University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

For the love of sensationalism: denying humanity to victims of media coverage

(USC Thesis Other)

For the love of sensationalism: denying humanity to victims of media coverage

PDF

Download a page range

Download transcript

Copy asset link

Request this asset

Transcript (if available)

Content FOR THE LOVE OF SENSATIONALISM: DENYING HUMANITY TO VICTIMS OF
MEDIA COVERAGE
by
Siu-Yin Mak
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(STRATEGIC PUBLIC RELATIONS)
December 2008
Copyright 2008 Siu-Yin Mak
ii
Table of Contents
List of Tables iii
Abstract iv
Chapter 1: Introduction 1
Chapter 2: Pseudo-Altruism 7
Chapter 3: Celebrity Exploitation 26
Chapter 4: Polarization 35
Chapter 5: Ramifications and Recommendations 48
Bibliography 52
iii
List of Tables
Table 1: Elizabeth Smart versus Alexis Patterson – Detailed Coverage
Comparison
14
Table 2: Madeleine McCann versus Mari Luz Cortés – Detailed Coverage
Comparison
17
iv
Abstract
This thesis addresses the dehumanizing effects of journalistic sensationalism on audience
perceptions of the human subjects involved. Through the examination of case studies, my
analysis identifies three primary forms of sensationalism that are differentiated according
to their roots in pseudo-altruism, celebrity exploitation, or polarizing potential. I argue
that, even when used in an attempt to portray media subjects in a positive light, the
exploitation of sensationalist material is liable to invoke undesirable, and potentially
dangerous, consequences for subjects and those who share their exploited characteristics.
The analysis concludes with a discussion of practical ramifications and recommendations
for alternative courses of action.
1
Chapter 1: Introduction
Sensationalism. Much attention has been given to issues surrounding the
publication of sensationalist material. Its subject matter, its main characters, its targeted
readers, its repercussions for journalistic integrity. Those who rely on its marketability,
those who reject it on principle, those who abhor its existence but acknowledge its utility.
Most of the literature on sensationalism has addressed the evolution of tabloidization, the
impact of “yellow journalism” on the reputation of the journalistic profession, and the
detraction from serious “hard news” items. But what about the impact of sensationalism
on individual readers? In a mass media context, sensationalist portrayals shape public
attitudes about publicized individuals, a process that can yield serious and inadvertent
implications for victims of such exploitation.
Sensationalism, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is the use of subject matter that
tends “to arouse (as by lurid details) a quick, intense, and usually superficial interest,
curiosity, or emotional reaction.” (Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, Eleventh
Edition). Frank Mott defines the term’s common usage as referring to “stories which
stimulate unwholesome emotional responses in the average reader,” but opts for a less
equivocal definition on which to base his own treatment of the subject. (Mott, 1962).
“Without discussing the question of morbidity or unwholesomeness involved,” he notes,
“the term sensationalism will be used here to refer to the detailed newspaper treatment of
crimes, disasters, sex scandals, and monstrosities.” (Mott, 1962). Such content often
exploits sex, violence, crime, insanity, or matters of heated controversy. Sensationalism is
primarily a self-serving phenomenon that attracts and exploits a voyeuristic readership
through the revelation of details that are sordid and often excessive.
2
A troubling side effect of sensationalism is its tendency to capitalize specifically
on those aspects of a story that objectify its human subjects. Our quest for sensationalism
predisposes us to rapidly categorize these individuals, to conform them heedlessly with
our mental schema to make them qualify as characters of a sensationalist story. As such,
they become representational objects: that which is to be pitied, that which is to be
scorned, that which is to be admired, that which is to be rescued. In this way, we
infrahumanize them; that is, we subconsciously deny them those characteristics that we
consider to be representative of the human essence. More specifically, such
characteristics include certain emotions and abilities generally attributed exclusively to
human beings (e.g. the ability to love, be ambitious, or be friendly).
Research in social psychology has generated several particularly relevant
findings. First, human beings tend to favor members of their in-group when the
categorization has a meaningful basis (e.g. race). (Turner, et. al., 1987). Second, human
beings have a tendency to infrahumanize, attributing more humanness to themselves than
to others. (Haslam, et. al., 2005). Third, this tendency to infrahumanize occurs
independent of in-group favoritism. (Haslam, et. al., 2005). Fourth, the tendency to
infrahumanize others is exacerbated by situations in which those others are members of
an out-group that is being or has been victimized by one’s in-group. (Castano and Giner-
Sorolla, 2006). This phenomenon is especially pervasive in the citizenry of countries that
are responsible for committing wartime atrocities. Fifth, infrahumanization gives rise to
moral disengagement, which relieves an individual of his responsibility to behave
morally toward others; and this in turn leads to unethical decision making. (Detert, et. al.,
2008).
3
Although infrahumanization is a subconscious phenomenon, it serves the self-
affirming purpose of underscoring an individual’s own humanity. Sensationalism, then,
caters to the ego of its audience, reaffirming its superiority by denying others their
humanity. Furthermore, sensationalist subject matter enables audiences to feel proud of
their moral superiority: their ability to pass judgment on the story’s characters, their
charitable actions on behalf of a cause deemed worthwhile, their wide breadth of
voyeuristic knowledge, or, somewhat ironically, their empathy for a tragedy’s
stereotyped victims.
But infrahumanization can also elicit more serious and dangerous repercussions.
It translates directly into a perception of the objectified individuals as subhuman,
incapable of experiencing pain and suffering in the same manner as full-fledged human
beings. This view fosters a callousness that facilitates extreme hatred and corresponding
acts of atrocity against these “inferior” beings. Infrahumanization may arise as
justification for such atrocious behavior committed against another group. It also gives
rise to other phenomena, such as schadenfreude, discrimination, or genocide.
The latent infrahumanizing tendencies of individuals are facilitated by the
exploitation of sensationalist issues on the part of multiple entities, including
governmental bodies, religious institutions, and human interest organizations. The
analysis at hand will focus on the role of media in this exploitation. The propensity of
sensationalist stories for drawing strict categorizations between protagonist and
antagonist results in hyperbolic and stereotyped portrayals of complicated issues of
conflict, thereby eliciting excessive emotional reactions among the readership. Social
psychologists Wilson López and José Sabucedo observe the power of the media to
4
exacerbate public polarization “by reporting on reactions and opinions of the most
excluding groups in both sides of the conflict and hushing up the voices of the least
extreme.” (2007).
It is the aim of this paper to illustrate the dehumanizing effects of sensationalism
in a contemporary context. Based on my investigation of sensationalist literature, I have
identified three major arenas in which the impersonality of sensationalism most
drastically elicits consequences that are severe and often devastating. The forthcoming
discussion, therefore, will examine case studies of sensationalism that are rooted in 1)
pseudo-altruism, 2) celebrity exploitation, and 3) polarizing potential.
From a historical perspective, the use of sensationalist techniques can be traced
back to the origins of journalism. Troubadours and trouvères of medieval France
functioned as oral journalists, transmitting through song and storytelling the most
fantastical, and often vulgar, tales of both neighboring towns and faraway lands.
Proponents of the Lutheran Reformation in the sixteenth century infused written
broadsides and orally-transmitted songs with tales of criminal and sexual scandals
allegedly committed by the clergy of the Catholic Church. In recent memory, however,
sensationalism in the United States, commonly referred to as “yellow journalism,” is
most frequently associated with the Victorian era, beginning in the late-nineteenth
century.
The sensationalist antics of publishers Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph
Hearst characterized this period. Infusing their newspapers, the World and the Journal,
respectively, with scandalous subject matter and teaser headlines, Pulitzer and Hearst
indulged the public with stories and editorials about divorce, sex, violence, and other
5
immoralities. In accordance with a different standard of journalistic ethics at the time, it
was not uncommon for headlines, illustrations, or even stories themselves to be pointedly
misleading. Hearst, in particular, gained notoriety for his role in exacerbating the
Spanish-American conflict in the war in Cuba. Inundating readers with gruesome
portrayals of alleged atrocities committed by the Spaniards in Cuba, Hearst’s Journal was
later criticized for inflaming anti-Spanish sentiments and goading the country into Cuba’s
war.
Although in theory the exploitation of scandal has since met with a lesser degree
of professional acceptability, a myriad of such cases pepper journalistic history, with little
sign of cessation even today. Certainly, the media cannot be entirely at fault, for the
success of a given journalistic enterprise rests primarily with the approval of its readers or
viewers. In essence, then, audiences have continued to demand an arguably excessive
degree of coverage on attention-grabbing and sometimes panic-driving events. These
events range in topic, but generally encompass subject matter that is inherently out of the
ordinary. Coverage of the 1960s concentrated on the casualties and atrocities of the
Vietnam War. The 1970s and 1980s brought intense public scrutiny of serial killers such
as Ted Bundy, Gary Ridgway (“Green River” killer), and Ted Kaczynski (“Unabomber”).
