Dr. Mary Lynn Young 

Dr. Young testified 29 & 30 October 2007 as a media expert. Young was also commissioned by the inquiry to research the inquiry’s data base of media coverage of Cornwall between 1986 and 2007

30 October 2007: Media Criticized Over Abuse Allegation Coverage 

 Media advisory - Expert to testify at Cornwall Public Inquiry on impact media coverage may have had on individuals, institutions

CORNWALL, ON, Oct. 26 /CNW Telbec/ - As part of the community context evidence currently being heard at the Cornwall Public Inquiry, a well-known media expert will provide insight into the impact media coverage may have had on the community and whether that coverage influenced institutional response to allegations of child sexual abuse.

The presentation of evidence by media expert Dr. Mary Lynn Young will be heard on Oct. 29 and 30. Rarely, if ever, has an analysis of the role of the media and its impact been presented as evidence at a public inquiry. The intent of Dr. Young's evidence is to assist in understanding the impact of media coverage and whether or not it was a factor in the responses of some individuals or institutions.

The Inquiry has been tasked with inquiring into and reporting on the institutional response of the justice system and other public institutions in relation to allegations of historical abuse of young people in the Cornwall area. Having nearly completed hearing testimony from witnesses who are victims or alleged victims of child sexual abuse, the Inquiry is now hearing community context evidence. Much of this form of evidence is provided by individuals who were not themselves victims of childhood sexual abuse, but who became involved in issues related to allegations of abuse. Some of the witnesses scheduled to appear have held to the view that there was disregard for - or suppression of - information regarding abuse of children and youth.

Dr. Young is the acting director and an associate professor at the University of British Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism. She is a former national business columnist for The Globe and Mail and, for a decade, was a reporter at a number of major metropolitan daily newspapers in Canada and the United States including The Globe and Mail, The Vancouver Sun, The Hamilton Spectator and The Houston Post. Dr. Young's research interests include the sociology of the newsroom, media representations of crime and the economy and media credibility. She is also an award-winning university educator, a public speaker on current media and policy issues and a media commentator.

Below is the complete witness list for the week of Oct. 29, 2007.

Hearings begin at 2 p.m., each Monday and 9:30 a.m. Tuesday to Thursday.

Please check the Inquiry website (www.cornwallinquiry.ca) weekly to ensure the dates have not changed:

    - Oct. 29-30       Dr. Mary Lynn Young (media expert)

    - Oct. 31            Dick Nadeau ODE (overview of documentary evidence)

                              Carmen Prégent

    - Nov. 1             Commissioner Julian Fantino

For further information: Joan Weinman, (613) 294-5679

Inquiry.ca note: Omitted – by accident or design – from the above inquiry media advisory is the fact that Dr. Mary Lynn Young has a decidedly feminist perspective on media coverage.

Young was instrumental in launching the Feminist Media Project, “a feminist intervention in media depictions of missing and murdered women, and the related trial of Robert Pickton in Vancouver, British Columbia.”  According to the referenced website Young’s academic interests include “developing a new and more feminist model of news.”