Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-wq484 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T23:53:56.683Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Constructed Peace: Narratives of Suture in the News Media

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2014

Jody Lyneé Madeira
Jody Lyneé Madeira
Affiliation:
1607 Collin Drive, Allen, TX 75002 U.S.A.,jodymadeira@comcast.net
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In the aftermath of violent crime, survivors are confronted by questions of comprehension, healing, normalcy, accountability, and restoration. These same issues are communicated to audiences via mass media coverage of the crime and ensuing legal proceedings that focus upon survivors while they are in the public eye—and while those suspected of the crime are in the defendant's chair. Such stories bring a human face to the innocents most affected by the outcome of the proceedings, relaying their involvement in and response to legal developments from arrest to execution. This paper examines these chronicles through the lens of narrative theory, practices integral to human communication and memory. It discusses how the mass media makes use of narrative practices in covering crises, events that in effect demand narration. This paper then focuses upon the suturing potential of narrative, its ability to knit together understandings of crises into beginnings, endings, and points in between. This discussion is illustrated by a content analysis of stories covering Dennis and Judy Shepard, whose son Matthew was brutally slain in 1998, from the time of the murder to the prosecution of the killers and beyond.

Résumé

Après tout crime violent, des questions de compréhension, de guérison, de normalité, d'imputabilité et de rétablissement se posent aux survivants. Les mêmes enjeux sont communiqués aux auditoires par la couverture que font les médias du crime et des procédures judiciaires tant qu'ils demeurent dans l'oeil du public et que les suspects sont sur le banc des accusés. De telles histoires donnent un visage humain aux premiers concernés par l'issue du procès et relatent leur implication et réaction au déroulement judiciaire, du moment de l'arrestation jusqu'à l'exécution. Cet article examine de telles chroniques dans la perspective de la théorie du récit, intégrant la communication et la mémoire humaine. Il analyse comment les médias de masse utilisent les pratiques narratives pour couvrir des crises, des événements qui exigent d'être mis en récit. Il se concentre ensuite sur le potentiel du récit de suturer, de nouer les différentes compréhensions de crises en débuts, fins et points intermédiaires. Une analyse de contenu de la couverture de presse de Dennis et Judy Shepard, du moment de l'assassinat brutal de leur fils Matthew, en 1998, à la condamnation des meurtriers et au-delà, illustre ce débat.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Law and Society / La Revue Canadienne Droit et Société , Volume 19 , Issue 2 , August 2004 , pp. 93 - 125
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Law and Society Association 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Barthes, R. & Duisit, L., “An Introduction to the Structural Analysis of Narrative” (1975) 6:2New Literary History 237 at 237.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

2 Schank, R.C., Tell Me a Story: A New Look at Real and Artificial Memory (New York: Scribner, 1990) at 16.Google Scholar

3 Kermode, F., The Sense of an Ending: Studies in the Theory of Fiction (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000) at 4.Google Scholar

4 Ibid. at 7, 11.

5 Connerton, Paul, How Societies Remember (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1989) at 17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

6 Ibid. at 16–17.

7 Kermode, supra note 3 at 57.

8 Ibid.

9 Connerton, supra note 5 at 21.

10 Ibid.

11 Schank, supra note 2 at 44.

12 Ibid.

13 Ibid. 114.

14 Ibid. 117.

15 Ibid. 160.

16 Ibid. 159.

17 Connerton, supra note 5 at 21.

18 Ibid. at 21.

19 Schank, supra note 2 at 53.

20 Ibid. at 10.

21 Ibid. at 12.

22 Ibid. at 41.

23 Ibid. at 115.

24 Ibid. at 116.

25 Ibid. at 121.

26 Ibid. at 118, 121.

27 Ibid. at 122.

28 Connerton, supra note 5 at 27.

29 Schank, supra note 2 at 118.

30 Ibid. 124.

31 Ibid. 192.

32 Ibid. 194.

33 Ibid. 207.

34 Ibid. 211.

35 Jamieson, K. H. & Waldman, P., The Press Effect: Politicians, Journalists, and the Stories That Shape the Political World (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002) at 22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