The 1990s saw the dramatic assault on figure skater Nancy Kerrigan by the bodyguard of
competitor Tonya Harding before the 1994 Olympic Trials, and the unsolved murder of
six-year-old beauty pageant queen JonBenét Ramsey. And the past decade has witnessed
the trial of legendary singer Michael Jackson on charges of child molestation, as well as
the involvement of Louisiana senator David Vitter in a prostitution ring and the
subsequent trial and suicide of the ring’s “D.C. Madam.”
6
The inherent drama and ensuing coverage of such cases capitalizes on an audience
appetite for entertainment that, in the process of building readership, diminishes the
humanity and realism of the individuals involved. Each of the aforementioned cases may
be categorized into one of the three areas that I have outlined here. The following
discussion and case studies will illustrate in more depth the means through which
sensationalist reporting negates compassion and hardens public outlook by emotionally
distancing readers from the human subjects of such coverage.
7
Chapter 2: Pseudo-Altruism
Pseudo-altruism constitutes a form of sensationalist coverage that assumes the
guise of rallying for an independent, purportedly noble, cause. It is important to note that
the underlying implications of this term seek not to deny any and all existence of
altruistic motives on the part of media outlets, but rather, to emphasize that such motives
are of secondary importance to media self-interest. Accordingly, “worthwhile” causes
that receive the greatest pseudo-altruistic sensationalist coverage must also have inherent
and widespread appeal, as well as the ability to elicit a degree of shock-value emotion
(e.g. empathy, fear, anger) from the readers. Public appeals for help in locating missing
children or assisting victims of natural disasters fall into this category. Such causes often
have clear-cut, victim-or-villain designations for the individuals involved, which
facilitates the formulation of strong emotional reactions. Media channels assist with the
process, often seeking out corresponding evidence to reinforce the simplified
characterizations, and a corresponding loss of individuality. The need to create a concise,
flashy, unambiguous news item overrides any possibility of incorporating the
complexities of an individual. The subjects of a pseudo-altruistic story are thereby
rendered only representative symbols of good or evil. The audience ceases to perceive the
reality of the subjects’ suffering, instead focusing exclusively on their function as objects
that must be rescued, assisted, or punished, a stance that is evidenced by impassioned
public responses to situations from which individual audience members themselves are
socially, emotionally, geographically, or otherwise far removed.
In the perversion of today’s society, when children arbitrarily disappear (custody-
related kidnappings aside), pedophilia is the primary concern. As an inevitable result,
8
missing children are often portrayed as sexual prey, as media coverage seeks photographs
of their innocent smiles and testimony of their endearing and respectful demeanors. Their
individuality, their human essence, disappears in the scuffle to present them as
protagonists; each becomes yet another depersonalized “angel” stolen by an unknown
entity who has already been deemed the “devil.”
This process, of course, is contingent upon whether or not the child fits the
preexisting schema of the “angel,” and the extent to which the audience is able to relate
to the child and his family. Factors such as physical attractiveness, race, economic status,
academic performance, and social activities will impact the child’s degree of conformity
and the likeability of his persona. This phenomenon is evidenced by the fact that children
of non-Caucasian parents who do not fall within a certain income bracket simply fail to
generate the same media attention or response as their middle- and upper-class Caucasian
counterparts.
On June 5, 2002, fourteen-year-old Elizabeth Smart became a media sensation
when an intruder abducted her shortly after midnight from the bed that she shared with
younger sister Mary Katherine. An accelerated-learning honor student from an affluent
Mormon family, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed Smart played the harp, sang in her school
choir, competed on her church basketball team, and actively partook in school activities.
In short, she became the archetypal angelic protagonist: beautiful, innocent, and
quintessentially vulnerable to corruption by the evildoers who had captured her.
The media dramatized this personification in a blatant manifestation of
confirmation biases, seeking evidence to bolster their created persona. In the early days
of her abduction, media outlets interviewed Smart’s friends, printing testimony (in
9
essence, character references) that depicted Smart as the accomplished all-American girl.
An Associated Press (AP) article reads, “(Smart’s) French teacher often told her seventh
graders to follow Smart's example, because Smart ‘was academically perfect in French.’”
(Swinyard, 2002). Such a comment almost exclusively serves the purpose of gratuitous
characterization; it bears little relevance to the audience’s “right to know” or to the
public’s ability to help locate her.
One might argue that Smart’s overall likeability plays a direct role in the
audience’s willingness to partake in the search for her. The same AP article also mentions
that “Smart is a friendly but quiet girl, one who ran unsuccessfully for student-body
president last year and always participated in school activities.” (Swinyard, 2002).
Another AP article informs readers that “Sissy Galbraith … described her friend (Smart)
as athletic and an avid basketball player.” (Vosepka, 2002). Such content solicits
audience empathy using a “girl-next-door” depiction strategy: This girl is an athlete – she
could be your sister. Or: This girl is a musician – she could be your daughter. And
ultimately: If it could happen to this girl, it could happen to someone you love. Or to you.
Ironically, this attempt to facilitate reader identification with the victim
simultaneously idolatrizes the victim with praise and fame, promoting her to a position
inaccessible to the average reader. The sensationalist framing of her story denies her the
complexity of human nature that not only includes, but is enriched by, the presence of
negative-valence attributes.
Of course, it would be considered decidedly poor taste to print a gratuitous list of
the victim’s flaws and irrelevant past transgressions. But what is the effect of this other
extreme, the iteration of attributes and successes irrelevant to the search at hand? The
10
purpose is solely to appease public appetite. Having been baited by the slightest hint of
drama, readers hunger for further information, regardless of its relevance to the initial
purpose of the story. The victim becomes a romanticized, over-simplified character.
Public concern devolves from concern for the individual into an fascination with seeing
good triumph over evil. It is not, and perhaps cannot, be a genuine, holistic concern for
the well-being of Elizabeth Smart herself. She has been infrahumanized.
Regardless, the media are quick to target even the likeness of empathy strains.
The headline of a AP story reads, “A Family’s Faith Tested – Girl’s Abduction Comes
Two Nights After Grandfather’s Funeral.” (Henetz, 2002). It begins, “On Monday,
Elizabeth Smart played "Silent Night" on the harp at her grandfather's funeral. It was his
favorite tune, and Christmas his favorite time because it brought together his entire
family … But what happened two nights after the funeral has tested the family's strong
Mormon faith as nothing else could.” (Henetz, 2002). The connection drawn between
these unrelated incidents is tenuous at best. In fact, the sole purpose underlying its
inclusion is an attempt to liven the angle of a report containing little to no new
information. By compounding the tragedy of Smart’s disappearance with a mournful
(although anticipated) death two days prior, the story also augments the victimization of
Smart and her family, capitalizing on audience sympathy and garnering attention and
readers in the process.
In the weeks that followed, Smart coverage adopted a continuous but unobtrusive
presence, eclipsed for temporary stretches by other news items, but resurfacing swiftly at
the slightest piece of new information. Tips and scattered updates drifted in slowly over
the next nine months. But in early 2003, Mary Katherine’s traumatized memory suddenly
11
yielded a new piece of information: the identity of her sister’s abductor. Although the
recollection was initially dismissed by police, the Smarts launched a nationwide
campaign to locate a homeless drifter once employed to fix their roof. On March 12,
2003, following a television airing of the case on America’s Most Wanted, two telephone
tips led police to a Salt Lake City suburb, where they found Elizabeth Smart in the
company of the drifter, Brian Mitchell, and his wife, Wanda Barzee. The motivation
behind the kidnapping was eventually disclosed as an attempt to secure Smart as a second
wife for Mitchell, a self-proclaimed preacher and ardent advocate of polygamous
practices. Charges were made against both Mitchell and Barzee for kidnapping,
aggravated kidnapping, burglary, and aggravated sexual assault, but both were ruled
incompetent to stand trial. To date, they remain incarcerated at a state mental hospital in
Utah.
It could be argued that Smart’s recovery is inherently a sensation. The media
fervently reported even the smallest details of her ordeal, and President Bush personally
called her family to express his delight at her return. The insinuation of child rape further
fueled the commotion, as details of Mitchell’s polygamist beliefs surfaced, in part
through a lengthy manifesto that he had authored. Some articles deliberately sought to
contribute to the insinuation. An AP article featuring an interview with Barzee’s
daughter, who resided with the couple as a child, reads, “Asked if he was sexually
abusive, she said there were ‘hugs, kisses that were kind of uncalled for’ and she was
sometimes uncomfortable with the way he stared at her.” (Foy, 2003).
