Femicide in the news: How newspaper articles represent the killing of women & girls in Detroit and Ciudad Juárez

Study
North America

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Although women and girls are murdered at an alarming rate both in the United States and in Mexico, research and media attention tends to be concentrated in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, where femicides are considered to be an epidemic. This study examines a total of 102 newspaper articles where a female was murdered in Detroit, Michigan and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. The newspaper articles from both cities were analyzed as two separate cases in order to determine characteristics of newsworthiness and their implications for how these locations construct the issue of violence against women with respect to each city. The results of this research demonstrate that, although cases in Ciudad Juárez were more likely to be connected to the city’s epidemic of femicide, the news source used failed to adequately follow up on stories or provide thorough details. Contrary to this, the Detroit news source often provided an overwhelming amount of detail on cases and followed up sufficiently despite the lack of recognition to a larger social problem. Overall, the findings will reveal that the source selected to represent cases in Ciudad Juárez was more likely to relate incidents of femicide within the scope of violence against women, whereas the Detroit news source rarely even made a connection between cases.

External Authors

Danielle Branch
The public discussion on femicide and violence against women can improve by refusing to isolate incidents of domestic violence as though they are private matters. Informed reporting on incidents of violence against women are necessary to ensure that the public interprets violence against women as a serious crime, and as a cause for public concern.

 

 


 

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