Sex Crimes and the Media

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanya Serisier
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Lower Class ◽  
Media Representations ◽  
Sex Crimes ◽  
Entertainment Media ◽  
Media Attention ◽  
The Media

In media representations the term sex crimes most frequently refers to rape and child sexual abuse, although it can include a wider range of acts such as exhibitionism and voyeurism. While the majority of these crimes receive little media attention, certain sensational sex crimes are prominent topics in news and entertainment media. Media attention tends to focus on violent crimes committed by “dangerous” strangers, largely defined as poor men of color, and crimes committed against white and middle-class victims. These representations provide a distorted image of the reality of sex crimes, which most frequently occur in private settings, by someone known to the victim. Media coverage has also been criticized for focusing on the actions and responsibility of victims, suggesting that victim behavior, such as drinking, flirting, or being in the “wrong place at the wrong time” precipitates sexual violence. Again, these representations vary significantly according to race and class, with white and middle-class victims more likely to receive sympathetic coverage, particularly if their assailant is from a lower-class or more marginal racial or ethnic background. The emergence of the second-wave feminist movement in the 1970s, however, has led to some changes in media representations of sex crimes. Subsequent decades have seen an increase in sympathetic reporting around victims and increased reporting of crimes perpetrated by acquaintances and family members. There has been a growth in feminist voices and views in media reporting, as well as increased focus on the responsibilities and failings of criminal justice systems. Recent years have seen several examples of media coverage or “rediscovery” of previously ignored allegations against celebrities. Sex crimes have become a highly controversial and contested area, and media coverage reflects this, sometimes supporting progressive social and cultural change and sometimes providing a vehicle for “backlash” sentiments. Social media has been a driver of changes in the media landscape around sexual violence in recent years has provided a new forum for survivors to disseminate their stories but has also been marked by online harassment and abuse.

Conclusion

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dawn Rae Flood
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Rape Myths ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Sex Crimes ◽  
Rape Victims ◽  
The Media ◽  
Rape Trials ◽  
American Society

This concluding chapter considers the myriad legal and medical reforms that have been established since the 1970s in enhancing access to justice for rape victims. At the same time the chapter looks at contemporary rape cases and the media storm surrounding them, once again confronting the racial rape myths that prevail in contemporary American society. The chapter argues that, while institutionalized support for those navigating the complexities of rape trials has grown in recent decades, historic myths about race, gender, and sexual violence still uncomfortably intervene in sensationalized media coverage of sex crimes and in the contemporary justice system, forcing us to continue to confront and challenge our own understandings of rape.

From Ni putes ni soumises to #metoo in the French press: Between the hegemony of Whiteness and the Otherness of Muslims

2021 ◽  
pp. 095715582110217
Author(s):  
Marion Dalibert
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
News Media ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
White Women ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
The Media ◽  
Cultural Power ◽  
Majority Groups ◽  
Feminist Movements

By questioning the media coverage of the seven feminist movements that have received most publicity in the French mainstream media since the 2000s, this article shows that the media narrative regarding feminism perpetuates the national metanarrative produced in generalist newspapers. This metanarrative reinforces the power of majority groups by portraying them as inherently egalitarian, while those with the least economic, social, political and cultural power, such as Muslim men, are portrayed as the most sexist. It also highlights that racialised collectives are still socially invisible or limited to a visibility that is framed by representations rooted in a (post) colonial imaginary. Non-white women are in fact presented as fundamentally submissive, while (upper)-middle-class white women are the only ones associated with emancipation, which is significant of white and bourgeois hegemony at work in the French news media.

scholarly journals Diverging from News Media: An Exploratory Study on the Changing Dynamics between Media and Public Attention on Cancer in China from 2011-2020

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yangkun Huang ◽  
Xiaoping Xu ◽  
Sini Su
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Cancer Information ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Media Industry ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Media Attention ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Media ◽  
Cancer Types

Over the past decade, China has witnessed fast-paced technological advancements in the media industry, as well as major shifts in the health agenda portrayed in the media. Therefore, a key starting point when discussing health communication lies in whether media attention and public attention towards health issues are structurally aligned, and to what extent the news media guide public attention. Based on data mined from 73,060 sets of the Baidu Search Index and Media Index on 20 terms covering different types of cancer from 2011 to 2020, the Granger test demonstrates that, in the last decade, public attention and media attention towards cancer in China has gone through two distinct phases. During the first phase, 2011-2015, Chinese news media still held the key in transferring the salience of issues on most cancer types to the public. In the second phase, from 2016-2020, public attention towards cancer has gradually diverged from media coverage, mirroring the imbalance and mismatch between the demand of active public and the supply of cancer information from news media. This study provides an overview of the dynamic transition on cancer issues in China over a ten-year span, along with descriptive results on public and media attention towards specific cancer types.

Media Representations of Domestic Violence

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meda Chesney-Lind ◽  
Nicholas Chagnon
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Media Representations ◽  
Routine Manner ◽  
The Media

Though it is generally given less attention than sexual assault, domestic violence is quite often depicted in corporate media products, including news broadcasts, television shows, and films. Mediated depictions of domestic violence share many of the same problems as those of sexual assault. In particular, the media tends to imply that women are somehow culpable when they are being beaten, even murdered, by their partners. News on domestic violence is often reported in a routine manner that focuses on minutiae instead of context, informing audiences minimally about the nature, extent, and causes of domestic violence. Though it is encouraging that over the past several decades the media has begun to acknowledge that domestic violence is a serious problem, this recognition is challenged by antifeminist claims-making in the media. Such challenges generally cite contested social science research as proof that feminist research on domestic violence is biased and inaccurate. Furthermore, media representations of domestic violence often supply racializing and class-biased discourses about abusers and their victims that frame domestic violence as largely the product of marginalized classes, rather a problem that affects the various strata of society. Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, media coverage of the violence against women abroad, particularly in Islamic nations, has provided more racializing discourse, which juxtaposes “progressive” Western cultures with “backward” Eastern ones. On the domestic front, news focusing on indigenous communities replicates some of the racism inherent in the orientalist gaze applied to domestic violence abroad. Generally, the media do a poor job of cultivating a sophisticated understanding of domestic violence among the public. Thus, many researchers argue such media representations constitute a hegemonic patriarchal ideology, which obfuscates the issue of domestic violence, as well as the underlying social relations that create the phenomenon.

scholarly journals Big News: The Indian Media and Student Attacks in Australia

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matt Wade
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Relations ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Indian Community ◽  
Large Cities ◽  
Broadcast Media ◽  
Media Attention ◽  
Negative Perceptions ◽  
The Media ◽  
Dangerous Place ◽  
Indian Students

By any measure, 2009 was a big year for news in India. And yet the safety of Indian students in Australia ranked among the major news events in India that year. The India-Australia Poll 2013 found 65 per cent of respondents believed the Indian media had accurately reported the problems faced by Indian students in Australia in 2009-10. That implies two-thirds of Indians accepted the Indian media’s mostly negative depictions of Australia. Those who believed the media reporting about Australia had been accurate were more likely to be from large cities, be tertiary educated and have relatively high-incomes. The poll found 62 per cent of respondents thought Australia was a dangerous place for Indian students and that 61 per cent believed attacks on Indian students were motivated by racism. The results suggest negative perceptions about Australia created by the media’s portrayal of the student attacks linger in the Indian community. The timing of the initial attacks, and the imagery associated with them, helped attract and sustain media attention on the issue. The diplomatic tensions created by the crisis highlighted the growing influence of the broadcast media on India’s foreign relations. But the episode also exposed a deep lack of understanding about India in Australia. Governments were slow to comprehend how much damage media coverage of student attacks could do to Australia’s reputation in India. 

From Newspaper to Parliament and Back? A Study of Media Attention as Source for and Result of the Dutch Question Hour

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Van Aelst ◽  
Rosa van Santen ◽  
Lotte Melenhorst ◽  
Luzia Helfer
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Media Influence ◽  
Press Coverage ◽  
News Values ◽  
Media Attention ◽  
Political Statement ◽  
The Media

AbstractThis study on the role of media attention for the Dutch question hour answers three questions: to what extent is media attention a source of inspiration for oral parliamentary questions? What explains the newsworthiness of these questions? And what explains the extent of media coverage for the questions posed during the question hour? To address this, we present a content analysis of oral parliamentary questions and related press coverage in five recent years. The results show first that oral questions are usually based on media attention for a topic. Concerns about media influence should however be nuanced: it is not necessarily the coverage itself, but also regularly a political statement that is the actual source of a parliamentary question. The media are thus an important “channel” for the interaction between politicians. Second, our analysis shows that oral questions do not receive media attention naturally. Several news values help to explain the amount of news coverage that questions receive. “Surfing the wave” of news attention for a topic in the days previous to the question hour seems to be the best way to generate media attention.

scholarly journals Representing language education in Australian universities: An analysis of press reporting (2007–2016)

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 179-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shannon Mason ◽  
John Hajek
Keyword(s):  
Media Coverage ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Media Representations ◽  
Regular Feature ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Discipline Area ◽  
The Media ◽  
Australian Universities

Abstract Educational issues are a regular feature in mainstream media, and the ways in which particular issues are represented can influence public perceptions of the various discipline areas and, in turn, policy decisions that affect them. While the research literature includes media coverage analyses of a wide range of educational disciplines and sectors, missing is an understanding of the media representations of language education in the tertiary setting, despite languages being seen as a key pathway to generalised national multilingualism, social harmony, and economic prosperity. The authors address this gap using Australia as a case study, a country that has seen considerable policy and media attention to language education in general over many years. A content analysis of print newspaper coverage from 2007–2016 was conducted, revealing that the coverage of the discipline area at the tertiary level is extremely limited, is generally superficial in depth, narrow in scope, and negative in tone. This representation perpetuates the already precarious position of language education in Australian universities, and there is little support for a more positive and visible public agenda.

scholarly journals Cascading corruption news: explaining the bias of media attention to Brazil’s political scandals

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-143
Author(s):  
Mads Damgaard
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Present Article ◽  
News Media ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Information Cascade ◽  
Media Attention ◽  
The Media ◽  
Political Scandals ◽  
Harmful Effects

Abstract Through a content analysis of 8,800 news items and six months of front pages of three Brazilian newspapers, all dealing with corruption and political transgression, the present article documents the remarkable bias of media coverage toward corruption scandals. Said bias is examined as an informational phenomenon, arising from key systemic and commercial factors of Brazil’s news media: an information cascade of news on corruption formed, destabilizing the governing coalition and legitimizing the impeachment process of Dilma Rousseff. As this process gained momentum, questions of accountability were disregarded by the media, with harmful effects for democracy.

A Uniquely Punitive Turn? Sex Offenders and the Persistence of Punitive Sanctioning

2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua C. Cochran ◽  
Elisa L. Toman ◽  
Ryan T. Shields ◽  
Daniel P. Mears
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Sex Crimes ◽  
Media Attention ◽  
Focal Attention ◽  
National Media ◽  
Social Concerns ◽  
Public Concerns ◽  
Over Time

Objectives: This article tests two theoretical ideas: (1) that social concerns about particular “dangerous classes” of offenders shift over time to influence court sanctioning practices and (2) that, since the 1990s, sex offenders in particular came to be viewed by courts as one such “dangerous class.” Methods: We examine sanctioning trends in Florida and compare punishment of sex offenders in earlier versus later parts of the get-tough era. We then examine whether sentencing is associated with rational criminal justice incentives (e.g., increasing seriousness or rates of sex crimes) or with shifting public concerns (e.g., increasing media attention to sexual violence). Results: Punitiveness increased for all crimes but especially for sex crimes. Punitiveness appears not to be driven by increasing seriousness or rates of crime, but does appear to be partially driven by increasing national media attention to sexual violence. Conclusions: The findings support arguments that sex offenders were subjected to a uniquely punitive turn in sanctioning and that courts are sensitive to shifting public concerns. The results advance theoretical arguments developed by Gottschalk and earlier work that suggests that the persistence of get-tough era sentencing practices may be driven in part through focal attention to select types of offenders.

Wilders en de media

2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Piet Bakker ◽  
Peter L.M. Vasterman
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Wave Pattern ◽  
Media Attention ◽  
Journalism Studies ◽  
Strong Focus ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Relationship

Wilders and the role of the media Wilders and the role of the media Between 2006 and 2011 more than forty empirical studies were published about the Dutch populist Geert Wilders and the role of the media. This article examines which methods and theories are dominant in these studies, and which media and which aspects of the relationship between Wilders and the media coverage are the topics of these researches. We also ask what kind of conclusions can be drawn from this large amount of research. At first glance, journalism studies academics use a variety of methods and theories but further analysis shows skewedness within this variety with content analysis of print media forming the bulk of the research. There is also a preference for framing research. The media attention for Wilders shows a wave-pattern, with a strong focus on deliberately created incidents. Media, however, seem to be unable to ignore these events.

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