When the aggravated sexual assault charges were revealed to the public,
authorities requested that reporters refrain from asking questions about the sexual
12
assaults. As a result, few such details were released to the public. However, the scant
details that slipped out were faithfully transmitted to readers, regardless of their
newsworthiness. Another AP article details, “Prosecutors said that when the trio reached
the campsite, Barzee tried to remove Elizabeth's pajamas. When the girl resisted, Barzee
threatened to have Mitchell forcibly do it, they said. Mitchell then ‘raped or attempted to
rape her, or commit forcible sexual abuse against her,’ with Barzee's help, (Salt Lake
County District Attorney, David) Yocom said. At some point, the girl was restrained with
a cable around her foot that was tethered to a tree, he said.” (Henetz, 2003).
To what degree do these details strictly cater to the readers’ “right to know”?
Would readers have been deprived of critical knowledge if the media had reported simply
that sexual assault and forcible restraint had been committed against Smart on one or
more occasions? I argue that the information provided in the previous quote was
gratuitous, aimed primarily at reinforcing Smart’s “angel-victim” categorization,
stimulating audience interest by use of sex and voyeurism, and retaining this attention
through a bizarre, manipulated synthesis of masochism and pathos.
The “angel-versus-devil” phenomenon surrounding Smart’s case becomes even
more pronounced when examining the coverage of children who do not conform to these
audience expectations. Such is the case of Alexis Patterson, who vanished from the front
steps of her school on the morning of May 3, 2002. A seven-year-old black child from
northern Milwaukee, Patterson comes from a lower-income broken home in the inner
city, where she lived with her mother, younger sister, and stepfather. Her stepfather has a
criminal history of robbery and drug dealing. Her biological father was ruled out as a
suspect in her disappearance because he was in jail on the day that she disappeared.
13
Despite the fact that Patterson’s and Smart’s abductions both occurred in Midwest states,
within less than two months of one another, Patterson’s home life was no match for
Smart’s in the context of appealing to media audiences. Her race, social status, and the
far-from-ideal criminal past of her family members, hinder readers’ abilities to draw
clear-cut victim-versus-villain distinctions, thereby disqualifying her from receiving the
same coverage as her affluent Caucasian counterpart. The coverage that Patterson has
received has been restricted to the bare necessities. An AP article reads, “She is about 4
feet tall, weighs 43 pounds and has light brown skin. On Friday, she had her hair
arranged with two French braids in the front and a ponytail in the back. She was last seen
wearing a red and gray hooded jacket, light jeans, a light purple shirt and white tennis
shoes.” (2002). Unlike Smart’s coverage, there are no interviews of other family
members or friends, no personal testimonials, no gratuitous lists of her hobbies or
accomplishments.
This is not to say that Patterson circumvents the infrahumanizing effects imposed
upon Smart. Much of social psychology research on infrahumanization has been
conducted on the majority’s perception of minorities and its impact on interracial
interactions. One such study demonstrated a prevailing social association between blacks
and apes, even in the absence of confounding factors such as image color, prior
knowledge of derogatory nicknames, or associations of blacks with Africa. (Goff, et. al.).
The difference between the infrahumanization of Patterson and that of Smart is simply
that Smart’s occurs as the result of being placed on a figurative pedestal and idolatrized.
Patterson is simply perceived and discarded as a member of a subhuman class, a process
that is unremarkable save for its function as yet another example of discrimination.
14
Audience and media disinterest is reflected in the fact that Patterson’s
disappearance did not even attract national attention until she had been missing for three
days. A Factiva search yielded only two AP articles in the first week of her
disappearance. A corresponding search for Smart coverage in the first week of her
disappearance retrieved 77 results. (See Table 1 for a detailed coverage comparison.)
Table 1: Elizabeth Smart versus Alexis Patterson – Detailed Coverage Comparison
Elizabeth Smart
(Search string: “Elizabeth
Smart”)
Alexis Patterson
(Search string: “Alexis
Patterson”)
Day 1 (June 5, 2002) 11 0 Day 1 (May 3, 2002)
Day 2 (June 6, 2002) 20 0 Day 2 (May 4, 2002)
Day 3 (June 7, 2002) 18 0 Day 3 (May 5, 2002)
Day 4 (June 8, 2002) 11 1 Day 4 (May 6, 2002)
Day 5 (June 9, 2002) 4 0 Day 5 (May 7, 2002)
Day 6 (June 10, 2002) 7 0 Day 6 (May 8, 2002)
Day 7 (June 11, 2002) 6 1 Day 7 (May 9, 2002)
Week 2 (June 12-18, 2002) 68 2 Week 2 (May 10-16, 2002)
Week 4 (June 26-July 2, 2002) 59 1 Week 4 (May 24-30, 2002)
Week 8 (July 24-30, 2002) 21 0 Week 8 (June 21-27, 2002)
Week 12 (August 21-27, 2002) 25 0 Week 12 (July 19-25, 2002)
This phenomenon pervades media coverage in the international realm as well.
Children belonging to a racial majority and of a qualified social standing are likeable to
audiences because they are more subject to infrahumanization in a manner that idealizes
them in the minds of individual readers. On May 3, 2007, when four-year-old British
citizen Madeleine McCann disappeared from the bedroom of a Portuguese holiday resort
while her parents dined only yards away, the search for her generated an international
15
frenzy. Like Smart, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed McCann comes from an affluent,
religious, Caucasian family. Both of her parents are doctors, and McCann has a younger
set of twin siblings. The media capitalized on McCann’s inherent public appeal, printing
testimony furnished by her aunt, such as, “Mrs [sic] Cameron described Madeleine as a
‘lovely wee girl’. [sic] ‘She has a broad English accent, loves going to nursery and her
swimming and tennis lessons,’ she said.” (Press Association National Newswire, 2007).
Another Press Association (PA) article once again quotes McCann’s aunt: “‘She’s an
absolutely beautiful wee blonde girl, with blue-green eyes.’” (Marsden, 2007). To date,
McCann has not been found, and the case has been closed in the absence of further leads.
Media portrayals were also quick to exploit manifestations of the McCanns’
Catholicism, publicizing their attendance at church services, vigils, and meetings with
various priests. A PA article begins, “The mother of three-year-old Madeleine McCann
wept for her missing daughter today at an emotional Mother's Day service.” (Bingham,
2007). The story continues to milk the pathos of its readers, detailing, “Mrs McCann
carried a small pink, stuffed kitten which she has carried every time she has been seen in
public since Madeleine's disappearance. As the service began she knelt silently holding
the soft toy, kissing its head repeatedly.” (Bingham, 2007). The visibility of the
McCanns’ Catholic faith in international media coverage is significantly more
pronounced than that of the Smarts’ Mormon faith in the United States. This is likely
attributable to the prevalence of Catholicism in western Europe. The secularized state of
American society renders its readership considerably less receptive to a strict religious
denomination such as Mormonism. In other words, while the McCanns’ religious zeal
serves as an asset in Europe, the Smarts’ faith similarly functions as a detriment in the
16
United States. In seeking to heighten the palatability of the missing children’s families,
the Catholicism of the McCanns has been emphasized, while the Mormonism of the
Smarts has been downplayed. The media’s interest in garnering sympathy for both the
Smart and the McCann families is accompanied by a corresponding interest in their
conformity to audience expectations. Like their children, albeit perhaps to a lesser extent,
the families are also denied a degree of humanness.
As with Patterson, the case of five-year-old Mari Luz Cortés was lost in the
shadow of her British counterpart when the dark-skinned Gitano girl vanished from the
streets of Spain on January 13, 2008. A street trader’s daughter from a working-class
neighborhood, Cortés did not command international attention until two days after she
went missing. A Factiva search yielded only four articles for Cortés in the first week of
her disappearance, in stark contrast to the 101 articles for the first week of McCann’s
absence. (See Appendix B for a detailed coverage comparison.) Beyond the fact that
Cortés’s family lacks the financial means to launch a campaign comparable to that of the
McCanns, their ethnic background classifies them as “gypsies.” This term, derogatory
and racially-based, corresponds to a lower social standing analogous to the plight of
Patterson and other blacks in the United States. As a poster child, Cortés is inherently less
relatable to white European readers and therefore of lower priority to media outlets. The
sparse coverage that she has received contains only basic facts, with no details about her
physical appearance, personality, or family life.
