Coverage Of Violence Research Articles

Brutality on display: media coverage and the spectacle of anti-LGBTQ violence in the Colombian Civil War

During the Colombian Civil War, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people were targeted by armed actors for reasons related to ideology and strategy. Even with the generalised violence in Colombia during this time, there was significant public interest in this specific form of violence, as evidenced by its tabloid coverage. The nation’s main tabloid – El Espacio – covered this violence against LGBTQ people in graphic detail. Twenty years of coverage (1985–2005) includes a range of gory graphics and horrific headlines that show the pain of a persecuted community in a highly violent context. In this article, I focus on this media coverage of anti-LGBTQ violence, notable for its brutality and prejudice, to argue that its spectacle built on a stigma that reinforced the cleavage of its victims from the body politic through a legitimation of the violence. In doing so, the coverage of this violence became a weapon of war that depoliticised the subordination of an entire population in a society beset by an internal armed conflict.

Media and Crime Perceptions: Evidence from Mexico

Abstract This article examines whether individuals’ crime perceptions and crime avoidance behavior respond to changes in crime news coverage. I use data from Mexico, where major media groups agreed to reduce coverage of violence in March 2011. Using a unique dataset on national news content and machine learning techniques, I document that after the Agreement, crime news coverage on television, radio, and newspapers decreases relative to the national homicide rate. Using survey data, I find robust evidence that crime perceptions respond to this change in content. After the Agreement, individuals with higher media exposure are less likely to report that they feel insecure and that their country, state, or municipality is insecure, relative to individuals with lower media exposure. Finally, I show that smaller changes on conspicuous consumption and food consumed outside the home accompany these changes in crime perceptions; while I do not find effects on stated crime avoidance behavior. (JEL: D83, K42, L82).

Was Anastasia Victim of Partner Violence? Media Coverage of Femicide in Romania and Moldova

ABSTRACT The article presents the way in which online media from two South-Eastern European and former communist countries (Romania and the Republic of Moldova) have covered a case of femicide-suicide. We chose to analyse the case of Anastasia Cia, a celebrity from the Republic of Moldova that was well-known in both countries and who was killed by her husband, a Moldavan citizen. she had worked as a model, actress and singer in Romania. The online media analysis had highlighted the presence mainly of the episodic frames and victim-blaming techniques identified by other studies. Also the analysis has pointed out the use of content from the social media profiles of the victim and aggressor (especially the photos) as a source of victim-blaming techniques. The results point out also the need to find a solution to the ethical problems raised by the use of social networks’ the content in the traditional media coverage of violence against women and femicide.

Inside/out: women’s movement and women in movements

ABSTRACTAbout 20 years after Susie Tharu and Tejaswini Niranjana’s acclaimed essay ‘Problems for a contemporary Theory of Gender’ was written, suddenly women – of different ages, castes, classes, from diverse regions, and with various religious affiliations – have again taken the centre stage from the power corridors of policy-making to the debates in student organisations. In the last few years there has been an exponential increase in the coverage of violence against women in the media, several Government policies on the girl children have been launched, both sexual harassment and gender sensitisation have attained the status of everyday vocabulary amongst a significant section of the population, and yet feminism has remained a rather exclusive term from which the gentlefolk of urban India tends to keep a safe distance.The question remains, how do we make sense of this new visibility – which becomes glaring and blinding at the same time? Are we experiencing a resurgence in Women’s Movement? Is it a result of the nation-wide shockwave after the Delhi Gang rape in December 2012 when middle-class India came down to the streets? Is it the first wave of the new movements that are sweeping through university campuses and the ways in which new Dalit mobilisations are articulating economic and social rights? Is it connected to the visibility of protesting bodies on streets along with virtual solidarities in social media platforms, indicating debates on the layers of inequality and discrimination that accrue at this juncture of economic liberalisation and consumer culture? Probably it is all of them and more. This is an effort to engage with different ways of seeing, different genealogies of vision vis-à-vis gendered bodies in both public and private domains and explore the configurations of collective mobilisation around ‘women’s issues’. While voice and speech have been part of critical feminist discussions for the last three decades, the turn to visual constructions of gender is a recent one with brilliant but sporadic predecessors like Donna Harraway’s ‘Situated Knowledges’ (1988). This essay intends to conjoin vision with voice in understanding gender politics in India and unpack the ways in which multiple registers of women’s agency connect with each other.

