawa Citizen — after they erroneously reported on a September 2007 incident at Carleton University. In the cover story for the Winter 2008 edition of Media Magazine, Kimberly Shearon reviews the lessons learned by the media, regarding the importance of both correcting errors and choosing words carefully.