TY - JOUR

T1 - Behold the monster

T2 - Mythical explanations of deviance and evil in news of the Amish school shooting

AU - Gutsche Jr, Robert

AU - Salkin, Erica

PY - 2017/9/1

Y1 - 2017/9/1

N2 - In October 2006, Charles Carl Roberts IV walked into a one-room Amish schoolhouse in West Nickel Mines, PA, USA, brandished a handgun, and killed five female students who were all under the age of 13. Through an analysis of 215 news articles published in 10 local, regional, and national newspapers in 2006 and 2007, this article examines news characterizations of Roberts that cast him as a ‘Monster’. We explore interdisciplinary notions of pure evil to expand current literature of news myth to include a form of explanation that appears in news when no other current mythical archetype will suffice. This study complicates current perspectives on news myth by expanding the ideological tools to examine the nature of evil in loss through the example of the Amish shootings.

AB - In October 2006, Charles Carl Roberts IV walked into a one-room Amish schoolhouse in West Nickel Mines, PA, USA, brandished a handgun, and killed five female students who were all under the age of 13. Through an analysis of 215 news articles published in 10 local, regional, and national newspapers in 2006 and 2007, this article examines news characterizations of Roberts that cast him as a ‘Monster’. We explore interdisciplinary notions of pure evil to expand current literature of news myth to include a form of explanation that appears in news when no other current mythical archetype will suffice. This study complicates current perspectives on news myth by expanding the ideological tools to examine the nature of evil in loss through the example of the Amish shootings.

KW - Audience

KW - evil

KW - local news

KW - monster

KW - mythical archetype

U2 - 10.1177/1464884916657508

DO - 10.1177/1464884916657508

M3 - Journal article

VL - 18

SP - 994

EP - 1010

JO - Journalism

JF - Journalism

SN - 1741-3001

IS - 8

ER -