By Erika Pepe and Noah Brennan
Content Warning: Mentions of murder and discussions of mental health.
Case Description
In March of 2022, 26-year-old Michael John Adenyi was charged with first degree murder after allegedly killing Vanessa Ladouceur as she walked to work one morning in Calgary. After Adenyi was charged, his lawyers requested a psychological assessment to determine their client’s eligibility for NCR, or “Not Criminally Responsible.”
This designation under Section 16 of the Criminal Code states that an accused is not criminally responsible for committing a crime if they were experiencing a mental disorder at the time, and that made it impossible to understand the morality of their actions.[1]
If found NCR, Adenyi would not be tried in a court of law for Ladouceur’s murder and instead would be sent to a mental facility for treatment. In an article produced by CBC Calgary, the incident is outlined alongside schizophrenia speculations that bring into question the ethics of framing mental illness and violence in the media, and a clear and problematic link between the two.[2]
Critical Analysis of Ethical Issues Involved
The first ethical issue with this story is the direct link drawn between individuals with mental illness and their dangerous natures, thereby forming a dichotomy of a non-violent, normal group against the ill, threatening other.[3] At the time of the article Adenyi had not been officially diagnosed with a mental illness, and yet the first two words of the headline immediately draw a link between murder and schizophrenia. This approach is repeated in the body of the article as “schizophrenia-like symptoms” are mentioned and this phrase encourages readers to draw on inaccurate pre-conceived conceptions and harmful stereotypes.
Media coverage of crime often includes speculation of the accused’s mental state, which is this article’s main focus.[4] Readers are left with a false understanding that all individuals with schizophrenia are violent and to be feared, which is especially enhanced against the backdrop of an article that does not provide any context of mental illness, schizophrenia, access to care, or even the larger context of Adenyi’s life. It is important for journalists to avoid associating committing violent acts like murder with mental illness, as such linking reinforces a generalized, false, and stigmatized narrative surrounding the topic.[5] In fact, people living with mental illness are far more likely to be victims of violence, not perpetrators of it.
Furthering this discussion is the additional stereotype of mental illness being a subhuman quality.[6] The article references Adenyi lacking sense and morality should he be confirmed NCR, which contributes to the hegemonic societal understanding of people with mental illness as lacking basic human capacity.[7] While journalism can certainly put concerns about public safety at the forefront of a discussion, such stories cannot perpetuate inaccurate stereotypical ideas about people with mental illness, to elicit fear of a marginalized and vulnerable group. This is especially concerning given that schizophrenia is one of the most feared disorders in our society. The CBC article shows how this fear is reinforced when journalists neither offer the larger context that people living with mental illness are most often targets of violence, nor include the voices of schizophrenic people, which could provide a deeper public understanding of the disorder and mitigate unnecessary fear. The journalist fails to include any perspectives that would aid in understanding the disorder and limiting unreasonable fear.[8]
Another central ethical concern pertaining to this story is the photo that accompanies the piece. The article uses a screengrab from a video on Adenyi’s YouTube channel. It depicts Adenyi, caught wide-eyed (or “wild-eyed”), against a backdrop of animé conspiracy theories and immediately gives the audience a negative perception of Adenyi. Rather than using a different moment from the YouTube video, a photo from his social media, or even his mug shot, the CBC chose a photo that reinforces Adenyi’s appearance as an “othered” individual. Smith Fullerton and Patterson, in a chapter from Covering Canadian Crime, emphasize that while budget cuts have led to journalists using online resources as a tool for sourcing information about subjects, it is still important to adhere to the same ethic practices and consider what implications or indirect information is being conveyed through photo choice.[9] The photo is not neutral, but rather plays on readers’ preconceived notions pertaining to race, conspiracy theorists, and what the demeanor of a mentally ill or dangerous person looks like. This places Adenyi – who at present is an accused, not a convicted person – even farther apart from the community and contributes to the simplified dichotomy at the foundation of mental illness stigma.[10]
Vanessa Ladouceur’s life was lost, and yet rather than honoring her, or reporting verified facts of the case, the entire article is focused on whether the accused person has a mental illness and the implied links between this and committing murder.
