Author ORCiD

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7725-5288

College

College of Arts and Letters

Graduate Level

Doctoral

Graduate Program/Concentration

Criminology and Criminal Justice PhD Program in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice

Presentation Type

Oral Presentation

Abstract

Recent analyses of transgender homicide victims find that the news media often uses improper terminology, delegitimizes, and victim blames them. These analyses, while insightful, are limited as they have largely analyzed cases involving trans women and trans feminine individuals. The present study employs a mixed method approach to analyze news media articles (N=88) published in U.S. online news media outlets about 17 gender non-conforming victims killed between 2012 and 2022. We found that most articles did not delegitimize or victim-blame. However, we find 1) victim blaming occurred when reporting on cases of officer-involved shootings, 2) certain victims receive more coverage and support, 3) confusion about terminology when discussing the gender of victims, and 4) episodic framing of transphobic violence. Implications and potential areas of research and practice are provided to address, challenge, increase, and improve news media reporting of these victims.

Keywords

Content analysis, transgender, homicide, news coverage; crime victims

Comments

This paper has not been published, but it is under review at a peer-reviewed journal.

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A Mixed-method Analysis of the News Media Framing of Gender Non-conforming Victims of Homicide in the U.S. from 2012-2022.

Recent analyses of transgender homicide victims find that the news media often uses improper terminology, delegitimizes, and victim blames them. These analyses, while insightful, are limited as they have largely analyzed cases involving trans women and trans feminine individuals. The present study employs a mixed method approach to analyze news media articles (N=88) published in U.S. online news media outlets about 17 gender non-conforming victims killed between 2012 and 2022. We found that most articles did not delegitimize or victim-blame. However, we find 1) victim blaming occurred when reporting on cases of officer-involved shootings, 2) certain victims receive more coverage and support, 3) confusion about terminology when discussing the gender of victims, and 4) episodic framing of transphobic violence. Implications and potential areas of research and practice are provided to address, challenge, increase, and improve news media reporting of these victims.