If it Bleeds it Leads

This paper examines newspaper coverage of sexual and reproductive health and violence against women, from 1995 until 2015, in two print newspapers from Buenos Aires, Argentina. The analysis shows that while coverage of violence against women increased over the 20-year period, coverage of sexual and reproductive health did not. Moreover, drawing on framing theory, content analysis indicates that, regardless of the level of coverage, throughout the period examined, articles on these topics tended to eschew a gender equality approach, and to be framed in episodic, rather than thematic frames. Finally, articles about violence against women are significantly less likely to use either the equality frame or the thematic frame than stories about sexual and reproductive health. This paper draws on these findings to reflect on the relevance of portraying these issues as social concerns with impact in gender equality.

One man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist: a selected overview of the psychoanalytic and group analytic study of terrorism

This paper is an attempt to understand the significant increase in terrorism worldwide following the 9/11 Al-Quaida bombings which triggered the Bush Administration’s “war on terror”, leading to two wars and ultimately to the emergence of Daesh. I explore the motivation for social violence as terrorism, which can be carried out by the state or by its citizens, and look at how one man’s freedom fighter is another’s terrorist. The paper looks at why seemingly ordinary people are converted into ‘homegrown’ jihadists and how alienation and shame are the driving forces of violence. I give a selected overview of psychoanalytical ideas that try to make sense of the unconscious roots of aggression, hatred and violence. As terrorism is a social activity group analysis has an important contribution to make in understanding the violence of large groupings. The media has a crucial role to play as sensationalist coverage of violence provides terrorists with a free media platform. Both the media and terrorists need an audience and feed off each other. This paper will explore these themes.

Coverage of Violence Against Women: A Case Study of Dinathanthi Newspaper of Tamilnadu in India

Violence against women in India is a continuing social phenomenon. The gang rape of a physiotherapy student in Delhi brought platforms/people on a platform to voice their opinion about security of women in our society. The Indian mainstream media did not disclose the identity of the victim to the possible extent and the entire nation stood in solidarity with the victim's family. Over the years, there has been an increasing number of such cases of violence against women reported by the press, still if it is to be asked if they received the same standards of ethical concerns in press coverage, then the answer is a big no. Browsing over the archives one could see the difference in reporting, cases of violence against women being more biased and gender insensitive when compared with the Delhi incident. This paper tries to see the differences in reporting similar cases of violence against women that occurred during the Delhi case and how these cases were reported even during that same time.

An evaluation of content related to violence in personal health texts

Intentional injuries continue to disproportionately affect young people in the USA and around the world. College campuses themselves are often sites of violent acts. College personal health courses rely upon personal wellness textbooks as resources to raise awareness, provide current scientifically based information, and offer strategies and skills for behavior change. Ten popular personal health textbooks were reviewed for their coverage of violence. A 61-item coding sheet was created and covered the following three areas related to violence: (1) definitions, data, interventions, and assessment tools; (2) inclusion of types of violence most relevant to college-aged students; and (3) inclusion of types of violence less directly affecting college-aged students. Overall, the evaluated texts had limited inclusion of types of violence most relevant to college-aged students. In conclusion, areas of violence that impact college students had minimal levels of coverage, with most areas being absent or having weak discussion. Given the risks of violence-related deaths, injuries, and psychological effects to college students and their noncollege peers – with whom they may interact – the importance of interpersonal violence as an area in personal wellness texts cannot be overstated.

"Californios! Whom Do You Support?" "El Clamor Publico"'s Contradictory Role in the Racial Formation Process in Early California

Most of the academic litera ture on El Clamor Publico has pointed out the role of the newspaper as a defender of the rights of Mexicans in a particularly violent era during California history. This essay ex plores some of the complexities of the news paper's coverage of other nonwhite groups and how it either contested notions of white supre macy or simply reproduced them. A sophisti cated reading and analysis reveals that the ambiguous social standing of California's Span ish-speaking communities at the time played a part in El Clamor's coverage of violence and dis crimination against three other nonwhite groups: African Americans, Chinese, and Indians.