Cortés’s coverage reached its peak when her body was discovered in a nearby
river on March 7, 2008; but these articles center primarily around the search for her
murderer, the threat that his freedom poses to other European children, and the policy
17
changes and loopholes in the justice system that once released the pedophilic suspect
from jail. There are no memorials, and few family interviews. On the international scene,
her death has served only as a low-profile reminder of McCann’s case and a passing
token of the changes that were later initiated in the Spanish justice system.
Table 2: Madeleine McCann versus Mari Luz Cortés – Detailed Coverage Comparison
Madeleine McCann
(Search string: “Madeleine
McCann”)
Mari Luz Cortés
(Search string: “Mari Luz Cortes”
OR “Mari Luz Cortez”)
Day 1 (May 4, 2007) * 9 0 Day 1 (January 13, 2008)
Day 2 (May 5, 2007) 20 0 Day 2 (January 14, 2008)
Day 3 (May 6, 2007) 11 1 Day 3 (January 15, 2008)
Day 4 (May 7, 2007) 11 2 Day 4 (January 16, 2008)
Day 5 (May 8, 2007) 25 1 Day 5 (January 17, 2008)
Day 6 (May 9, 2007) 25 0 Day 6 (January 18, 2008)
Day 7 (May 10, 2007) 28 0 Day 7 (January 19, 2008)
Week 2 (May 11-17, 2007) 210 0 Week 2 (January 20-26, 2008)
Week 4 (May 25-31, 2007) 134 0 Week 4 (February 3-9, 2008)
Week 8 (June 22-28, 2007) 61 4 Week 8 (March 2-8, 2008) **
Week 12 (July 20-26, 2007) 10 -- Week 12 (March 30-April 5, 2008)
* McCann was abducted on the evening of May 3, 2007, making May 4, 2007, the first
day of news.
** Cortés’s body was discovered on March 7, 2008.
The phenomena of victim-reader identification and victim infrahumanization also
materialize in the absence of a concrete antagonist, such as in the case of major
catastrophes. On December 26, 2004, a tsunami struck the coasts of Sri Lanka and
surrounding areas, rendering tens of thousands of tourists and residents dead, and
18
countless others injured. In the weeks that followed, vast amounts of coverage raised
disaster relief funds from every major country in the world. This case study highlights, in
particular, two major components involved in the sensationalistic exploitation of pathos:
group distinctiveness and the infrahumanization that transpires when such distinguishing
characteristics are over-emphasized.
Here, citizenship functions as a meaningful categorization distinguishing certain
groups from others. This may be noted in a general media propensity for relating death
and injury tolls of a country’s citizens, rather than the grand totals worldwide. One
article, published by the ITAR-TASS World Service, the official media outlet of Russia,
is headed, “Tsunami Entails Casualties Among Russian Tourists in Thailand.” (ITAR-
TASS World Service, 2004). An AP article reads, “At least three Americans were among
the dead -- two in Sri Lanka and one in Thailand, according to State Department
spokesman Noel Clay. He said a number of other Americans were injured, but he had no
details.” (2004). And in an article headed, “Foreign Ministry: No Slovaks in Areas
Affected by Deadly Tsunami,” the Tlacova Agentura Slovenskej Republiky (News
Agency of the Slovak Republic) reports that no Slovak citizens were directly impacted by
the tsunami. (2004). The varying angles from which news is presented in different
regions of the world reflect that, within a given country, a disaster’s impact depends
heavily on the degree to which its citizens are able to identify with those who have been
directly affected. Even within a country such as the United States, headings such as
“Tsunami Survivors Include Some with Minnesota Ties” suggest that subdivisions within
the national citizenship designations further enhance readers’ identification abilities.
(Associated Press, 2004).
19
Sensationalist exploitation of various aspects of a story intertwines closely with
this degree of identification. The tsunami resonated particularly with audiences abroad
because holiday tourists constituted a high percentage of those affected in southeast Asia.
As such, media outlets sought frequently to juxtapose the levity of the holiday
atmosphere against the chaotic devastation that abruptly truncated it. One article reads,
“Holidaymakers had children swept away to almost certain death by Sunday's killer
waves which turned a peaceful Christmas vacation into scenes of horror …” (Agence
France-Presse, 2004). Another article details one AP reporter’s account of “a wedding
ceremony turned into bedlam,” and another reporter’s experience witnessing the
tsunami’s abrupt termination of a Hindu ritual bath for women and children. (Yoong and
Farooq, 2004). These dramatizations use the joyful experiences traditionally associated
with winter holidays to manipulate readers’ emotions in the direction of shock at the
incongruity, guilt over the stark contrast to their own indulgence, and relief that they
themselves have circumvented this large-scale disaster.
Another article describes the plight of the deceased: “More than 30 bodies,
ranging from small children to the elderly, lay on the ground at one point. About one
third were tourists, almost all still in their swimwear after tidal waves smashed into the
island Sunday.” (Agence France-Presse, 2004). In this way, the article also positions the
carefree mood of swimming tourists against the tragic images of their corpses spread
across the ground. The account of their swimming attire highlights the unexpectedness of
the tsunami and, consequently, the frailty of life in general. This, in combination with the
aforementioned contrast between celebration and catastrophe, sends the message: These
people were celebrating the winter holidays, just like you. You could have been one of
20
these tourists. You could have been one of the people who were caught in the tsunami.
Capitalizing on the foundation of strong identification ties, media coverage then
proceeds to extract reader pathos by underscoring the grief of those tsunami victims with
whom readers can best identify: namely, parents, orphans, friends, and lovers. One
Agence France-Presse article, for example, reports that “television stations repeatedly
showed footage of a man carrying the lifeless body of his toddler son across his shoulder,
the child's hands dangling limply over his father's back.” (Agence France-Presse, 2004).
Another article, headed, “Grieving Parents in Sri Lanka Still Waiting for Ocean to Return
Children,” relates the daily vigils kept by parents who lost children in the tsunami, as
these parents routinely visit the beach, hoping that the ocean will bring their children
back alive. (The Canadian Press, 2004). The plight of losing a child, credited by the
majority as a parent’s worst nightmare, carries with it a fear to which most parents can
relate.
Similarly, another article details the arrival of tourists and natives at the morgue,
in search of friends and relatives: “For all too many on this southern Thai holiday island,
the search ended in heartbreak. An Australian man and then a woman broke down after
identifying their partners. A Thai woman did the same. Staff tried to comfort an
Australian teenager in shorts and a singlet who has lost a friend. ‘No,’ he kept crying
out.” (Agence France-Presse, 2004). Coverage also focuses on financial loss,
interviewing the owners of two fashion boutiques and a taxi company, who returned to
find their businesses destroyed by the tsunami. (Agence France-Presse, 2004). The
emphasis on vivid depictions of victims’ grief and despair, on one hand, corroborates the
reality of the suffering for readers abroad. On the other hand, however, it also fills a niche
21
of expected behavior for victims. As a result of space and resource constraints, personal
portrait features are naturally an exception rather than a rule. Descriptions of individual
suffering are therefore limited to broad designations: the grief of a parent who has lost a
child, the terror of an orphan whose parents have been killed, the helplessness of a man
who could not save his friend, the frustration of a business owner who has lost his
livelihood.
The purpose of eliciting reader empathy by highlighting victim suffering is
furthered by the amount of attention given to child deaths. The Agence France-Presse
reports that “among the dead were a group of 40 school children who were playing
cricket on the beach when a giant wave swept them out to sea.” (2004). According to an
article by The Canadian Press, “Children accounted for a staggering 40 per cent [sic], or
12,000, of Sri Lanka's death total of 30,000, officials said. But without bodies to mourn
over, many parents find it hard to believe their children are dead. Some children were
buried in mass graves, before parents were told.” (Ganguly, 2005). And Reuters quotes a
hospital official in Sumatra as saying that “many dead in the city were children under the
age of 10. ‘Maybe they were being carried by their parents but they fell over in the water
and could not hold on to their children. All the dead children drowned,’ (he) said.”
(Soetjipto, 2004). The death of a child is somehow viewed as a compounded tragedy: the
loss of life coupled with the youth of the life lost. As with the missing children discussed
previously, the children here fit the victim profile meticulously: innocence destroyed in
the wake of tragedy. Their characterizations are uncorrupted by the messy obfuscations
of adult flaws and misdeeds. Although, as the missing child case studies have shown,
some affiliations (race, social standing, religious denomination, etc.) are inherent at birth,
22
others (political stances, community causes, sexual preferences, etc.) do not stigmatize an
individual until later in life.
