This study uses critical discourse analysis to examine news reporting of two cases of intimate partner violence in Australia. The fine-grained analysis of newswriting and news-editing practices focuses particularly on the lexical features and referential strategies used to represent the perpetrator and the victim, the crime, and the location of the crime. Findings show that reporting often omits social context, sensationalizes, and acts to shift blame in ways that do not increase public understanding of the nature of domestic violence. These results build on international findings and add to the evidence base about media reporting of violence against women.

This article draws on the qualitative research component of a mixed-methods project exploring the Australian news media’s representation of violence against women. This critical discourse analysis is on print and online news reporting of the case of ‘Kings Cross Nightclub Rapist Luke Lazarus’, who in March 2015 was tried and convicted of raping a female club-goer in a laneway behind his father’s nightclub in Sydney, Australia. We explore the journalism discursive practices employed in the production of the news reports about the Lazarus trial. Our analysis shows how some lexical features, quoting strategies and structuring elements serve to minimise the victim’s experience while emphasising the adverse effects of the trial on the accused. Furthermore, we demonstrate how such practices allow for the graphic representation of the attack in a salacious manner while minimising the impact of the crime on the victim by selectively referencing her victim impact statement. We found some differences between print and online news stories about this case, some of which may be attributable to the greater space available to the telling of news stories online. We conclude that in news reporting of the Lazarus case, routine journalism discursive practices, such as the inverted pyramid news-writing structure and decisions about who and what to quote, serve simultaneously to diminish the victim’s experience while objectifying her. These results build on international findings about media reporting practices in relation to violence against women and add substantially to what we know about these practices in Australia.

This article deals with the management of noise in an academic library by outlining an evidence-based approach taken over seven years by the University of Limerick in the Republic of Ireland. The objective of this study was to measure the impact on library users of noise management interventions implemented from 2007 to 2014 through retrospective analysis of LibQUAL+® survey data. The data indicate that readers' perceptions of the provision of quiet space in the library greatly improved in that period. The study provides evidence showing the effectiveness of interventions, such as the development of a noise policy, zoning, rearranging of furniture, removal of service points from reader spaces, and structural improvements. There is evidence to indicate that the creation of a separate graduate reading room may be an effective noise management intervention not previously identified in the literature. Academic libraries struggling with noise problems and those with low scores on the LibQUAL+® quiet space question may find some helpful interventions that have an underlying evidence base to indicate their effectiveness when dealing with noise and the provision of quiet space.

This study explores the library equivalent of the towels on deck chairs phenomenon of students reserving library seats -the practice of leaving personal belongings unattended at a library study space for long periods of time, rendering the desk unavailable for use by others. It presents highly inefficient use of high value academic library space. This study measured the impact and effectiveness of a desk clearing intervention put in place to alleviate the space constraints caused by the practice. The components of this single site study were focus groups that explored student attitudes and motivations around desk reserving, a survey to assess user perceptions of the intervention and analysis of access gate data to identify behavioural changes following the intervention. Findings suggests that the phenomenon is a normal part of the student culture in the University library where this study is based. In addition to space constraints during busy periods, the sense of community, trust and peer support that users feel in the library appear to be contributory factors in desk reserving. The desk clearing initiative was introduced in response to user feedback, to maximise the availability of seats for the benefit of all users. It was successful in reducing the practice of seat reserving. Its impact was most noticeable in the early morning, where the practice of reserving seats for use later in the day disappeared. The initiative was welcomed by library users. The 'Every Seat Counts' campaign is now a regular part of the end of each semester in the THE ANONYMOUS INSTITUTION.

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