Changing Media Coverage of Violence Against Women: Changing Sourcing Practices

Abstract

This article reports on recent research concerning the use of sources by journalists reporting violence against women (VAW) in Australia. Until recently, VAW has been largely reported in the media by focusing on seemingly isolated events, rather than reporting VAW as a social problem. The inter-national literature and Australian empirical studies show that journalists rely on law enforcement personnel as the expert “voices” that inform debate in the media, with an absence of survivors of violence, advocates, service providers and researchers. We report here on recent research focusing on intensive interviews in two Australian newsrooms, both of which made decisions to campaign for social cha..