News media reporting on Scottish cases in which women kill following domestic abuse

McPherson, R. (2023) News media reporting on Scottish cases in which women kill following domestic abuse. Journalism: Theory, Practice and Criticism, (doi: 10.1177/14648849231207677) (Early Online Publication)

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a feminist analysis of news media reports related to Scottish cases in which women killed following domestic abuse. The findings show that problematic narratives have prevailed within the reporting of cases of this type and that, at a time when knowledge and understanding of domestic abuse was improving in Scotland, news media presentations of women who kill following abuse were worsening. It is argued that the reporting landscape was changed by an especially high-profile case of this type, and that judicial statements also exert a significant influence on how cases of this type are reported. It is concluded that more must be done to ensure that reporting of these cases follows national guidelines related to the reporting of violence against women, especially since reporting is likely to influence public perceptions and understandings of the subject matter.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This work was supported by the Royal Society of Edinburgh [Research Re-boot (Covid-19) Grant 2021].
• Keywords: Domestic abuse, homicide, news, Scotland, violence against women, women who kill.
• Status: Early Online Publication
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: McPherson, Dr Rachel
• Authors: McPherson, R.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Law
• Journal Name: Journalism: Theory, Practice and Criticism
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• ISSN: 1464-8849
• ISSN (Online): 1741-3001
• Published Online: 19 October 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Author
• First Published: First published in Journalism: Theory, Practice and Criticism 2023
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License