A Qualitative Analysis of News Media Reporting of Homicide Incidents

• In Event: Media Coverage and Representations of Violence

Abstract

A growing body of research has sought to understand the extent to which media representations of crime reflect the reality of crime incidence. Recognizing the impact of media attention to crime on the public perception of crime, this research explores potential distortions in the media’s portrayal of crime. Findings from quantitative studies of media attention often show that certain groups, circumstances and places are under or over represented. A number of qualitative studies have considered the manner in which media present information about crime, primarily looking at the ways in which group characteristics (i.e. victim or offender race and gender) are described. The present study utilizes qualitative analysis to build on this body of work, expanding the themes examined and exploring factors including societal response to the event, victim and offender status, victim and community impact and contextualization of the event in broader crime context of a city. Because this paper links qualitative analysis of news reports to an incident-level database, it is further able to connect issues of context in exploring the stories of crime presented by the media within the framework of phenomenon of crime perpetration.

Authors

• Shea W. Cronin, Boston University, Metropolitan College

• Danielle M. Rousseau, Boston University

• Mary Ellen Mastrorilli, Boston University