1st Edition

Motherhood in the Media Infanticide, Journalism, and the Digital Age

By Barbara Barnett Copyright 2016
224 Pages
by Routledge

236 Pages
by Routledge

236 Pages
by Routledge

This book examines contemporary media stories about women who kill their children. By analyzing media texts, motherhood blogs, and journalistic interviews, the book seeks to understand better maternal violence and the factors that lead women to harm their children. The central thesis of this book is that media practices have changed dramatically during the past 50 years, as has society’s views on... Read more

Introduction: Murdering Mothers: From Tragic to Hot  1. Child Murders: A Global, Historical Perspective of an Enduring Practice  2. The Media Landscape: Changing Values, Changing Content  3. Mom Slays Tot; Film at 11  4. The Famous and Infamous: How the Media Construct Celebrity "Monster Moms"  5. The Storytellers’ Stories  6. New Media, New Stories? Mothers Use Social Media  Epilogue: Toward New Stories and New Forms of Storytelling

Biography

Barbara Barnett, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Kansas. She received her master’s degree from Duke University and her doctoral degree from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She formerly worked as a reporter and editorial writer for The Charlotte News and also as a writer for nonprofit health-care organizations, working in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Her research interests are media, gender, and violence.