Justice Reframed? A Comparative Critical Discourse Analysis of Twitter Campaigns and Print Media Discourse on Two High-Profile Sexual Assault Verdicts in Ireland and Spain

Bibliographic Data

ID5835183
AuthorsMuireann Prendergast (0000-0003-2739-222X, University of Limerick, corresponding author), Fergal Quinn (0000-0002-7425-2986, University of Limerick)
Year2020
Volume15
Issue10
Pages1613-1632
Publication date2020-07-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournalism Practice (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1751-2786 • E-ISSN: 1751-2794
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17512786.2020.1786436
OpenAlexW3039061493
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited51

Analyses of media discourses on judicial verdicts in sexual violence cases offer critical insight into how this topic is mediated. This study explores post-verdict mainstream and social media reaction to two high-profile verdicts in sexual assault cases in Ireland and Spain: #IBelieveHer, launched in March 2018 following the acquittal of four men accused of rape in Belfast, and #YoTeCreo which coalesced online after five men were given a lesser sentence for sexual abuse in Pamplona in April 2018. This study first identifies the stance taken by mainstream media where verdicts were contrary to "popular" opinion. Secondly, it analyses dominant hashtags that emerged on Twitter following both verdicts. Finally, it traces similarities and differences in discourse patterns identified on mainstream and social media platforms across both countries. For analysis, we employed a Critical Discourse Analysis-based theoretical framework (e.g.,KhosraviNik 2017 KhosraviNik, M. 2017. "Social Media Critical Discourse Studies (SM-CDS)." In Handbook of Critical Discourse Analysis, edited by J. Flowerdew and J.E. Richardson, 583-596. London: Routledge.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar], "Social Media Critical Discourse Studies (SM-CDS)." In Handbook of Critical Discourse Analysis, 582-596) with resources from Framing Analysis (e.g.,Goffman 1974 Goffman, E. 1974. Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience. Vancouver: Harvard University Press. [Google Scholar], Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience. Vancouver: Harvard University Press) for methodological purposes. Findings suggest Spanish print media contained greater debate around legal understandings of sexual violence while the Spanish Twitter campaign was outward-oriented and explicitly feminist. #IBelieveHer displayed a narrower focus, with the "celebrity" dimension to this case contributing to a personalised, less nuanced, discourse on social and print media and more polarised discussion

Critical discourse analysis · Frame analysis · Framing (construction · Mainstream · Crime, Deviance, and Social Control · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection

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