Through the Looking Glass: How the mass media represent, reflect and refract sexual crime in Ireland

Abstract

Sexual crimes, against adults and children, represent significant social problem in Ireland as indicated in the SAVI report (McGee et al., 2002). This paper examines the framing, representation and construction of sexual crime in the Irish Times 1993-2002 and RTE news reports. Drawing on the SAVI report as a national prevalence study of sexual abuse, and on the Gardaí sexual crime figures, the paper elaborates the extent to which media reports reflect and distort the reality of sexual crime. The media data are based on a content analysis of a random of sample of five weeks for each year in the study, fifty weeks in all. The findings focus on the differences that exist between prevalence study outcomes and the media representation of the extent and nature of sexual crime. The nature of coverage prevents the development of appropriate public outrage, allows abuse to continue, and works against the production of effective public policies. Finally, the paper examines a potential role for media content and media professionals in terms of creating better public policy.