Original scientific paper

https://doi.org/10.3935/ljsr.v30i1.496

CHILD ABUSE AND MEDIA ETHICS: REPRESENTATION OF VICTIMS AND THE USE OF ENDANGERING PRACTICES IN CROATIAN DAILY NEWSPAPERS

Dunja Majstorović orcid.org/0000-0001-6481-1564 ; Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Zagreb, Croatia
Stjepka Popović orcid.org/0000-0001-5072-1103 ; Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Gordana Vilović orcid.org/0000-0002-4852-5688 ; Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Zagreb, Croatia

Abstract

The paper presents the results of content analysis conducted on 489 articles published in three Croatian daily newspapers in the period of two years (1 January 2018 to 31 December 2019) on the topic of child abuse. The goals of the research were to investigate: the way child abuse was portrayed in Croatian newspapers, whether the journalists reported in a sensationalistic manner, how frequently they disclosed the victim’s identity or used other endangering practices. We also wanted to identify the predictors of using endangering practices. The results have shown that child abuse victims in newspaper articles were equally male and female, and that focus was mostly on the victims of physical and sexual abuse, while emotional abuse and neglect were almost invisible. The victim’s identity was disclosed in 64.6% of the articles (although mostly indirectly). As many as 78.5% of articles highlighted at least one background information on the victim, 24.7% of the articles contained victim-blaming information, while 74.2% of the articles provided details of the abusive event, a practice that could lead to re-traumatization of the victims. A child’s identity is most likely disclosed in the articles announced on the front page of the newspapers, in cases of domestic abuse, and in cases where the perpetrators were a child’s acquaintances.

Keywords

media representation; media ethics; child abuse; content analysis; daily newspapers

Hrčak ID:

306602

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/306602

Publication date:

10.7.2023.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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