Child Abduction in Television Media: A Content Analysis

• In Event: Poster Session

Abstract

This study uses a content analysis to analyze how often television news reports on family child abduction; specifically determining these reports compared to real kidnapping statistics from the National Incidence-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). The theory Symbolic Interactionism, more specifically the concept The Social Construction of Reality, will be used to explain how these news reports result in an incorrect image of how society actually is as well as how members of society take these news reports of child abduction and apply them to real life. A content analysis was used to analyze news clips aired by ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, and Fox News to determine the results. The research will provide an enhanced understanding on how television news reports use newsworthiness to justify what child kidnapping cases to air to the public.

Author

• Timothy Scott Miller, Auburn University