The devastation inflicted by the tsunami attracted a large amount of international
attention, drawing financial and other aid from governments, charity organizations, and
individuals across the world. These gestures of goodwill (while certainly admirable of
their donors) elicit questions concerning that which gave them their impetus. To what
extent are they motivated by genuine concern? Are altruistic motivations confounded by
self-righteousness? A sense of competition? And on what level(s) (collective versus
individual) does this donor sympathy occur?
In answer to these questions, I propose that the motivating factors comprise a
combination of all three incentives: altruism, narcissism, and relativism. To begin with,
the concept of man having a genuine concern for the welfare of others in no way poses a
contradiction to the premise of this analysis. However, the lack of personal interaction
between donor and recipient must be taken into account. For what reasons would an
individual be motivated to make a material sacrifice on behalf of another to whom he
bears no direct relation? The identification techniques and the juxtaposition of joy and
suffering in the coverage previously discussed suggest that guilt may play a role; material
contributions may partially function to alleviate the sense of one’s own indulgence in the
face of another’s suffering, or the irrational shame of being preserved while others have
been chosen to perish. Fear may also enter into the equation by means of a vicariously-
shattered sense of invincibility: These were members of my in-group, people just like me
who never anticipated this tragedy. If it can happen to them, it can happen to me. In a
mindset inadvertently similar to that of religious groups who make sacrifices to ward off
23
evil, the giving of alms may serve as a subconscious form of seeking redemption, a way
of partaking in the suffering of others in order to circumvent more direct affliction. It may
be concluded, then, that the element of narcissism cannot be dismissed; but rather, that a
combination of sub-elements – namely, self-righteousness, humility, and self-
preservation – factor into the motivations of those who react to sensationalist news
elements by proffering monetary assistance.
The nature of official post-tsunami statements made by other countries offering
condolences and pledging assistance to the affected regions suggests the presence of a
worldwide competition that equates the amount of assistance offered by a country with
the country’s international prestige. The United States, for example, was quick to issue a
statement that they were prepared to be “‘very responsive’” and “‘to offer all appropriate
assistance.’” (Reuters News, 2004). Various factions within the country, however, were
quick to criticize the government for not giving enough, even while the government’s
contributions were supplemented by those of other countries and charity organizations.
The reaction indicates that the amount of the government’s donation was associated with
a sense of national pride and identity, that as the reigning superpower, the United States
should strive to outdo the others even in the realm of charitable contributions. In this
way, the integrity of the donation process is compromised by a desire to measure the
good within the context of others.
On a micro level, this phenomenon can be witnessed in competitions to determine
which schools or organizations can raise the most money for a common cause. It is
particularly apparent here that there is a propensity for the competitive spirit to
overshadow altruistic and empathetic motivations. One story highlights the ease with
24
which the act of donating can readily become disjointed from the cause that it supports.
When an estimated $300 to $500 of student donations for tsunami victims were stolen
from an underprivileged elementary school in Boston, well-intentioned community
members rallied to replace the funds, ultimately pledging approximately $3000 by the
next morning. (Associated Press Newswires, 2005). There is an incongruity in this case
between the intended and actual beneficiaries of the community donations. As the futility
of the impoverished students’ sacrifices undoubtedly tugged at the heartstrings of the
community, the donations appear to have been made for the sake of the students. The
ultimate beneficiaries, of course, were the tsunami victims. The case illustrates how
quickly the act of fundraising can, in itself, become the focal point, while the victims (of
a tsunami, of a fire, of a kidnapping, etc.) are objectified as just another worthwhile
cause. As the victims are re-victimized, this time by mass infrahumanization, their
precise identity, unique experiences, and individual human elements are no longer quite
so important. What matters is that they have been deemed a cause worthy of the process
of assistance. The beneficiaries become a collective foreign group, characterized only by
their experiences.
The intention of the foregoing discussion is not to deride competitions or other
means of fundraising for worthwhile causes, but rather to illustrate the ease with which 1)
altruistic intentions can be obscured by the process itself, and 2) catastrophe victims can
be objectified when their common traits (i.e. suffering and victimization) are over-
emphasized in the minds of the readers. It is important to note that these effects are not
necessarily negative, particularly when they do not detrimentally impact the end result
(e.g. assistance to the needy). What should be noted is the potential for damaging
25
consequences. When infrahumanized individuals retain their victim status, there are few,
if any, immediately negative repercussions. However, if the tide of public opinion shifts
against these individuals, for whatever reason, the harmful effects of the
infrahumanization will surface.
For instance, a reader who infrahumanizes a set of victims may be sufficiently
touched by the horror stories to make a donation through an aid organization. If,
however, he later feels that the funds were misappropriated by the organization, or
misused by the victims, he may turn against the entire cause, rationalizing that the cause
itself is a scam, or that no additional funds are necessary. The victims have failed, for any
number of reasons, to function as the “perfect” victims within the context of his
preformed schema. It is relatively easy for him to disown the cause, because he has never
established any real contact with the victims or reached a full realization of their
humanity. As a result, he ceases to contribute to the cause and subsequently discourages
others from making contributions. In this way, the infrahumanization that at one time
elicited sympathy and assistance for the victims now comes back to vilify them.
26
Chapter 3: Celebrity Exploitation
Celebrity exploitation characterizes a sensationalism that glorifies and idealizes
an individual primarily on the superficial basis of his talent or physical appearance. In the
fifth-century debate over the essence of Jesus Christ and the validity of His ultimate
sacrifice, the Monophysite branch of early Christianity contended that Christ’s divine
essence overtook His human side, leading them to the conclusion that Christ did not
suffer the pain of crucifixion as would a human being. Similarly, by attributing a virtually
superhuman status to celebrity figures, media outlets and their readers risk
simultaneously denying these celebrities of the human essence that renders them subject
to the same pain and suffering. The anguish or ongoing unhappiness of an individual
condenses into a series of amusing anecdotes. The materialization of a human being’s
misery becomes fodder for recreational conversation and gossip. Celebrity stories that,
when considered at a personal level, would strike an individual reader as tragic, become
fascinating from a distance, when the star’s perceived pedestal insulates him from any
attribution of true suffering.
Schadenfreude, which may be defined as “malicious pleasure” at the suffering of
others, enters into the equation. (Leach, 2003). Compassion is cast aside as audiences
watch in eager anticipation, possibly hoping to convince themselves that the
immortalizing success that they have bestowed upon a particular celebrity will run him
into a tragic downfall. Research has demonstrated that threat of in-group inferiority elicits
higher levels of schadenfreude. (Leach, 2003). In other words, even the perception of
competitive threat can increase the degree to which an individual experiences pleasure at
the failure of another. Here, the idolatrized celebrity, with whom individual audience
27
members have subconsciously placed themselves in indirect competition, casts a
comparative pallor upon their own common, nondescript existence. The celebrity is no
longer a fellow human being, but rather, a representation of the unattainable, through
which the audience seeks an almost retaliatory justification of the extreme discrepancy.
They wait with baited breath to see him pay the price of his stardom, his former
superiority.
In the celebrity arena in particular, where jealousy, competition, and indirect
endangerment of the individual ego all come into play, such infrahumanization can give
rise to a highly noticeable, inhumane hatred. This may be observed in public postings on
blogs and message boards with celebrity-relevant topics. Some bloggers/posters take the
opportunity to launch vicious attacks on a given celebrity’s appearance, talent (or lack
thereof), behavior, lifestyle choices, parenting, or any other area of either his public or
private life. Often, these posts bear little relevance at all to the celebrity himself, but
instead segue into a rant over an entirely separate issue in which the celebrity is a mere
representation of a larger problem or point-of-view. The ease with which hatred, rational
or otherwise, can be conceived in the process of celebrity infrahumanization
quintessentially illustrates the potential victimization and threat of harm posed against
subjects of sensationalist coverage.
Such is evidenced in the case of former teen-age pop singer Britney Spears.
Following a rapid rise to stardom in 1998, when the singer was only seventeen years old,
Spears’s fame quickly degenerated into notoriety. Since her teen-age years, tabloids and
“hard news” sources alike have gratified readers’ voyeuristic appetite for Spears-related
news on an almost daily basis. As her fresh-virgin image became increasingly sexualized,
28
Spears’s public persona was continually fraught with scandals and controversies,
including semi- and fully-nude modeling, a much-publicized kiss with pop culture icon
Madonna, a brief marriage in Las Vegas, and rumors of a sex tape allegedly made with
her second husband, Kevin Federline.
