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Elder Abuse Coverage in Newspapers: Regional Differences and Its Comparison to Child-Adult Coverage

NCJ Number
223810
Journal
Journal of Elder Abuse & Neglect Volume: 20 Issue: 3 Dated: 2008 Pages: 265-275
Author(s)
Brian K. Payne Ph.D.; Jonathan Appel Ph.D.; DoHee Kim-Appel Ph.D.
Date Published
2008
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This study examined the way in which the media portrays older victims of abuse across newspapers and the extent of coverage in comparison to child abuse coverage.
Abstract
Findings show that elder abuse appears to be reported differently in different newspapers across the United States and receives far less attention than child abuse. The study found five possible answers as to why elder abuse is reported less often than child abuse. First, it may be possible that society values younger lives more than older lives, which may result in differential reporting by the press. Second, underreporting may reflect the fact that reporters and editors have less understanding about elder abuse. Third, child abuse is easier to grasp and subsequently define than elder abuse. Fourth, it may be that the differential reporting reflects the number of children and the number of elderly persons in society. The final reason that elder abuse cases may be reported less often in the press is that most cases will not go through the criminal justice system; most are processed by protective service agencies. Data were found using Lexis Nexis for a search of 11 national newspapers using the phrases child abuse and elder abuse. Additional searches were conducted using phrases related to elder abuse cases with different terminology. The newspapers searched included the San Diego Union-Tribune, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Buffalo News, the New York Daily News, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Boston Globe, the Seattle Times, the New York Times, the Houston Chronicle, the Denver Post, and the Boston Herald during a 5-year time frame (1999-2003). 2 figures, 1 table and 20 references

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