First Advisor

Kathryn Farr

Term of Graduation

Spring 2000

Date of Publication

6-15-2000

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.) in Sociology

Department

Sociology

Language

English

Subjects

Mass media and criminal justice -- Oregon -- Portland, Women -- Crimes against -- Oregon -- Portland, Serial murders -- Oregon -- Portland, Social problems -- Press coverage -- Oregon -- Portland

Physical Description

1 online resource (84 pages)

Abstract

Media portrayals of social problems both reflect and shape public perceptions of those problems. Such coverage can have bona fide consequences for what is actually done to combat a particular social problem. Using a constructionist approach, which focuses on how problems are defined and framed by claimsmakers, this study analyzes coverage of a local murder case by The Oregonian, the only major newspaper in the state of Oregon. The case involved the serial murders of three women, each of whose bodies was dumped in a large forested park in the city of Portland.

The analysis includes the content of coverage of the "Forest Park" case supplemented by interviews with the two key reporters in the case, as well as a brief thematic examination of a comparative case. The victims in the primary and supporting cases were episodically homeless and had links to drugs and prostitution. The study examines how the victims' images were constructed, and how they evolved over time. The study also examines the role of claimsmaking in defining the case as a representation of a social problem.

Findings indicate that the victims' images in the focal case, after an initial nondescript portrayal, are recontextualized as tainted but sympathetic, normal women. The case becomes 'typified' as the social problem of female homelessness. Analysis of the newspaper content reveals a shift from a portrayal of the murder case as a typical crime story to a portrayal in which the key actors in the case (the victims, the alleged killer, the police, and homeless shelter personnel) are depicted as representations of the problem of inadequate shelter space for homeless women. The case became an opportunity for claimsmakers to assert their position on homelessness and homeless shelter funding. The newspaper coverage also appears to have influenced local policy action about funding homeless shelters. An increase in article content featuring claims from homeless shelter advocates was soon followed by a report that city funds would be reallocated to fund new shelter programs.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/44640

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