Spears has not received the media attention graciously, often voicing complaints
about paparazzi harassment, as well as having several run-ins with reporters, among them
a photographer’s assault charge against one of her bodyguards, and printed chastisement
for running over a photographer’s foot with her car (although the photographer was not
seriously injured and declined to file charges). The media speculated constantly about the
teetering state of her marriage to Federline, and readers hungrily awaited news of a
seemingly-imminent divorce. One Irish newspaper, The Sunday Independent, carried the
bidding too far and was sued by Spears for falsely reporting that a divorce was
forthcoming. (Ironically, Spears released the official divorce announcement less than six
months after filing suit for the “misreport” and faced countersuit by the newspaper.)
The avidness of public interest in Spears’s marital affairs demonstrates an
objectification of Spears that overrides any humane interest in her well-being. The arrival
of a much-anticipated event, such as the divorce, produces a somewhat cathartic effect,
regardless of its actual repercussions for the celebrity himself. Media outlets around the
world covered the turn of events with a serious attention comparable to that given to
political affairs, discussing custodial repercussions for the couple’s two children, making
predictions about the divorce’s potential impact on Spears’s and Federline’s professional
images, interviewing friends and family members, and even seeking feedback from
outside individuals. An article from the Agence France Presse printed feedback from
29
talk-show host Rosie O’Donnell: “‘It’s the day after and I just want to say I'm over the
moon excited,’ daytime talkshow host Rosie O'Donnell said. ‘It's the biggest news of the
country -- Britney Spears is leaving K-Fed!’” (2006).
Public sentiment appeared to be strongly aligned with Spears’s decision, in
accordance with previous accounts suggesting that Federline had married her for wealth
and fame. Much akin to the delight of sports fans when an athlete executes a skillful
move, readers relished the divorce as merely another entertaining, and particularly long-
awaited, performing antic. Although from a social perspective, it is common to read
about the difficulties facing the children of broken homes, such considerations have
rarely been applied to the plight of the celebrity couple’s two children. The Spears-
Federline custody battle has been covered in relentless detail, however, with audiences
continually validating the excess of coverage with their devoted readership. In this way,
the events of Spears’s life have devolved into little more than a live novel, one that
captivates audiences with drama, and one from which the smallest of details are released,
no matter how insignificant, for the mere sake of keeping the story moving.
This interest in the mundane has translated into a careful public scrutiny of every
aspect of Spears’s life, with even a speeding violation drawing international attention.
(Asian News International, 2007). Spears has routinely drawn criticism for her parenting
judgment, choice of romantic partners, pet care habits, and troubled relationship with her
mother. The media has sought to dramatize the rift between Spears and her mother in a
manner similar to their exploitation of Spears’s divorce. A Press Association article is
headed, “Britney’s Mum Brokenhearted.” (2007). Another reads, “Britney Spears has
reportedly refused to visit her sick mum – who is ill in hospital [sic] with pneumonia …
30
The singer, who once was so close to her ma that she rang her up to 10 times a day and
gushed that she was her best friend, was apparently so furious that she didn't visit her in
the hospital on Mother's Day – last Sunday in the US – or on her birthday.” (Press
Association, 2007).
The state of Spears’s relationship with her mother is obviously of little material
consequence to the lives of individual readers. As with much of sensationalist
entertainment news (as distinguished from relevant entertainment news, which bears a
direct purpose or relevance to a sphere such as finance, business, or international
relations), the story capitalizes on an widely insignificant situation, which achieves
publication only by virtue of its dramatic value. In this case, the article seeks to elicit a
degree of false empathy through a pitiful anecdote: the sick mother who lies abandoned
in the hospital on her two most cherished days of the year. Yet, any form of empathy that
is accomplished is superficial, yielded only in the context of an audience who anxiously
awaits the next chapter of a captivating chronicle. In other words, no real degree of
human identification transpires between an individual reader and the celebrity subject.
The reader’s interest stems not from interpersonal loyalty, but instead from detached
addiction.
In accordance with research on the impact of schema-discrepant information on
individuals’ perceptions of in-group and out-group members, one might expect that
celebrities’ failures to meet audience expectations would generate a degree of repulsion.
(Mendes, et. al., 2007). However, in the context of celebrity downfalls, readers rarely
demonstrate a refusal to process schema-discrepant information. On the contrary, they
become fascinated, in much the same way that infants have been shown to stare longer
31
when an object violates gravity or another basic principle of physics. (Kim and Spelke,
1992). This discrepancy might be explained by the fact that the celebrity is an objectified
entity so far removed from an individual’s own context that he is no longer considered as
a fellow human being capable of confirming or defying expectations at the interpersonal
level. Spears, for example, is not expected to conform to the behavior of a typical fellow
human being. She has been placed on a pedestal, so far out of reach that the individual
reader ceases to relate to her or afford her the same consideration with which he regards
his social equals.
Certainly, following her divorce from Federline, Spears herself defied all
standards of conventional behavior, as she embarked on a highly-publicized emotional
derailment that was so inherently dramatic that little was left for even the press to
sensationalize. The paparazzi traced her closely, photographing her attending parties
without underwear, beating a car with an umbrella, engaging in nudity and sexual activity
in a department store, shaving her head bald in a beauty parlor, checking into a
rehabilitation facility, and being forcibly institutionalized after initiating a police standoff
at her home. The paparazzi’s relentless pursuit of Spears reflects the high degree of
public demand for the information that they sought to garner.
The sarcasm and humor with which the acquired information was received in
blogs, message boards, tabloids, and even “bona fide” newspaper and magazine articles
suggests that reader interest in the ongoing saga was not fueled by a genuine concern for
Spears’s well-being. Critics abuse her routinely, targeting her for snide jokes and touting
her as the poster child for stardom gone wrong. An AP article from June 2007 is headed,
“Spears is Subject of Unflattering Photos.” In a complete absence of preceding events or
32
newsworthiness, the article details Spears’s physical appearance during a private vacation
in Mexico, reading, “Spears, her long, blond hair extensions pulled back in a ponytail, is
wearing a white-and-turquoise cover-up over a bikini that reveals her not-so-toned
backside.” (Associated Press, 2007). Through this and other public mocking, Spears has
become a circus act, falling prey to the schadenfreude of an audience that is eager to see
the star humiliated. Critics, former fans, and even those unfamiliar with her music seek
the self-affirming moral of the story: Fame and fortune do not conquer all. Everything
comes at a price. In the end, I am better off than she.
Even Spears’s fans hope merely for her return to the recording studio, so that she
might resume the production of their entertainment. But their loyalty, however
misguided, was not enough to counteract the detrimental effect of a harshly-panned
“comeback” performance in 2007. The performance met with widespread criticism about
Spears’s level of energy and preparedness, her wardrobe choices, and, in particular, her
weight gain since the birth of her two children. A Reuters article reports, “No longer
boasting the buff body that helped drive her to international superstardom almost a
decade ago, the mother of two moved sluggishly around the stage at the Palms casino,
often with the support of a troupe of dancers.” (2007). (Although it should be noted that
Spears’s male backup dancers offered her no more than the same assistance offered to the
other female dancers as they maneuvered the steps of the stage.) An Associated Press
article confers: “There was just so much that went wrong. Out-of-synch lip-synching.
Lethargic movements that seemed choreographed by a dance instructor for a nursing
home. The paunch in place of Spears' once-taut belly. At times she just stopped singing,
as if even she knew nothing could save her performance.” (Associated Press, 2007).
33
In reviewing a video of Spears’s infamous four-minute performance, I observed
that it was characterized by a pervading theme of mediocrity. Not outstandingly good,
nor horrifically disastrous, it was, overall, safe and relatively unmemorable. Yet the
impression yielded by vicious media coverage suggests otherwise. This is, unfortunately,
yet another example of the manner in which an objectified persona can only be seen in
the extreme context of “good” and “bad.” In the minds of media and readers alike, it
seems inconceivable that Spears could deliver a performance (on stage or in life) that is
mediocre and unremarkable. Media are forced to create drama where there is little. There
cannot be a “gray” area; as a celebrity, Spears can only be “white” or “black,” good or
bad. Just as psychological studies have measured the attribution of humanness by the
amount of secondary, complex emotions that individuals credit to the target, we can
conclude here that the inability to attribute a judgment of mediocrity to a celebrity is a
direct reflection of reader and media impressions of his degree of humanness. As a result,
when individuals feel compelled to make a black-and-white judgment about an
ambiguous situation (be it a performance, action, decision, or lifestyle choice), their
judgment will ultimately polarize toward the extremities, in the direction of either
harshness or generosity.
