TY  - JOUR
ID  - city23033
UR  - https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/23033/
IS  - 11
A1  - Are, C.
N2  - What relationship do the mainstream media have with online abuse on high-profile criminal cases? This article hopes to make a start at answering this question by examining tweets containing the #McCann hashtag, utilised by a highly engaged community of users to comment on all matters related to the disappearance of British child Madeleine McCann. On #McCann, the child?s parents and other players are often singled out as the perpetrators of her disappearance and other crimes, in a blend of harassment, defamation and insults with conspiracy theories, disinformation and a strong anti-establishment vein typical of the posttruth era. Through an experimental digital ethnography blending elements of content and discourse analysis, this research has observed the #McCann conversation and analysed 500 tweets with the hashtag, observing that some of the most offensive theories posted by users on Twitter reprised themes seen in the mainstream media at the time of the disappearance, which resulted in defamation lawsuits by the McCanns and in complaints about unethical reporting at the Leveson Inquiry. This raises questions about the mainstream media?s responsibility and duty of care towards people they report on in the digital age, and showcases a symbiotic yet diffident relationship between anti-establishment online users and traditional news media.
VL  - 22
TI  - Patterns of media coverage repeated in online abuse on high-profile criminal cases
AV  - public
EP  - 2710
N1  - Are, C., Patterns of media coverage repeated in online abuse on high-profile criminal cases. Journalism, doi:  x. Copyright © 2019 The Author(s). DOI: 10.1177/1464884919881274.
Y1  - 2019/10/14/
PB  - SAGE Publications
JF  - Journalism
KW  - Madeleine McCann
KW  -  online abuse
KW  -  online harassment
KW  -  social media
KW  -  social media ethics
SN  - 1464-8849
SP  - 2692
ER  -