Social campaigns to social change?

Autor(en)

Selina Noetzel, Maria F. Mussalem Gentile, Gianna Lowery, Sona Zemanova, Sophie Lecheler, Christina Peter

Abstrakt

The discussion on sexual violence gained momentum in October 2017 after the Twitter hashtag (#metoo) spread globally highlighting the widespread reality of this problem. While this resulted in extensive media coverage, and naturally informed audiences about societal issues, it can also be problematic regarding the media's power to reflect and construct reality. Therefore, it is important to research how societal issues like sexual violence are discussed in media settings. The study aimed to investigate how journalists frame sexual violence in the news (RQ1) and whether such practices have changed in the wake of the MeToo movement (RQ2). A quantitative content analysis was conducted for news articles published in four US newspapers, spanning a period of 2 years - from 1 year before to 1 year after the #metoo tweet (N = 612; Oct. 2016 - Oct. 2018). Results indicate that news coverage on sexual violence shifted from straightforward, single-incident reports to broader discussions. This study contributes to scientific research and journalism practices by providing an overarching view of how sexual violence is framed in the news and the potential impact of social movements on reportage.

Organisation(en)

Institut für Publizistik- und Kommunikationswissenschaft

Externe Organisation(en)

Universität Wien, Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt

Journal

Journalism

Anzahl der Seiten

32

ISSN

1464-8849

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1177/14648849211056386

Publikationsdatum

01-2022

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

508007 Kommunikationswissenschaft, 508014 Publizistik

Schlagwörter

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Communication, Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)

Link zum Portal

https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/de/publications/social-campaigns-to-social-change(404fdbd9-e390-4444-9262-e1d9877593f3).html