36 Schank, supra note 2 at 149.

37 Ibid. at 154, 159.

38 Ibid. at 168.

39 Ibid. at 168.

40 Ibid. at 168–69.

41 Labov, W. and Fanshel, D., Therapeutic Discourse: Psychotherapy as Conversation (New York: Academic Press, 1977) at 109.Google Scholar

42 Ibid. at 106.

43 Linde, Charlotte, Life Stories: The Creation of Coherence (New York: Oxford University Press 1993) at 127.Google Scholar

44 Ibid. at 128.

45 Labov & Fanshel, supra note 41 at 106.

46 Ibid. at 107.

47 Ibid.

48 Ibid. at 108.

49 Ibid.

50 Ibid. at 109.

51 Lewis, J., “The Absence of Narrative: Boredom and the Residual Power of Television News” (1994) 41:102Journal of Narrative and Life History 25 at 27.Google Scholar

52 Ibid.

53 Ibid.

54 Ibid. at 28.

55 Ibid.

56 Schudson, M., “The Politics of Narrative Form: The Emergence of News Conventions in Print and Television” (1982) 111:4Daedalus 97 at 98.Google Scholar

57 Darnton, Robert, “Writing News and Telling Stories” (1975) 104:2Daedalus 192Google Scholar; Schudson, Ibid. at 98.

58 Schudson, supra note 56 at 98.

59 Ibid.

60 Jacobs, R. N., Race, Media, and the Crisis of Civil Society: From Watts to Rodney King (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000) at 8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

61 Alexander, J. & Smith, P., “Discourse of American Civil Society” (1993) 22 Theory & Society 151 at 156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

62 Ibid.

63 Zelizer, B., Covering the Body: The Kennedy Assassination, the Media, and the Shaping of Collective Memory (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992) at 34.Google Scholar

64 Fine, G. A. & White, R. D., “Creating Collective Attention in the Public Domain: Human Interest Narratives and the Rescue of Floyd Collins” (2002) 81:1Social Forces 57 at 60.Google Scholar

65 Hall, S., “Encoding, Decoding” in Hall, S. et al. eds., Culture, Media, Language (London: Hutchinson, 1980) at 129.Google Scholar

66 Jacobs, supra note 60 at 9.

67 Ibid.

68 Ibid.

69 Ibid.

70 Galtung, J. & Ruge, M., “Structuring and Selecting News” in Cohen, S. & Young, J., eds., The Manufacture of News (Beverly Hills, California: Sage, 1973) at 57.Google Scholar

71 Ibid.

72 Ibid.

73 Ibid.

74 Jamieson & Waldman, supra note 35 at xiii.

75 Schudson, supra note 56 at 98–99.

76 Jamieson & Waldman, supra note 35 at xiv.

77 Gans, Herbert, Deciding What's News (New York: Pantheon Books, 1979) at 52.Google Scholar

78 Kermode, supra note 3 at 80.

79 Ibid.

80 Ibid. at 94.

81 Ibid.

82 Gans, supra note 77 at 40.

83 Aust, C. & Zillmann, D., “Effects of Victim Exemplification in Television News on Viewer Perception of Social Issues” (1996) 73:4Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 787 at 787.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

84 Ibid.

85 Gans, supra note 77 at 41.

86 Kermode, supra note 3 at 94.

87 Jacobs, supra note 60 at 9.

88 Gans, supra note 77 at 50.

89 Ibid.

90 Ibid.

91 Ibid.

92 Jacobs, supra note 60 at 9.

93 Readings, Bill, Introducing Lyotard: Art and Politics (New York: Routledge 1991) at 65.Google Scholar

94 Ibid. at 81.

95 Ibid. at 77.

96 Lyotard, J. & Thébaud, J., Just Gaming, trans. by Godzich, (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1979) at 6.Google Scholar

97 Readings, supra note 93 at 81.

98 Ibid. 84.

99 Ibid. at xxxi.

100 Ibid. at xxxi, 57.

101 Ibid. at 57, 60.

102 Lyotard, J., The Postmodern Condition, 1st ed., trans, by Bennington, & Massumi, (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Pres, 1979) at xxiii.Google Scholar

