Citation

Döring N, Walter R. J. Child Sex. Abus. 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Department of Economic Sciences and Media, Ilmenau University of Technology, Ilmenau, Germany.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/10538712.2019.1675841

PMID

31697189

Abstract

Sensationalist, stereotyping or otherwise biased media coverage of Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) can harm survivors and is detrimental to rational, solution-oriented public debates on the issue. While the Public Interest Model (PIM) of normative media theory promotes generic quality dimensions, there currently is no framework of issue-specific media quality for reporting about CSA. This paper aims at developing such a framework, working deductively with PIM and inductively with different expert sources regarding quality criteria (QC) for CSA reporting. Our data collection covered four types of expert sources: journalistic guidelines, scientific publications, surveys with survivors and with counseling centers. All sources were content analyzed using reliable codebooks (κ =.79-1.00). Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were run. We present a framework comprised of 10 QC. Eight inductively generated QC for CSA media coverage are (1) thematic framing, (2) non-sensational reporting, (3) use of appropriate terms, (4) inclusion of stakeholders, (5) non-stereotypical reporting, (6) inclusion of prevention/intervention, (7) ethical treatment of survivors in interviews and (8) lawful reporting. Two deductively generated QC are (9) balance of survivors' and alleged perpetrators' interests and (10) disclosure and reflection of official sources. Limitations and implications for future media research and journalistic practice are discussed.

Language: en

Keywords

Child sexual abuse; journalism; media coverage; media quality criteria; public interest model of media quality