Citation

Naylor B. Howard J. Crim. Just. 2001; 40(2): 180-194.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2001, Howard League for Penal Reform, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/1468-2311.00200

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

News reporting of violence reflects neither the ‘reality’ of the occurrence of violence nor the portrayal of violence in official statistics. The analysis of all reports of violence in four national British newspapers over six months illuminates the processes of selection, and the ways in which the news media promulgate and naturalise gender in the daily reporting of violence. This study found significant differences in the nature and intensity of reporting of violence by men and by women. Different explanatory narratives were also employed; women's violence was more likely to be reported as irrational or emotional, with real ‘wickedness’ ascribed in a few high-profile cases, whilst men's violence was more likely to be presented as ‘normal’ or rational.