103 Readings, supra note 93 at 64.

104 Ibid. at 65.

105 Bennington, Geoffrey, Writing the Event (New York: Columbia University Press, 1988) at 108.Google Scholar

106 Ibid.

107 Ibid. at 109.

108 Lyotard, J., Instructions païennes (Paris: Gallilée, 1977) at 206–07.Google Scholar

109 Bennington, supra note 105 at 110.

110 Ibid.

111 Lyotard, supra note 108 at 19.

112 Lyotard, J., Le Différend §§22–23 (Paris: Minuit, 1984).Google Scholar

113 Ibid.

114 Readings, supra note 93 at xxx.

115 Ibid.

116 Lyotard, supra note 112 at §§22–23.

117 Kermode, supra note 3 at 96.

118 Ibid. at 57.

119 Fine & White, supra note 64 at 59.

120 Ibid.

121 Ibid.

122 Ibid.

123 Ibid..

124 Kermode, supra note 3 at 105.

125 Cover, R., “Nomos and Narrative” (1983) 97 Harv. L. Rev. 4 at 5.Google Scholar

126 Ibid. at 7.

127 Ibid. at 8.

128 Ibid.

129 Ibid. at 34–35.

130 Ibid. at 68.

131 Fox, G. L., “Families in the Media: Reflections on the Public Scrutiny of Private Behavior” (1999) 61:4Journal of Marriage and the Family 826.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

132 Ibid. at 826–27.

133 Lewis, supra note 51 at 30.

134 Pringle, P., “Wyoming Town Braces For Start of Gay Killer Trial” The Toronto Star (22 March 1999).Google Scholar

135 Kenworthy, T., “After Slaying, Community Takes a Punishing Look at Itself” The Washington Post (5 April 1999) A3.Google Scholar

136 Ibid.

137 Pringle, supra note 134.

138 Gorov, L., “Shepard Trial Near, Town on the Defensive” The Boston Globe (5 April 1999) A3.Google Scholar

139 Kenworthy, supra note 135.

140 Janofsky, M., “A Year after Gay Man's Killing, Laramie Braces for a Second Trial,” The New York Times (11 October 1999) A10.Google Scholar

141 Gonzalez, M., “Beating Death Touches Quiet Community; Yellow Ribbons Adorn Casper Fences, Shops” Denver Rocky Mountain News (17 October 1998) 7A.Google Scholar

142 Ibid.

143 Kenworthy, supra note 135.

144 Gorov, supra note 138.

145 Ibid.

146 O'Driscoll, P., “Guilty Plea in Wyo. Murder Halts Trial, But Not Emotions” USA Today (6 April 1999) 9A.Google Scholar

147 McCullen, K., “Verdict Brings Measure of Relief to Some Residents of Laramie” Denver Rocky Mountain News (4 November 1999) 7A.Google Scholar

148 Gonzalez, supra note 141.

149 Gorov, supra note 138.

150 Brooke, J., “Wyoming City Braces for Gay Murder Trial” The New York Times (4 April 1999) Sec. 1 p. 14.Google Scholar

151 Gorov, supra note 138.

152 Ibid.

153 Brooke, supra note 150.

154 Kenworthy, supra note 135.

155 Brooke, supra note 150.

156 Driscoll, supra note 146.

157 Kenworthy, supra note 135.

158 Gorov, supra note 138.

159 Ibid.

160 Janofsky, supra note 140.

161 McCullen, supra note 147.

162 Janofsky, supra note 140.

163 Brooke, supra note 150.

164 Kenworthy, supra note 135.

165 Ibid.

166 Clinton, W.J., “Statements on the Verdict in the Matthew Shepard Murder Trial” (8 November 1999) Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, vol. 35 issue 44 (November 8, 1999) at 2241.Google Scholar

167 Ibid.

168 “Killer of Gay Student Gets Life Term With No Appeals; Victim's Parents Support Plea Bargain ‘To Begin the Healing Process’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch (5 November 1999) A5 [“Killer of Gay Student”].

