First Advisor

Mark Leymon

Term of Graduation

Summer 2024

Date of Publication

7-16-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (M.S.) in Criminology and Criminal Justice

Department

Criminology and Criminal Justice

Language

English

Subjects

Content Analysis, Eyewitnesses, Homicide, Media, Police

Physical Description

1 online resource (vi, 78 pages)

Abstract

Public tip lines provide the public to provide information to the police when there is an ongoing investigation. These public tip lines could increase investigations where the public is being made aware of the investigation, increasing the amount of information being brought forward. Research focuses on how tips reporting is similar to eyewitnesses in that individuals recall information. The literature illustrates how the media can influence the tips. The study is an exploratory content analysis looking at potential themes or patterns that emerged from analyzing the tips and patterns of the tip line and media files related to an Illinois homicide case from 2005. The results identified eight primary themes, five themes in the media files, and three regarding themes that were among the tip line. The results from the analysis ranged from racial bias to the media’s ability to create a narrative and how the influence of memories can be distorted. The discussion focuses on how the media can shape tips being reported. Limitations and implications are further discussed.

Rights

© 2024 Abigail Rose Torres

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/42645

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