Journalists are often looking to write articles about prostitution or online sex work. The public seem fascinated with the topic and it comes up often, with people tending to focus on certain subsets of sex work at different times. There is a demand for shock stories about people who make their own porn on OnlyFans, how sex workers are coping with the cost of living crisis, and coverage of the sex trafficking panic.
To write these stories, journalists often have to speak directly to sex workers. When giving interviews or quotes to people writing articles about our issues, sex workers are taking great risk in terms of their safety and being outed, for typically no personal gain. Writing is not a profession which pays well for the majority of people writing essays or articles for publications. Pieces for smaller magazines tend to barely work out at a minimum wage for the hours put in. For all of those reasons, writers often cannot afford to pay the people they interview.
As a sex worker who often gets interviewed, I often have the spend a large portion of the interview explaining terms and legal concepts to journalists. This gets called a conversation “on background”, where a source uses their expertise to give the writer a broader understanding of the topic. If I am interviewed for an hour, perhaps 20 minutes of that is me answering questions for the piece and the rest is me explaining the most basic things about sex work, like what the decriminalization of prostitution is or what risks sex workers face.
Unlike when journalists ask other types of people for quotes, the amount of work sex workers have to put in is often much higher. Agreeing to an interview means taking on a brief role as an educator, rather than just talking about our experiences. We usually get no recognition for that, because it’s not even safe to use our real names. If sex workers aren’t getting paid and don’t get exposure or material benefit, why do we ever respond to these interviews at all?
The reason anyone’s willing to speak on these issues, outside of those promoting their online porn or brand, is that we’re campaigning for rights. Those selling sex in-person especially are in a precarious legal position and are denied a variety of workers rights, so they’ll give their time without pay to advance the work to obtain those things.
Understandably, journalists cannot afford to pay sex workers, but they can make the process of writing these articles easier on everyone if they do decide to write them.
How can journalists be sensitive to the needs of sex workers they want to interview?
- Do your own research first. Know what basic terms are, so the people you interview aren’t constantly having to explain it to you.
You should know what the law is regarding prostitution in your country and how it is applied. Make yourself aware of the terminology, so that you won’t need to ask for clarification on the language used (such as full service sex worker meaning someone who sells sex in person, or john meaning client). - Do not ask for identifying information.
Sex workers may be out to some people in their life, or they may be in a situation where no-one but their clients knows they sell sex. People are sometimes killed over their history of selling sex becoming public. Treat any personal information they give you with the highest confidence, ask what pseudonym they’d like to be known under, and even if they answer questions in a way which gives away significant personal information you should discuss that with them and censor or omit those parts to protect their identity if requested. - Respect their time.
Does your interview with a sex worker need to be an hour-long slot over zoom, or could you instead send your questions in a written format over e-mail so that they can take their time with responding and don’t have to carve out a segment of their day? Offer multiple ways of conducting the interview that make it the easiest it could possibly be for your source, like phone calls or zoom or e-mail, and allow them to pick what works best.
Keep your interviews from being any longer than they need to be, and try not to engage in endless follow-up to being their brain. Unlike you, they’re not getting paid when the article is finished, and every moment a sex worker spends talking to you is a moment they could be doing something they’d actually get paid for instead. - Consider their desires in terms of the narrative.
Whatever piece you’re writing is going to be coming from your perspective. In a piece which is meant to consider multiple positions or attempt to be objective, your own biases and thoughts will always leak into the piece. When using the words of sex workers, do not use them to make a point which entirely opposes those espoused to you. If you want a counterpoint, or to include someone else who would argue the reverse of what your other source did, include their testimony to do so rather than dishonestly cutting quotes to suit the narrative you’re crafting.
Not all sex workers agree with each other, so don’t assume that one sex worker speaks for us all. If a sex worker supports the criminalization of clients, for example, you should not misrepresent that – you should also not assume they speak for all sex workers, especially when the major sex worker organisations all support the full decriminalization of sex work including the purchase of sex.
Consider, if writing a piece on sex work, whether you’re even the ideal person to write it. Is there a sex worker you know or have seen the work of who would be able to write it instead? Is there a way for you to give them a leg up, recommend them so that they can create their own piece?
As a sex worker, should I respond to a journalist’s request?
- Always put your personal safety first. Ask yourself whether giving a quote or responding to the journalist puts you at risk and make sure you protect your personal information as much as possible.
- Before replying to a journalist, take some time to look them up. Read any previous articles they’ve written on sex work and see how they represented their sources or whether they shared any identifying information about them. If you know anyone who has spoken to them before, reach out and ask about their experience. In a case where someone reached out to you personally, they may also have reached out to others who you can discuss things with.
- Create an e-mail for the purpose of replying to journalists which is not connected to your name or phone number. Make a zoom account in a similar fashion, only used for calls related to sex work interviews.
- Don’t devote more time than you can afford to. You’re not obligated to take the task of getting our stories and experiences out there solely on your own shoulders. Journalists reach out to a lot of people and if you can’t take the interview then it’s highly likely someone else will be able to respond. Sometimes you might trust a journalist but not have the time or energy for an interview, but know a fellow sex worker who would be interested. By all means, offer to connect journalists with other people you know!
- Feel free to ask about the framing of the article, and whether opposing viewpoints will be included or if it’s simply a piece discussing the experiences of sex workers. The writer doesn’t necessarily have to answer your question, though you can always back out if you feel like there isn’t enough transparency.
A lot of people are being undervalued for their contributions in journalism or other forms of written media. Journalists and other writers should have solidarity with the sex workers they interview and seek to make the process as easy and safe for them as possible, rather than being a part of the machine which exploits us.
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