Harnessing media as a site of change: locating public engagement with stories about violence against women in Australia

Abstract

ABSTRACT Australian violence prevention policies have highlighted that media representations reinforce and challenge the public’s understanding of violence against women. Current primary prevention strategies have attempted to harness the media’s influence by focusing on improving the quality of news reportage and the working practice of professional journalists. These strategies focus explicitly on news media as the site of public engagement. However, violence against women is depicted and discussed in various popular media sites in Australia. This article seeks to explore changes in the modes and locations of contemporary media representations of violence against women. Drawing from a case study of Australian true crime podcasts, this article demonstrates how alternative media resources have become powerful new sites of public engagement with information and stories about violence against women. This paper argues that primary prevention strategies must accommodate these changing domains of understanding.