The Differential Representation of Latina and Black Female Victims in Front-Page News Stories: A Qualitative Document Analysis

• Author: Danielle C. Slakoff,Pauline K. Brennan
• DOI: 10.1177/1557085117747031
• Published date: 01 October 2019
• Date: 01 October 2019
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/1557085117747031

Feminist Criminology

2019, Vol. 14(4) 488 –516

© The Author(s) 2017

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DOI: 10.1177/1557085117747031

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Article

The Differential

Representation of Latina

and Black Female Victims

in Front-Page News Stories:

A Qualitative Document

Analysis

Danielle C. Slakoff1 and Pauline K. Brennan1

Abstract

Critical race feminists posit that perceptions of White and minority females differ,

which suggests that media representations will vary among female crime victims. To

explore this proposition, we examined front-page crime stories from four different

U.S. newspapers using Altheide’s approach to qualitative document analysis. We

found that stories about White female victims received more repeated coverage

and were more likely to contain sympathetic narratives than stories about Latina/

Black female victims. In contrast, Latina/Black female victims were more likely to be

portrayed as risk-takers and “bad” women, and their victimization was normalized

through descriptions of their unsafe environments.

Keywords

media issues, race, ethnicity, crime and victimization in popular culture, gender,

victimization

Introduction

Victimization rates for females vary by their race and ethnicity (Bureau of Justice

Statistics, 2009). When compared with both Latinas and Black women, White women

report the lowest levels of intimate partner violence (Nowotny & Graves, 2013). Black

women also experience higher rates of sexual assault (Bureau of Justice Statistics,

1University of Nebraska Omaha, NE, USA

Corresponding Author:

Danielle C. Slakoff, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Nebraska Omaha,

CPACS 218, 6001 Dodge Street, Omaha, NE 68182-0149, USA.

Email: dslakoff@unomaha.edu

747031FCXXXX10.1177/1557085117747031Feminist CriminologySlakoff and Brennan

research-article2017

Slakoff and Brennan 489

2009) and are more likely to be victims of homicide than White women (U.S.

Department of Justice, 2011). Despite the higher likelihood of victimization for minor-

ity women, media outlets tend to focus on the victimization of White women and girls.

In particular, missing or murdered White women and children get considerable atten-

tion, a phenomenon known as the “missing white woman [or girl] syndrome” (Moody,

Dorries, & Blackwell, 2009, p. 12).

The media’s focus on specific crime victims may influence perceptions about their

worth as well as the actions taken by criminal justice officials. For example, research

shows police are more inclined to work to solve a case if it has received media cover-

age (Lee, 2005). And, in another study, offenders who raped White women received

sentences 8 years longer, on average, than those who raped Black women (Crenshaw,

1991). Furthermore, researchers find defendants are more likely to receive the death

penalty if the victim is White, despite data that show minorities are more likely to be

homicide victims (ForsterLee, ForsterLee, Horowitz, & King, 2006; Lee, 1998;

Paternoster, 1984). And, defendants convicted of killing White females are more likely

to face the death penalty than defendants convicted of killing others (Holcomb,

Williams, & Demuth, 2004).

Although it is possible that White and minority female victims of crime may receive

differential news coverage, few researchers have empirically examined such a possi-

bility. There are studies about the effects of a victim’s gender or race in media accounts,

but very few scholars have specifically examined how a female victim’s race/ethnicity

may influence the narrative content in a story about her victimization. The limited

existing research focuses on specific types of female victims (e.g., rape victims, miss-

ing women, victims of a serial killer, victims of domestic homicide), with empirical

questions of interest and employed methodologies varying across studies. A general

conclusion that cuts across much of the research is that White female victims tend to

have their innocence or lack of culpability highlighted, whereas their minority coun-

terparts are somehow blamed for their victimization (see, for example, Ardovini-

Brooker & Caringella-MacDonald, 2002). The thematic content of crime story

narratives may differ for White and minority women in other ways, but no researcher

has yet empirically explored such a possibility.

Moreover, only two studies to date have explored differences in coverage intensity

based on the race/ethnicity of a female victim. In their examinations of stories about

missing women, Moody and colleagues (2009) found more follow-up stories about

White women than Black women and Gilchrist (2010) found 3.5 times more news

coverage about White than Aboriginal women. There may also be differences in the

extent to which stories about victims are local or national in scope. Although they did

not consider differences in story scope about female victims, Jeanis and Powers (2016)

found that missing women received more national coverage than missing men.

The use of photographs in crime stories may also differ by a female victim’s race/

ethnicity. To date, however, only Gilchrist (2010) considered such a possibility and

found White female victims were more likely to have photographs that accompanied

their stories. An analysis of photographs is important because images are used to draw

readers into the story (Rossler, Bomhoff, Haschke, Kersten, & Muller, 2011). In