Victims in the Spotlight: Examining Media Construction of Victim Narratives in Docu-series Interviews

• In Event: Roundtable: Media Criminology

Abstract

With the rise of the #MeToo movement in recent years, sexual assault victimization has been brought to the forefront of public awareness across various media avenues. In particular, there has been an increase in documentaries and mini-series focusing on the narratives of victims and/or alleged victims of famous offenders, such as Harvey Weinstein, Michael Jackson, and Robert “R.” Kelly, among numerous others. This project aims to provide an understanding of how the media constructs a victim’s narrative through discourse analysis of victim interviews within documentary style productions across time. The media can greatly impact the perceptions their audience has on given topics, thus it is important to analyze how victims’ narratives are portrayed to the public through these types of popular crime series.

Authors

• Jennifer L. Schally, Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg

• Emily Strohacker, Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg

• Samantha Woolford, Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg