Date of Award

8-1-2022

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Criminology and Criminal Justice

First Advisor

Pleggenkuhle, Breanne

Abstract

Prior research and theory indicate that the news media can be biased in what events and who they cover, specifically when covering gendered and serious crimes such as filicide. This study asks the questions (1) Does gender matter in the reporting of filicide cases? (2) What are the differences of media reporting of filicide based on gender? This study employs a content analysis which examines newspaper articles surrounding several individuals that have committed filicide in the past decade. This study pulled 80 articles from ten cases using Nexis Uni and Google. Findings indicate there are subtle but clear differences in the media reporting of filicide cases, when comparing the gender of the offender. These findings will be presented in the lens of practical and theoretical frameworks such as Social Constructionism and Media Framing.

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