Victimology. Reporting, suffering and victim profiles

Abstract or Introduction

As noted by Karmen (2013), media coverage has given victims with firsthand experiences a public platform to campaign for wider societal reforms. The Curleys was given national attention to their pain when their 10-year-old son, Jeffrey Curley, was murdered.

However, media are in a profit-oriented business. While the media's coverage brought national attention to the horrific crime, at the same time the media benefited from the coverage as well. The media needs advertisers and readers. Jeffrey's murder provided just that. "Shocking stories attract readers, listeners, and viewers," Karmen noted (p. 43). "Blaring headlines, gripping accounts, colorful phrases, memorable quotes, and other forms of media hype build the huge audiences that enable media enterprises to charge advertisers high rates."

Karmen went on to note that producers, editors, and reporters who seek to play up the human-interest angle may exploit the plight of persons who have suffered devastating wounds and losses, having found that crime stories attract a lot more notice if they are spiced up with a heavy dose of sex, gore, and raw emotions.

As noted by Macquarrie (2009), the phone constantly rang. "Reporters from all of the Boston media outlets asked for interviews," noted Macquarrie (p. 62) of the book entitled "The Ride."

The Curley's ordeal fits this mode.

The media gathered outside the Curley's house when news broke about Jeffrey's disappearance. According to Macquarrie (p. 62), "The news media's interest grew exponentially. Dozens of reporters had begun gathering outside the house by midafternoon, local television trucks had secured the few remaining parking spaces near the home. Microphones and notebooks seemed to be everywhere, and Jeffrey Curley's name, as well as his Little League pictures, began appearing regularly on TV throughout Greater Boston."