The phenomena of infrahumanizing idolatry and schadenfreude manifests
repeatedly in the coverage of other celebrities as well. Actress Lindsay Lohan captivated
audiences with her journey from childhood stardom to drug arrests and multiple stays in
rehabilitation clinics. The childhood of actress Mary-Kate Olsen, comprising starring
roles and a multimillion-dollar Mary-Kate-and-Ashley (her twin sister) product line, was
repeatedly juxtaposed against her battle with anorexia at the age of eighteen. And the
34
highly-publicized conviction of wealthy socialite Paris Hilton for driving on a suspended
license fueled a slew of graphic media depictions of the ascetic conditions to which the
heiress would be reduced during her twenty-three-day incarceration.
Perhaps such apparent cruelty on the part of the media and their readers is merely
a direct response to something that is often intrinsic to celebrity stardom: the creation of a
public persona and the attempted separation of the professional from the personal. As a
result, it becomes difficult for readers to draw a distinction between that which is real and
that which has been created. The celebrity becomes little more than an act or amusement.
We take a bizarre delight in constructing his rise to the top, deconstructing him when he
has surpassed us too noticeably, and reconstructing him after we have gleefully witnessed
his demise. We become caught up in the building process itself, losing sight of the very
real, and potentially tragic, ramifications for the individual.
35
Chapter 4: Polarization
Sensationalism that centers around an issue of controversy, whether it involves
two or more opposing parties or a single party that is the subject of condemnation, is high
in polarizing potential. For our purposes, polarization might be defined as the tendency of
individuals, from a social perspective, to gravitate toward extreme opinions on either end
of a controversial issue. When two or more parties are involved, the motives, goals, and
mitigating circumstances of each party are the focal points of public controversy. With
regard to media characterizations, selective attention and framing have the ability to sway
popular opinion and exacerbate polarization of both new and preexisting sentiments. In
cases that center around a single party, this group is often perceived as an out-group that
has violated a law or established norm. There exists a media (and consequently an
audience) tendency to objectify the members of this out-group, often seeking evidence
that corroborates the assumption that the group is “bad,” sometimes exclusively on the
basis of its violation. The typical reader is, of course, unwilling to side with “evil.” As a
result, readers tend to polarize against that party, particularly in the absence of clearly-
presented mitigating circumstances.
In March 1999, the United States Department of Energy fired Chinese-American
scientist Wen Ho Lee from his job at a Los Alamos weapons laboratory, for failure to
adequately protect classified data. (Lee had made copies of classified files and stored
them on his unprotected personal computer.) The United States government had reason to
believe that China had somehow illicitly obtained American weapons secrets, and for
three years prior, Lee had been the center of an espionage investigation in connection
with China. Although the government had insufficient evidence to suggest that Lee had
36
intentionally availed any of his data to unauthorized parties, Lee was indicted in
December 1999 and charged with 59 counts of mishandling classified data. (He was
never charged with espionage.) Lee was denied bail and spent the next nine months in a
federal prison in solitary confinement. In the end, he was exonerated of 58 of the charges,
in exchange for pleading guilty to one charge of mishandling classified data. He was
sentenced to time served and released. In retrospect, it was determined that Lee had been
improperly detained, and the judge who was handling the case issued Lee an official
apology. In 2006, the United States government paid $895,000 to Lee toward the legal
fees incurred, and five media outlets paid him an additional $750,000 in a settlement for
violating his privacy while covering the case. The treatment given to Lee’s case
exemplifies the type of polarized audience reactions that can be elicited when attention is
excessively weighted in favor of those sensational items that threaten the vulnerabilities
of the target readers.
At the time of Lee’s firing, the Department of Energy declined to release his name
to the public. This did not stop media outlets, however, from actively obtaining the
missing information and publicizing Lee’s identity almost immediately. An AP article,
released on the same day as Lee’s firing, reads, “DOE did not disclose his name, but The
Associated Press learned he is Wen Ho Lee, a native of Taiwan. He had worked for years
at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, and continued to work there with
a security clearance well after he became a suspect in an espionage investigation in
1996.” (Hebert, 1999). Given that it could be reasonably assumed that an employee fired
on the basis of alleged espionage might eventually face legal charges, this decision to
prematurely identify Lee ran contrary to modern conventions of journalistic ethics and
37
demonstrated an unequal treatment of the Chinese scientist, reflecting on the part of the
media a quickness to condemn.
In a similar case that took place a year before, another Los Alamos scientist was
disciplined for copying classified material to his unsecured computer. In this case,
however, it was not suspected that another country had benefited from the security
breach. Failing to pose a significant threat to American citizens, the case therefore lacked
the same sensationalist value of Lee’s case, and the name of the other scientist was never
printed. (Hebert, 1999).
This attitude frames subsequent coverage, as discrete pieces of information
surface in the artificially-created context of building evidence against Lee. An AP article
focuses on Lee’s pre-authorized travels to professional conferences in China and Hong
Kong. The article begins, “A U.S. scientist suspected of sharing nuclear bomb secrets
with Beijing visited China in 1985 and also went to Hong Kong.” (Associated Press,
1999). Another article accentuates a failed polygraph test, emphasizing, “He appeared to
pass the first test, but the second found him to be deceptive.” (Associated Press, 1999).
There are two major biases apparent in this excerpt. First, such wording is imbalanced,
questioning the validity of the test that Lee passed, while giving credence to the test that
he failed. Second, the reference to deceptiveness is misleading. It is common knowledge
that failure of a polygraph test can occur for a variety of reasons, intentional deception
being only one of the options. It would be more accurate to print that he had failed the
second, rather than giving readers the impression that intentional deception had been
ascertained.
Another article is headed, “FBI Raids Home of Scientist Fired in China
38
Investigation,” proceeding to detail the service of an federal search warrant on the Lees.
(Massey, 1999). Once again, the word choice is dubious; the word “raid” bears violent
connotations commonly associated with drug or prostitution raids, situations in which
guilt has already been blatantly established. In reality, no resistance to the search was
mentioned, and at one point, Lee was even spotted emerging from the house with the
intention of pruning a tree. (Massey, 1999). However, the author buries this information,
as well as the one more critical piece of information that jeopardizes the sensationalism
of the “raid”: toward the end of the article, it reads, “Lee has not been charged with any
wrongdoing, and FBI officials caution they may not have a criminal case when their
investigation ends. ‘No inference of guilt should be taken in regard to the search warrant,’
FBI special agent Doug Beldon said.” (Massey, 1999).
In addition, even prior to the indictment, another AP article bears the headline,
“Energy Boss: Spy Stayed Too Long.” (Associated Press, 1999). Such a reference
indicates that Lee has already been condemned by the media, who in turn frame new
information in a context that presupposes Lee’s guilt. This builds a public assumption
that equates Lee with the “bad” in yet another black-and-white context.
This reference, together with the other examples illustrating the media’s
quickness to condemn Lee, reflects both a media and a public need to classify Lee, to
identify him as either “good” or “bad,” a patriotic American or a China-aligned traitor.
Here again, the notion of ambiguity surrounding a celebrity figure (however unwelcome
the spotlight may be) contradicts individual infrahumanization tendencies. The position
of a high-profile figure in a “gray” area elicits discomfort stemming from its incongruity
with his compromised humanity.
39
In turn, this attitude also translates into a polarized identification of the United
States, the in-group of American audiences, as the protagonist, and China, the out-group,
as the antagonist. Such threat perception and assumed hostility impedes the prospect of
cooperative relations, not only with China, but with any foreign government.
The media’s depiction of Lee and the pertaining conflict between China and the
United States both exacerbate the impression of Lee’s guilt and inflame anti-China
sentiments among the American citizenry. An AP article paints a portrait of Lee as a
loner, a member of a secretive community, precisely the archetypal persona typically
attributed to a spy. The article begins, “In this town born in secret, where hundreds still
toil in secret on the nation’s nuclear arsenal, few want to talk about a man accused of
sharing those secrets with China.” (Roberts, 1999). Following this depiction, the article
elaborates on the dramatization by juxtaposing the purported air of mystery against the
neighborhood’s physical normalcy, concluding that “under the surface, this neighborhood
is different. Los Alamos was built in the 1940s by the U.S. government under a veil of
secrecy.” (Roberts, 1999). Besides reflecting a clear confirmation bias, this narrow
concentration on the classic “spy” persona also deflects attention from any authentic
characterization of Lee. Readers become fixated on the stereotype of elusiveness and
intrigue; Lee is already characterized as a spy, unique and contrary evidence
notwithstanding. The wording of the article sends the messages: This figure keeps to
himself, just like a typical spy. He is a loner. He has no friends. He must avoid people
because he is engaging in illicit activity. Therefore, he must be guilty. (In reality, as was
later revealed, Lee had a large number of friends and supporters throughout his ordeal
who attended his court hearings, engaged in fundraising for his legal fees, offered
40
personal property as collateral for his bail, and threw a neighborhood-wide party upon his
release from jail.)
