Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Newspaper reporting and the public construction of homicide.
AU - Peelo, Moira
AU - Francis, Brian
AU - Pearson, Jayn
AU - Soothill, Keith
AU - Ackerley, Elizabeth
N1 - 50% contribution RAE_import_type : Journal article RAE_uoa_type : Social Work and Social Policy & Administration
PY - 2004/3
Y1 - 2004/3
N2 - This paper outlines the distorted nature of press reporting of English and Welsh homicides. We investigated the reporting of 2,685 homicides in England and Wales in three national newspapers: The Times, the Mail and the Mirror in the period 1993–97. By systematically charting the nature of reporting distortions, we explore the contribution of newspapers to the social construction of homicide. The study analysed a wide range of variables to explain homicide story salience: the circumstance of the killing was found to play a crucial role in whether a homicide is reported, with sexual homicides and motiveless acts being more likely to be reported. Homicides involving young children are highly likely to be reported, but infant homicides are not. These public narratives construct homicide differently to the reality of illegal killing, highlighting particular versions of ‘otherness’ and danger. Such distorted contributions to framing criminological problems may, we argue, foster political and social responses to homicide that are not based on statistical reality but media representations of reality.
AB - This paper outlines the distorted nature of press reporting of English and Welsh homicides. We investigated the reporting of 2,685 homicides in England and Wales in three national newspapers: The Times, the Mail and the Mirror in the period 1993–97. By systematically charting the nature of reporting distortions, we explore the contribution of newspapers to the social construction of homicide. The study analysed a wide range of variables to explain homicide story salience: the circumstance of the killing was found to play a crucial role in whether a homicide is reported, with sexual homicides and motiveless acts being more likely to be reported. Homicides involving young children are highly likely to be reported, but infant homicides are not. These public narratives construct homicide differently to the reality of illegal killing, highlighting particular versions of ‘otherness’ and danger. Such distorted contributions to framing criminological problems may, we argue, foster political and social responses to homicide that are not based on statistical reality but media representations of reality.
U2 - 10.1093/bjc/44.2.256
DO - 10.1093/bjc/44.2.256
M3 - Journal article
VL - 44
SP - 256
EP - 275
JO - British Journal of Criminology
JF - British Journal of Criminology
SN - 1464-3529
IS - 2
ER -