Speaking generally, stories that choose to focus on aspects of mental health ought to offer the voices of people living with diagnoses like schizophrenia the space to elaborate on what it is, what the experience is like, and how rare it is to be related to committing violence. News media are primary source of stigma around mental health, which leads to increased discrimination and decreased access to support for many vulnerable and marginalized Canadians.[11] Journalists must recognize their power and make conscious, ethical considerations that fight the tendency to associate mental illness and violent crime.
Discussion Questions:
- What power structures are at play that led this to be a national newsworthy story? Who is deciding this, and what societal and cultural factors does it represent?
- How do we distinguish among accurate, neutral violent crime reporting involving mental illness and the stigmatizing sensationalism that is commonplace and normalized?
- What is the most ethical and responsible way for journalists to balance their duty to inform the public about community events and crime while also considering the stigmatizing harm that this coverage may cause?
- How does stigmatizing coverage impact individuals with mental illness and their access to support and community acceptance?
Bibliography
Berry, Sarah, and Rob Whitley. “Representing Risk: Criminality, Violence, and Mental Illness in Canadian News-Media Reporting.” In Covering Canadian Crime: What Journalists Should Know and the Public Should Question, edited by Chris Richardson and Romayne Smith Fullerton, 346-365. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2016.
Grant, Meghan. “Schizophrenia concerns for man accused of killing woman walking to work, NCR assessment ordered.” CBC Calgary. CBC News, April 14, 2022. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/michael-adenyi-vanessa-ladouceur-murder-ncr-assessment-1.6419869
Smith Fullerton, Romayne, and Maggie Jones Patterson. “The Traditional ‘Pickup’ or ‘Death Knock’ Story: Its Role, its Value(s), and the Impact of Social Media.” In Covering Canadian Crime: What Journalists Should Know and the Public Should Question, edited by Chris Richardson and Romayne Smith Fullerton, 23-42. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2016.
“What does NCR mean?.” Legal Aid Ontario. Accessed October 7, 2023. https://www.legalaid.on.ca/faq/what-does-ncr-mean/#:~:text=NCR%20stands%20for%20%E2%80%9CNot%20Criminally,16%20of%20the%20Criminal%20Code.
Footnotes
[1] “What does NCR mean?” Legal Aid Ontario, accessed October 7, 2023, https://www.legalaid.on.ca/faq/what-does-ncr-mean/#:~:text=NCR%20stands%20for%20%E2%80%9CNot%20Criminally,16%20of%20the%20Criminal%20Code.
[2] Meghan Grant, “Schizophrenia concerns for man accused of killing woman walking to work, NCR assessment ordered”, CBC Calgary, CBC News, April 14, 2022. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/michael-adenyi-vanessa-ladouceur-murder-ncr-assessment-1.6419869
[3] Berry and Whitley, 352
[4] Sarah Berry and Rob Whitley, “Representing Risk: Criminality, Violence, and Mental Illness in Canadian News-Media Reporting,” In Covering Canadian Crime: What Journalists Should Know and the Public Should Question, edited by Chris Richardson and Romayne Smith Fullerton (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2016), 351.
[5] Berry and Whitley, 358
[6] Berry and Whitley, 349
[7] Berry and Whitley, 349
[8] Berry and Whitley, 348
[9] Romayne Smith Fullerton and Maggie Jones Patterson, “The Traditional ‘Pickup’ or ‘Death Knock’ Story: It’s Role, its Value(s), and the Impact of Social Media,” In Covering Canadian Crime: What Journalists Should Know and the Public Should Question, edited by Chris Richardson and Romayne Smith Fullerton (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2016), 32.
[10] Smith Fullerton and Patterson, 32
[11] Berry and Whitley, 348