Domestic Violence Presentation Raises Awareness in Student Reporters' Stories

Approximately 1.5 million women are abused annually.1 Considering newspapers' influence, it is important to examine the effects of awareness on violence coverage. This study specifically examined the effects of awareness on article content of student journalists.Raising media awareness is done to bring reporting practices closer to social norms.2 Few sources of journalistically focused information are available about domestic violence, the exception including the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma's Tips and Tools: A Guide for Journalists: Domestic Violence.3Scholars have studied journalistic representations of domestic violence, examining coverage that a) justifies violence, b) positively portrays the perpetrator, c) blames victims, d) uses inadequate sources and e) portrays violence as an isolated event. Meyers addresses journalism practices and violence against women. She writes that journalists cannot reflect society and be unaccountable for its ills when news lacks neutrality. She also argues that excusing abuse leads to victim blame by default.4 Her study found coverage using stereotypes and myths reinforces the idea of male supremacy.5Johnson found perpetrator and action justification her examination of two San Francisco newspapers.6 Bullock and Cubert studied domestic violence fatality coverage Washington state newspapers 1998. They examined the accuracy of how victims' experiences were reflected, violence as a social issue and patterns of portrayal.7 The author's analysis, focused on professional journalists, indicated results similar to the current study.8 Hall's study9 examined coverage of victims, perpetrators and frames used 2,200 stories from 35 U.S. newspapers. She found In the attempt to be balanced, reporters seem to inadvertently report misconceptions about domestic violence.10 Examining frames, Hall found 48.5 percent of the stories were framed for the greater good of society, 42.3 percent framed violence as isolated events and 9.5 percent framed it as part of relationships.The portrayals of violence as an isolated event was examined by The Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence.11 The group report found that in all but one case, the murders were treated as unpredictable, although investigation eight of 12 cases revealed warning signs.12 Witness reaction focused on disbelief-a spontaneous reaction. Dependence on these sources resulted reporting violence as a problem of individual breakdown, not a social problem.13Johnson asked if inadequate sources perpetuate misconceptions. She also found police made statements affecting the perception of violence.It is inconceivable that little effort was made to consult with experts. Instead, reporters asked police to explain domestic violence. The result was dangerous, and misleading information was repeated media reports.14MethodThis study asks whether increasing reporters' awareness would result stories representing domestic violence more objectively.RQ1:Does raising awareness decrease the use of excuses for the perpetrator?RQ2:Does raising awareness decrease victim-blaming language?RQ3:Does raising awareness increase inclusion of information that presents domestic violence as an ongoing social issue and not an isolated event?RQ4:Does raising awareness impact sources used?RQ5:Does raising awareness increase inclusion of information beneficial to the victim?Fifty-six students undergraduate news and feature writing courses at a Midwestern university participated. A test group of 26 students was exposed to a 50-minute presentation by an advocate; a control group was unexposed. Each session included a pre-tested script with statistics and facts on domestic violence, discussion of media misrepresentation and suggestions for socially responsible coverage. The sessions were adapted from advocate suggestions: Hall's thesis, The framing of domestic violence newspapers;15 Johnson's Media guidelines for coverage of sexual assault and domestic violence;16 and the RICADVs Domestic violence: A handbook for journalists. …

Violence and consolation: September 11th 2001 covered by the Dutch children's news

The present paper describes a content analysis of the coverage of the events related to September 11th 2001 by the Dutch Children's News. Since 1980, the Dutch Broadcasting Corporation broadcasts a daily children's news programme (Jeugdjournaal) that is specifically designed for children aged 9–12. The Children's News selects news topics on the basis of their news value, which also implies coverage of violence and crime. To offset possible harmful effects of a violent news topic, the Children's News usually applies several ‘consolation strategies’. These strategies may be applied at the programme level (e.g. alternating ‘heavy’ and ‘light’ topics), at the level of the news item (e.g. taking a child perspective, inclusion of reassuring comments), and at the shot level (e.g. not showing the most graphic film footage). In the present study, it was investigated to what extent the Children's News applied these consolation strategies in the first week after the attack on the World Trade Center in New York.

US network evening news portrayal of the new South Africa

This study sought to understand how political changes in South Africa have affected coverage by the US network evening news programs between 1990 and 1996. A content analysis of abstracts from the Vanderbilt Television News Archive was done, continuing earlier work by Giffard & Cohen (1990) on coverage of South Africa from 1982–1987. The concern with lack of representation of international stories and with negative presentation of developing countries in US nightly news was investigated. The study found a steady decrease in coverage of violence, and an increase in coverage of government activities. Upon examining gender, political affiliation, and occupation of the sources in the stories, we also found a lack of diversity of sources in South African coverage. Overall, a gulf was identified between the actual situation and how it is portrayed.

Views on the News

Research into the Australian community's perceptions and attitudes to violence on television, commissioned by the ABT, is reviewed in relation to the coverage of violence in the news. The two-part research study involved 17 group discussions and 2000 respondents in a nationwide survey. Violence in the news was shown to be a special case in relation to attitudes to violence on television. Although violence on television is most frequently justified in the context of news or reporting of real events, three quarters of the adults surveyed believe the news is presented in a spectacular manner. The majority feel television news shows the world as it really is but also express distaste at some of the presentational aspects of the news.