Biased policing, martyrdom, white gratitude & brown pain: media narratives surrounding the Bruce McArthur case

Between 2010 - 2017, eight men from Toronto’s Gay Village went missing and later discovered murdered by Bruce McArthur, a 67-year-old gay, white man from Toronto. Upon McArthur’s 2018 arrest, allegations of racial bias and homophobia against Toronto Police resurfaced, questioning the safety and protection of Toronto’s LGBTQ2SIA+ community. Existing research on news media framing of crime victims lacks to understand how the news media frames queer victims of crime. This research sought to explore the emergent media narratives framing the McArthur case through a critical discourse analysis of 212 news items from the Toronto Sun, Toronto Star, and Xtra. Findings suggest that local media coverage of the McArthur case centered around three major narratives: (i) biased policing by Toronto Police, (ii) different portrayals of white victims and families versus brown victims and families, and (iii) the complexity of intersecting victim characteristics. The implications of these narratives are discussed.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Criminology

Grantor

University of Ontario Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2021

Author dc:creator

• Cashore, Maria

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Marques, Olga

• LGBTQ2SIA+
• Bruce McArthur
• Media framing
• Homicide narratives
• Critical discourse analysis

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10155/1336

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ontariotechu.scholaris.ca:10155/1336