The Death of Jill Meagher: Crime and Punishment on Social Media

Abstract

In this paper we analyse the kidnapping, rape and murder of Jill Meagher to highlight a range of issues that emerge in relation to criminalisation, crime prevention and policing strategies on social media, issues that, in our opinion, require immediate and thorough theoretical engagement. An in-depth analysis of Jill Meagher's case and its newsworthiness in traditional media is a challenging task that is beyond the scope of this paper. Rather, the focus for this particular paper is on the process of agenda-building, particularly via social media, the impact of the social environment, and the capacity of 'ordinary' citizens to influence the agenda-defining process. In addition, we analyse the depth of the target audience on social media, the threat of a 'trial by social media', and the place of social media in the context of pre-crime and surveillance debates. Finally, we call for more audacious and critical engagement by criminologists and social scientists in addressing the challenges posed by new technologies.

Crime and Justice in Digital Society: Towards a ‘Digital Criminology’?

“…These opportunities lie across a variety of platforms such as social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), traditional media source (television, radio, print), and online media sources (news websites, blogs, Reddit). One example can be found in Milivojevic and McGovern's (2014) analysis of Facebook users' responses to Melbourne woman Jill Meagher's assault and murder in which they identify disruptive narratives from the public that shifted the traditional media's all-too familiar and predictable victim-blaming tropes to provide a counter-frame that re-focused the emphasis towards men's violence against women.…”

“TO ME ITS [SIC] REAL LIFE”: Secondary Victims of Homicide in Newer Media

“…Some initial exploratory research is beginning to emerge around this. Milivojevic and McGovern (2014), writing about the rape and murder of Australian woman Jill Meagher, suggest that established media organizations picked up on the case only after it gained momentum on Facebook-essentially arguing that newer media set the news agenda of older media. However, studies in this area are few and far between and the extent to which established news values (Jewkes, 2015) and ideal victimhood (Christie, 1986) influence this process needs to be further explored.…”

Examining the Accuracy of Print Media Representations of Homicide in Australia

“…However, more research is needed to examine whether the findings from the current study extend to media representations of homicide within other media sources such as radio, television and online material. In particular, online environments such as social media have facilitated audience participation in shaping media content (Surette 2015;Bruns 2011) and agenda-building (see Milivojevic & McGovern 2014). These issues need to be examined further in future research.…”