Exploring the relationship between cold case homicide survivors and the media

Abstract

After a homicide, survivors are thrust into relationships with a myriad of professionals. For cold case homicide survivors, these relationships are likely to develop into long-term, persistent interactions. Interviews from 24 cold case homicide survivors in the United States reveal that media professionals are often the source of additional trauma, and yet, most survivors expressed a need for continued communication and continued coverage of their case. Utilizing social constructivist grounded theory for data collection and analysis, common themes emerging from the survivors’ stories include inadequate coverage of the case, inaccurate portrayal of victim or information, negative reactions to the media, and positive experiences and desire for long-term coverage. Implications and recommendations for survivors and media professionals are detailed within.

“Everything Changes”: Listening to Homicidally Bereaved Individuals’ Practice and Intervention Needs

“…In addition, the media intrusion was described as negatively impacting the individuals’ lives. Our findings are consistent with existing limited research findings relating to negative media impacts, which have led to suggestions that training on “emotional literacy” should be provided to allow journalists to engage with and empower homicidally bereaved individuals (Malone, 2007a; Englebrecht, Mason, & Adams, 2016; Wellman, 2016).…”

Teorizar com a Grounded Theory: um caminho metodológico para as pesquisas em comunicação

“…Como segunda exemplificação, se indica a investigação de Ashley R. P. Wellman (2018). Essa pesquisadora, a partir do contexto estadunidense, igualmente, utilizando a grounded theory construtivista, edificou uma teoria que Teorizar com a Grounded Theory explora a relação entre pessoas sobreviventes de homicídio de casos arquivados e a mídia, especificamente, buscando explicar como essas pessoas percebem a cobertura, o tratamento e o relacionamento que têm ou não estabelecido com a mídia.…”

“With Constructivist Grounded Theory You Can’t Hide”: Social Justice Research and Critical Inquiry in the Public Sphere

“…, access to higher education (Keane, 2011(Keane, , 2012(Keane, , 2015, effects of neoliberalism (Elliott, 2014;Hadley, 2015;Mueller-Hirth, 2017), intergenerational solidarity and the state (Timonen, Scharf, Conlon, & Carney, 2012), the media (Wellman, 2018), nation-building (Lee, 2015), national identity (Rivera, 2008), sustainability (Daub, 2010), and climate change (Beck, Ditzel, & Ganter, 2015).…”