The “Rosie Batty Effect” and the Framing of Family Violence in Australian News Media

Motherhood, moral authority and the charismatic matriarch in the aftermath of lethal violence

“…Rosie Batty was a consistent and visible presence in the debates on responses to family, emerging just the day after Luke's death to meet journalists to state: I want it to be a lesson to everybody that family violence happens to everybody no matter how nice your house is, no matter how intelligent you are, it happens to anyone and everyone. (Rosie Batty cited in Hawley et al, 2018;Walklate et al, 2019b) Rosie's story brought attention to the unfortunate ordinariness of family violence, highlighting that the problem was not confined to a particular race, class or community. Her position as a White, middle-class woman who was well-educated and articulate in her experiences raised the profile of the issue across different communities.…”

Exploring the knowledge translation of domestic violence research: A literature review

“…Similarly, 'domestic violence' may be understood differently by different groups (Clarke & Wydall, 2015; Geffner, 2016; Hawley, Clifford, & Konkes, 2018; Murray & Powell, 2009). For the current study, domestic violence (DV) can be understood as violence between family members, typically where the perpetrator exercises power and control over another person (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2019).…”

Man to Man: Communicating Narrative about Violence Against Women in Sport Media

“…This observation is supported by the amount of literature that covers DV homicide or attempted homicide cases. I found ten articles that focused exclusively on covering reports of DV that resulted in homicide or attempted homicide (Bullock, 2007;Bullock, 2008;Comas-d'Argemir, 2015;Easteal, Holland, Breen, Vaughan, & Sutherland, 2019;Fairbairn & Dawson, 2013;Hawley, Clifford, & Konkes, 2018;Hernandez, 2018;Jiwani, 2009;Lee & Wong, 2019;Wong & Lee, 2018). Six articles stated that they covered news reports of DV resulting in homicide or attempted homicide and/or any other violent acts that did not result in homicide/attempted homicide (Carlyle et al, 2008;Isaacs, 2016;Lindsay-Brisbin, Deprince, & Welton Mitchell, 2014;Lloyd & Ramon, 2017;Nettleton, 2018;Smith & Bond, 2019).…”

“…12). The reliance on episodic framing is evident throughout the literature, with many authors choosing to identify and compare DV articles that use either an episodic or thematic frame (Bullock, 2007;Carlyle et al, 2008;Hawley et al, 2018;Lee & Wong, 2019;Lindsay-Brisbin et al, 2014;Meyer, 2018;Spencer & Limperos, 2018;Wong & Lee, 2018). Examining the frames used to present DV in media is seen as important because it contributes to who and what is seen as responsible for the behaviours leading up to and including the event (Bullock, 2008).…”

“…I divide the discussion of DV portrayal in media in the scholarly work into six themes in order of prevalence. These are: victim blaming (Bullock, 2007;Chancer, 2009;Easteal et al, 2019;Lee & Wong, 2019;Lindsay-Brisbin et al, 2014;Lloyd & Ramon, 2017;Nettleton, 2018); ignoring the social context/focusing on exceptionalism of the case (Bullock, 2007;Easteal et al, 2019;Hernandez, 2018;Lee & Wong, 2019;Lloyd & Ramon, 2017;Smith & Bond, 2019;Storer & Strohl, 2017); excusing or sympathizing with the perpetrator (Chancer, 2009;Lee & Wong, 2019;Smith & Bond, 2019); reliance on professional (i.e., police) sources (Bullock, 2007;Easteal et al, 2019;Hawley et al, 2018;Hernandez, 2018;Lindsay-Brisbin et al, 2014); representing the individuals involved as the main issue, rather than societal issues (Hernandez, 2018;Lindsay-Brisbin et al, 2014); and treating DV/VAW homicides like 'any other homicide' (Lee & Wong, 2019;Lloyd & Ramon, 2017). Each of these themes relies on the narrative provided by episodic framing.…”