169 Crosson, J., “Bashing Verdict; Justice for Matthew; Drop-out Jailed for Life For ‘Heinous’ Murder of Gay Student” The Advertiser (7 April 1999).Google Scholar

170 Franke-Folstad, K., “Shepards Guide Merciful Flock” Denver Rocky Mountain News (7 November 1999) A6.Google Scholar

171 “Mercy in Wyoming; Matthew Shepard's Parents Spare Their Son's Killer” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (10 November 1999) A-22 [“Mercy in Wyoming”].

172 “Excerpts from Statement by Father” The New York Times (5 November 1999) A22 [“Excerpts”].

173 Brooke, supra note 150.

174 Ibid.

175 Janofsky, supra note 140.

176 McCullen, K., “Gay Student's Parents Agree OK Deal to Spare Killer; McKinney Gets Two Life Sentences for Murder” Denver Rocky Mountain News (5 November 1999) A7Google Scholar; “Excerpts,” supra note 172.

177 Kenworthy, T., “‘I'm Going to Grant You Life’; Parents of Slain Gay Student Agree to Prison for His Killer” The Washington Post (5 November 1999) A02.Google Scholar

178 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, supra note 168.

179 Crosson, supra note 168.

180 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, supra note 168; Janofsky, M., “Parents of Gay Obtain Mercy For His Killer” The New York Times (5 November 1999) A1Google Scholar; McCullen, supra note 184; Kenworthy, supra note 176; O'Driscoll, P., “Shepard Family Accepts Killer's Plea Bargain” USA Today (5 November 1999) 2AGoogle Scholar; Franke-Folstad, supra note 170; Littwin, M., “Shepards Change the Tone of Tolerance Debate” Denver Rocky Mountain News (7 November 1999) 3BGoogle Scholar; Wickham, D., “A Vicious Hate Crime Ends With Surprise Reprieve” USA Today (8 November 1999) 27AGoogle Scholar; “Mercy in Wyoming,” supra note 171; Matthew Shepard's Parents Spare Their Son's Killer” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (10 November 1999) A-22.

181 Janofsky, ibid.

182 Wickham, supra note 180.

183 Janofsky, supra note 180.

184 McCullen, supra note 176.

185 “A Legacy of Mercy and Tolerance” st. Petersburg Times (7 November 1999) 2D [“Legacy”].

186 Littwin, supra note 180.

187 Janofsky, supra note 180.

188 O'Driscoll, supra note 180.

189 Franke-Folstad, supra note 170.

190 Wickham, supra note 180.

191 Kenworthy, supra note 177.

192 “Legacy,” supra note 185.

193 Janofsky, supra note 180; McCullen, supra note 176.

194 Littwin, supra note 180.

195 Janofsky, supra note 180.

196 McCullen, supra note 176.

197 O'Driscoll, supra note 180.

198 Ibid.

199 Crosson, supra note 169.

200 McCullen, supra note 176.

201 Ibid.

202 Janofsky, supra note 180.

203 Kenworthy, supra note 177.

204 Janofsky, supra note 180; Kenworthy, supra note 177.

205 “Mercy in Wyoming,” supra note 171.

206 O'Driscoll, supra note 180.

207 Crosson, supra note 169.

208 “Killer of Gay Student,” supra note 168.

209 Ibid.; Janofsky, supra note 180.

210 McCullen, supra note 176.

211 “Excerpts,” supra note 172.

212 “Legacy,” supra note 185.

213 Weiskind, R., “Gay Victim's Mother Strives to Replace Hate with Respect” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (22 October 2000) B–3.Google Scholar

214 O'Driscoll, supra note 146.

215 Crosson, supra note 169.

216 O'Driscoll, supra note 146.

217 O'Driscoll, supra note 180.

218 Crosson, supra note 169.

219 Kenworthy, supra note 177.

220 Crosson, supra note 169.

221 “Killer of Gay Student,” supra note 168.

