Newspaper framing of indicted U.S. athletes: Evaluating orientation, prominence and proximity

This study aims to examine cases of newspaper framing that have not been researched exhaustively or in a comparative manner. By using framing to compare cases that involve indicted athletes of various ages and races, this study analyzes content of how newspapers framed athletes amid allegations that they committed violent crimes. This can be accomplished by analyzing media coverage from a common national newspaper and through various newspapers local to the athlete’s team or the area where the alleged crime took place.The overarching research question of this study is the following: To what extent do prominence, proximity and orientation affect newspaper framing of indicted U.S. athletes? For the purpose of comparability, only violent crimes that implicate famous athletes, or college athletes attending a prestigious institution, are examined in this study. “Violent crime” is defined as murder, rape or any type of assault or domestic violence.This case examines the 2000 murder indictment of professional football player Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens, the 2006 rape indictment of three members of the Duke University lacrosse team, and the 2004 assault indictment of professional basketball player Ron Artest, who contributed to a brawl between fans and players during a National Basketball Association game between the Detroit Pistons and the Indiana Pacers.The Duke lacrosse case, as mentioned, has drawn some scholarly attention, but Lewis’ murder indictment and Artest’s assault charge have largely been forgotten, underreported and less researched. That justifies the relevance of this study, which compares collegiate and professional athletes of differing ages and races who have been charged with different types of crimes. Time has elapsed since the criminal proceedings ended, and one of the premises here is that newspapers presented frames that either heavily emphasized or neglected to mention the criminal charges from the last decade.

Name thesis:degree_name

Bachelor of Science of Journalism (BSJ)

Level thesis:degree_level

bachelors

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Journalism

Grantor dc:publisher

Ohio University Honors Tutorial College

Year dc:date

2012

Author dc:creator

• Stainbrook, Michael S.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Kalyango, Yusuf
• Debatin, Bernhard

• Communication
• Journalism
• Mass Communications
• Mass Media
• Newspapers
• Media framing
• athletes
• Ray Lewis
• Ron Artest
• Malice at the Palace
• Duke lacrosse case
• Reade Seligmann
• Collin Finnerty
• David Evans
• New York Times

Statement dc:rights

• unrestricted
• This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ouhonors1364387376

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:etd.ohiolink.edu:ouhonors1364387376