News Framing of School Shootings: Journalism and American Social Problems

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Description

News discourse helps us understand society and how we respond to traumatic events. News Framing of School Shootings: Journalism and American Social Problems provides insights into how we come to understand broad societal issues like gun control, the influence of violent media on children, the role of parents, and the struggles of teenagers dealing with bullying. This book evaluates the news framing of eleven school shootings in the United States between 1996 and 2012, including the traumatic Columbine and Sandy Hook events. Michael McCluskey explores reasons behind news coverage patterns, including differences in medium, news audience political ideology, the influence of political actors and other sources, and the contextual elements of each shooting.

Reviews

This book is an essential contribution to the study of news framing and frame building. Dr. McCluskey impeccably weaves in many complex concepts such as religion, guns, culture wars, journalistic norms, and news discourse in the United States to tell a compelling story with empirical data. A must-read for academics, journalists, and the public. -- Porismita Borah, Washington State University
Michael McCluskey is a former journalist with a solid handle on news media framing of school shootings. His multi-level analysis of each event illustrates how influential media were in propagating these tragedies and how black and white the coverage was, forcing readers to choose one side or another without reviewing the gray lines in the middle. -- Cory L. Armstrong, University of Alabama
Couched in key normative questions of the dayhow the news media might be able to inform society, uphold best practices in covering trauma, and shape public policyMcCluskeys broad-spectrum study offers a nuanced look at media frames of rampage school shootings. It not only assesses media coverage of the 5 Ws of school shootings, but also tackles deeper questions about the roots of these frames. The book illustrates how the larger narrative about school shootings is linked to news organizations and professional normsand how journalism ultimately can shape society. -- Patricia Moy, University of Washington

Author Bio

Michael McCluskey is associate professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.