222 McCullen, supra note 176.

223 O'Driscoll, supra note 180.

224 Janofsky, supra note 180.

225 Crosson, supra note 169.

226 Kennedy, H., “Gay Martyr Role a Bad Fit, Slain Student's Mom Says” New York Daily News (4 February 1999) 69.Google Scholar

227 Ibid.

228 Kenworthy, T., “Slain Gay Man's Mother Tries to Show Hate's ‘Real’ Cost” The Washington Post (October 10, 1999) A02.Google Scholar

229 Janofsky, supra note 180.

230 “Excerpts,” supra note 172.

231 Franke-Folstad, supra note 170.

232 Carnahan, A., “Shepard Death Anniversary to Pass Quietly; Gay Groups Plan Vigil, Hike, But No Protests” Denver Rocky Mountain News (7 October 1999) 7A.Google Scholar

233 Janofsky, M., “Gay Man's Death Leads to Epiphany for Wyoming Officer” The New York Times (30 September 2000) A9.Google Scholar

234 “Killer of Gay Student,” supra note 168.

235 Kenworthy, supra note 180.

236 O'Driscoll, supra note 180.

237 “Legacy,” supra note 185.

238 Littwin, supra note 180.

239 Ibid.

240 Wickham, supra note 180.

241 Denizet-Lewis, B., “Gay Rights Advocates Reflect on Mixed Year; Laws, Changed Mind-Set Came After Killing” The San Francisco Chronicle (12 October 1999) A17.Google Scholar

242 Weiskind, supra note 213.

243 Janofsky, supra note 233.

244 Denizet-Lewis, supra note 241.

245 Ken worthy, supra note 228.

246 McCullen, K., “Shepard Foundation Seeks End to Hatred; Family Honors Slain Son in Wyoming” Denver Rocky Mountain News (14 December 1998) 7A.Google Scholar

247 Weiskind, supra note 213.

248 Last, S., “Mother of Murdered Gay Student Seeks Expanded Hate-Crime Law” The Houston Chronicle (12 May 1999) A3.Google Scholar

249 Kenworthy, supra note 228.

250 Hersher, E., “Stonewall; Gay Pride Resonate in Oakland; Slain Man's Mother Offers Message of Love” The San Francisco Chronicle (2 September 1999) A21.Google Scholar

251 McCullen, K., “Slaying Prompts Mother to Fight Hate; Judy Shepard Travels U.S. to ‘Put a Face’ on Gay Strife” Denver Rocky Mountain News (13 December 1999) 16A.Google Scholar

252 Hersher, E., “Hate Victim's Mother Speaks Out; Prop. 22 Called Another Seed of Fear” The San Francisco Chronicle (28 January 2000) A3.Google Scholar

253 Convey, E., “Victim's Mom: Attitudes Toward Gays Must Change” The Boston Herald (23 March 2000) 028.Google Scholar

254 Kenworthy, supra note 228.

255 McCullen, supra note 251.

256 Convey, supra note 253.

257 Walker, A., “Mission Found After Son is Lost” The Boston Globe (25 March 2000) B1.Google Scholar

258 Convey, supra note 253.

259 Walker, supra note 257.

260 Hersher, supra note 250. See also McCullen, supra note 251.

261 Kenworthy, supra note 228.

262 Ibid.

263 Hersher, supra note 252.

264 McCullen, supra note 251.

265 Weiskind, supra note 213.

266 Walker, supra note 257.

267 McCullen, supra note 251.

268 Hersher, supra note 252.

269 Walker, supra note 257.

270 Kenworthy, supra note 228.

271 Hersher, supra note 252.

272 Walker, supra note 257.

273 Wickham, supra note 180.

274 Ibid.

275 McCullen, supra note 251.

276 Kenworthy, supra note 228.

277 Convey, supra note 253.

278 Graham, D., “Victim's Mom Says Slurs Stir Attacks; Gay Son Tied to Post, Beaten, and Left to Die” The San Diego Union-Tribune (22 September 2000) B-3:7, B-4:2.Google Scholar

279 Walker, supra note 257.