News Media Representation of Domestic Violence Victims and Perpetrators

Introduction: Media representation of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) can influence public opinion and understanding of the phenomena and guide health policies (Strömberg, 2015; Leeper & Slothuus, 2019). The current review has the aim to explore and discuss international, scientific literature focused on the portrayal of IPV in written forms of news media. Methodology: Searching through EBSCO and PubMed, 2,435 studies were found and 41 were included in the current review. Results: Bias in the portrayal of IPV was found within the studies included. Newsworthy stories dominated IPV reporting within news media and a sensationalistic style was often employed (Smith et al., 2019), focusing on physical violence and Intimate Partner Homicide (Isaacs & Mthembu, 2018; Sims, 2008). Furthermore, contextual information was often limited, and the adoption of a thematic frame was rare, while news media were found to commonly employ an episodic frame (Gillespie et al., 2013; Lee, 2019). Law enforcement, attorneys, family, friends and neighbours were the most quoted sources in news articles, while IPV experts were rarely drawn on for information (Richards et al., 2014b). Regarding media representation of perpetrators, mainly regarding male abusers, news articles reported several reasons behind the violence with the consequence to justify and exonerate them from their responsibilities (Nettleton, 2011; Lee, 2019; Smith, 2019). Female perpetrators were instead found to be depicted, in some cases, as ‘mad’ or ‘bad’ people (Lloyd & Ramon, 2017; Pelvin, 2019). Finally, victim-blaming content emerged within many of the articles included (Lloyd & Ramon, 2017; Lee, 2019). Conclusion: The emerging biases need to be addressed to positively influence public opinion and to promote an adequate understanding of the phenomena. The focus on physical violence might blind potential victims and service providers to other widespread forms of violence. The adoption of an episodic frame as well as the focus on sensationalistic statements and newsworthy stories might distort the conception of IPV among readers, limiting their awareness and possibly helping normalize the phenomenon.