If it bleeds, it leads? Changing death coverage in The New Zealand Herald

Abstract

Death has become more prominent in the news in the past four decades. Articles about a murder or accident, which in the past may have featured on page five or seven of daily newspapers, now often take up all of the front page of The New Zealand Herald. New categories have also emerged, including the threat of death or near death. This is evident from the increase in human interest stories which not only report the details of the incident but also capture emotion. This article follows the increased visibility of death stories on the front page of New Zealand's largest newspaper, The New Zealand Herald, and investigates how that coverage has changed over time. International scholars have examined the visibility of death in the media closely. However, research is sparse about exactly how this large body of work correlates with New Zealand print media. Therefore, this study aims to close this gap by using content analysis to discuss the prominence of death in The New Zealand Herald over four decades from the 1970s, and the reasons for increased coverage of threats of death or near death.

Indigeneity matters: Portrayal of women offenders in New Zealand newspapers

“…Abel (1997) also confirmed that New Zealand news media tend to portray Māori, who pursue legal claims and democratic action, as a threat to the nation. Moreover, Barnes and Edmonds (2015) found that the number of New Zealand Herald front-page stories involving death doubled between 1973 and 2013 and that polarization and demonization are reflected in these stories as an overall trend from a broadsheet to a tabloid newspaper:…”

“…Abel (1997) also confirmed that New Zealand news media tend to portray Māori, who pursue legal claims and democratic action, as a threat to the nation. Moreover, Barnes and Edmonds (2015) found that the number of New Zealand Herald front-page stories involving death doubled between 1973 and 2013 and that polarization and demonization are reflected in these stories as an overall trend from a broadsheet to a tabloid newspaper:The way the death story is told has also changed in the Herald, from fact-based articles that simply report the facts – who, where, when, why and how – to narratives that capture emotions and feelings, reflecting the age-old entertainment value of a good story which features villains and heroes, and reinforcing societal values that good wins out. To make these articles all the more appealing and personable, strong imagery appears to have become the deciding factor in news selection.…”

Rolling with the Punches: Why It Is Ethical to Practise ‘Death Knocks’

“…(Thomas, 2008, p. 315) One of the challenges of the modern media is how death is covered (Barnes & Edmonds, 2015;Duncan, 2012;Kitch, 2000). Rather than reporting the basic facts-the 'who, where, when, why and how' details, for example, after a fatalityjournalists are now expected to reflect the pain and suffering of the bereaved.…”

“…A survey of journalism programmes in Australia and New Zealand (Barnes, 2015) found that role-play was seldom used in trauma training. Questionnaires were sent to curriculum leaders or heads of schools at the 31 institutions in both countries with members of the Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia.…”

More than mortality data: a news media analysis of COVID-19 deaths in Aotearoa, New Zealand

“…Contrary to the long-standing view that Western societies are characterised by death denial, recent scholarship has focused on the increasing attention paid to death, dying and bereavement in mainstream media (Seale 2004;Turner and Caswell 2020). Although thousands of people die every day, traumatic deaths of young people are often considered the most newsworthygiving rise to the unfortunate observation 'If it bleeds, it leads' (Barnes and Edmonds 2015). The way deaths are described in the media both reflects and shapes societal death attitudes (Hanusch 2010; Fishman 2017) as well as offering psychological instruction around how the public ought to feel about reported events (Walter et al 1995).…”