“Teen Fled Danger into the Arms of Death”: The Political Agenda Setting Effect of Australian News Media Framing of Violence Against Women

Abstract

News framing of violence against women (VAW) has important implications for public understanding of this epidemic problem in Australian society, and in turn, politicians’ impetus to act. This article uses a frame-building model to analyze media reporting of three cases of VAW. The murder of Eurydice Dixon, who was killed by a stranger, was framed thematically and received substantial media attention. Conversely, Larissa Beilby and Qi Yu, who were killed in incidents of domestic violence (DV), were framed episodically and received less coverage. The impact of this differential media attention is compared to public and political responses to theorize that thematic frames create a larger political agenda-setting effect, despite DV presenting a larger societal problem than stranger violence.