Critically assess the media representation of domestic violence against men in the United
Kingdom.
This essay will critically assess the media representation of domestic violence against men in
the United Kingdom. The Home Office (2013) defines domestic violence as ‘any incident or
pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening behaviour, violence or abuse
between those aged 16 or over who are, or have been, intimate partners or family members
regardless of gender or sexuality’. Traditionally domestic violence has been seen as a crime
that is primarily committed by men against women. However it is important to assess
whether as many men are affected in the UK by this crime and, this essay will show that
men are also victims of domestic violence but may be ignored or afraid to speak out. This is
evident due to data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (NHS, 2015) showing that
at least 4 percent of men aged 16-59 experienced domestic abuse in 2014/15. Firstly, this
essay will discuss newsworthiness which will follow on to present a basis for the link to
domestic violence. Leading on from this, it will outline the comparison between media
representations and academic research of domestic violence against men.
According to the Chibnall (1819) newsworthiness is defined as news that is ‘sufficiently
interesting to be reported in a news bulletin’. Newsworthiness is created and formed from
news values; these values are known to be certain conditions that the media abide by to
determine which crime events are featured in the media and which are not. Galtung and
Ruge (1965) were the first to define these news values, however as technology and the
media has developed these news values have been modified. Jewkes (2004) presents twelve
news values; ‘threshold (importance), violence, simplification (removing shades of grey),
celebrity or high-status (notable individuals), individualism (individual focus or causality),
Kingdom.
This essay will critically assess the media representation of domestic violence against men in
the United Kingdom. The Home Office (2013) defines domestic violence as ‘any incident or
pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening behaviour, violence or abuse
between those aged 16 or over who are, or have been, intimate partners or family members
regardless of gender or sexuality’. Traditionally domestic violence has been seen as a crime
that is primarily committed by men against women. However it is important to assess
whether as many men are affected in the UK by this crime and, this essay will show that
men are also victims of domestic violence but may be ignored or afraid to speak out. This is
evident due to data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (NHS, 2015) showing that
at least 4 percent of men aged 16-59 experienced domestic abuse in 2014/15. Firstly, this
essay will discuss newsworthiness which will follow on to present a basis for the link to
domestic violence. Leading on from this, it will outline the comparison between media
representations and academic research of domestic violence against men.
According to the Chibnall (1819) newsworthiness is defined as news that is ‘sufficiently
interesting to be reported in a news bulletin’. Newsworthiness is created and formed from
news values; these values are known to be certain conditions that the media abide by to
determine which crime events are featured in the media and which are not. Galtung and
Ruge (1965) were the first to define these news values, however as technology and the
media has developed these news values have been modified. Jewkes (2004) presents twelve
news values; ‘threshold (importance), violence, simplification (removing shades of grey),
celebrity or high-status (notable individuals), individualism (individual focus or causality),
