Date of Award
Spring 5-11-2018
Degree Type
Capstone Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Studies (BA)
Department
Cultural Studies
First Advisor
Douglas Reichert Powell
Second Advisor
Rob Watkins
Third Advisor
Kenneth Daley
Abstract
This project analyzes the consolidation of crime coverage on the Chicago Tribune's digital platform with the aim to question the formulaic tendencies of news media as an institution. Specifically, the study examines the production of violent crime coverage in urban news media as following a particular "crime script" which, through the script's reliance on racial imagery in the form of mug shots, proliferates toxic correlations between the concepts 'black' and 'criminal.' Paired with elements of a political economic analysis, the project argues that this temp lated production of crime news mixed with news corporations' pursuit of profit ultimately works to racialize political discourse and marginalize communities of coior. This problematization of the morally upstanding nature of truthful, objective journalism in a capitalist system calls into question how journalists today can more thoughtfully report on the communities they serve and help restore a sense of virtue in the work that they do. 32 pages.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Crosson, Mackenzie, "A Scripted Approach to Violent Crime Coverage: How News Media Strikes Fear and Racializes Political Discourse" (2018). Cultural Studies Capstone Papers. 27.
https://digitalcommons.colum.edu/cultural_studies/27