The inflammation of anti-Lee sentiment stems from an alignment of Lee with the
interests of China, and the media’s timely emphasis on allegations of China’s aggression
in the theft of American secrets. An AP article details the contents of a bipartisan
congressional report: “China's two-decade effort to steal U.S. weapons technology
continued well into the Clinton administration, positioning Beijing to develop modern
mobile nuclear warheads as good as America's.” (Hebert, 1999). Another article cites a
Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS; NYSE: CBS) news report that corroborates the
case against Lee by detailing another ongoing investigation of Chinese espionage in
California. The article, quoting CBS, states that “the California case was proof of China’s
‘active and aggressive’ espionage efforts in the United States.” (Agence France-Presse,
1999).
Still another article gives ample print space to the inciting opinion of Republican
House Representative Christopher Cox, who states that China stands alone in the tactics it
employs against the United States: “‘There have been some who have said that
everybody spies. But I think you will see that not everybody does what the PRC (China)
has done,’ Cox said after briefing senators. ‘First of all, no nation has succeeded in
stealing so much. Second, nations that spy have not used this information in order to
build weapons to target the United States as the PRC (China) has done,’ said the
California Republican.” (Reuters, 1999). These three articles represent a form of
coverage that feeds its readers a one-sided portrait of a country that is home to over one
billion people. It stereotypes both Chinese nationals and Chinese expatriates alike as
41
spies loyal only to the country of their ancestral heritage. In this way, Lee and other
Chinese people are clearly labeled as an out-group characterized by only the broadest of
attributes. The label of “enemy” overrides the possible absorption of the more complex
secondary emotions or qualities that could serve a redeeming value.
The Asian American Journalists Association recognized the detrimental effects of
such popular generalizations and released a statement that referred to the coverage
surrounding Lee’s case. The statement reads, in part, “Some media have also chosen to
portray Chinese and Chinese Americans with a broad brush, using loaded words that are
offensive and imply that these people are inscrutable and untrustworthy … In one
particularly offensive example, a recent editorial in the Santa Fe New Mexican
newspaper made fun of Asian accents, unnecessarily referred to the Fu Manchu character
and tried to make a link between the allegations of stolen nuclear secrets and the bombing
of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade.” (PR Newswire, 1999). The statement provides a list
of advisements for reducing these oversimplifications, among them: “If one Asian
American is under suspicion for wrongdoing, it is harmful to portray all other Asian
Americans as suspects. Be careful of making unsubstantiated generalizations about the
culture of any group.” (PR Newswire, 1999).
In May 1999, as the Lee case continued to gain international attention, American
media outlets took the opportunity to print chronologies of the case, using headlines such
as “Key China Spying Developments” and “China Spying Chronology.” (Associated
Press, 1999; Associated Press, 1999). These titles serve two primary functions: 1) to
strengthen the perception of Lee’s association with China and, in turn, his corresponding
guilt, and 2) to sensitize readers to the link between China and anti-American espionage.
42
In this way, the relationship between China and the United States, or between Lee and the
United States, appears as a zero-sum proposition. In addition, because the term
“espionage” in itself carries negative connotations, there exists an inherent bias against
those suspected of spying: namely, Lee and China. In theory, then, one side is good and
the other is not. Readers cannot ally with China or with Lee without renouncing their
loyalty to the United States. The result of this representation is an exacerbated
polarization of audience opinion: guilty or innocent, China or the United States.
Certainly, the most extreme remarks often foster the best stories. As such, the
media cannot be entirely to blame for printing only those quotes that are the strongest or
the most memorable. The limited print space makes oversimplification a begrudged
necessity. But the issue here is not who is at fault; rather, it is about the impact of the
situation as it stands. Quotes containing strong words or statements, such as the
previously-mentioned comment by Cox, simplify an issue and in turn elicit strong
reactions. Energy secretary Bill Richardson’s denouncement of the Los Alamos case
serves as another example of an action-inciting statement: “‘This kind of egregious
security breach is absolutely unacceptable …’” (Zakaria, 1999). Another statement, made
by Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao, cites “ulterior motives” as the basis for the
United States’ claims of espionage, contending that “‘their real objective is to fan the
‘China threat theory’ and anti-Chinese sentiment. Their despicable plot is doomed to
fail.’” (Reuters, 1999). Statements of this strength foster a deepening sense of affiliation,
whether it is an enhanced loyalty to the United States, or a triggered defensiveness of
China. Infrahumanization occurs here because of the shift to a collectivist mentality;
judgment is passed only on those representative actions and generalizations that must be
43
assumed to apply to many. In this way, the issue even shifts away from Lee himself,
forming instead polarized viewpoints that concern a significantly broader concern:
protection and defense of oneself and one‘s in-group. Additionally, in the pre-indictment
phase during which this coverage surfaced, the tenuous association drawn between Lee
and China certainly risked swaying popular opinion, thereby jeopardizing the chances of
Lee obtaining a fair trial.
Indeed, contrary to the mantra of “innocent until proven guilty,” Lee appears to
have been convicted by the media prior to his indictment and ultimate exoneration. Prior
to and throughout most of the nine months that Lee spent in jail, articles written by the
American press emphasize condemning evidence that Lee allegedly engaged in espionage
on behalf of China. One article begins, “As Wen Ho Lee pleaded innocent to charges of
mishandling U.S. nuclear weapons secrets, the FBI said the fired scientist had
downloaded enough files at the Los Alamos National Laboratory to form a stack of paper
134 feet tall. So many files were taken, witnesses said Monday at Lee's bail hearing, that
he had a complete nuclear weapons design representing ‘centuries of work.’ At the same
[sic], according to testimony, he was seeking employment outside the United States.”
(Benke, 1999). The defense’s justification of Lee’s actions is buried in the middle of the
article, and the piece concludes with a reiteration of the prosecution’s case. (Benke,
1999).
This coverage contrasts sharply in tone with articles written later, when it became
clear that the government had no espionage case against Lee. An AP article from the
latter period, even written by the same author, begins, “Wen Ho Lee, a scientist once
vilified by the government as a suspected spy, will go home a free man after he pleads
44
guilty to just one of 59 counts of violating national security. Lee, who friends and
neighbors support as a loyal U.S. citizen and exemplary family man …” (Benke, 2000).
The next paragraph continues, “In exchange, the 60-year-old scientist, who defense
lawyers said was singled out for prosecution because he is ethnic Chinese, will spell out
all he knows about seven computer tapes … Lee has sworn the tapes were destroyed at
Los Alamos National Laboratory.” (Benke, 2000). No longer the mysterious, secretive
spy portrayed in the early days of the investigation, Lee here is informally “reinstated” as
a citizen, to (theoretically) be re-accepted by American readers as an innocent man.
Ironically, Benke’s article proceeds to mock the case of the prosecution that he once
advocated so blatantly: “The investigation began as an offshoot of a Chinese espionage
case with dire accusations that Lee had downloaded the "crown jewels" of American
science, might be poised to hand them over to a foreign power and might even be spirited
away by spies in helicopters. The government ultimately backed down from nearly all
those charges.” (2000). The sensationalist focus here is no longer on the possibility of
espionage and the threat of China; it is instead far more effective, as well as concern-
inducing, to ridicule the paranoia and ineptitude of the United States government.
Such paranoia, of course, does not remain strictly contained within the
governmental agency; its transmittal to the citizens, via media communications,
government statements, rumors, and other percolations and backlashes, is inevitable.
Currently the superpower of the world, the United States guards its status jealously.
China’s massive population and rapid economic growth have been noted to position the
country as a rising superpower. Predictions that China will rival or exceed the
international influence of the United States have received greater credence and attention
45
in recent years. In this environment, then, it should not be surprising that the status of
China as a potential competitor poses a threat to the United States and its citizens, thereby
fueling tension and an over-protectiveness of national interests.
Media emphases on the full extent of harm that could potentially result from the
leaked information instills a degree of panic and restlessness in the audience. One article,
immediately following a mention of Chinese espionage, facilitates reader visions of the
damage that could occur if critical information falls into the wrong hands: “In theory,
neutron bombs can kill large numbers of people with radiation while inflicting minimal
damage on buildings, power grids, and communication networks.” (Agence France-
Presse, 1999). Additionally, the aforementioned quote from Representative Cox indicates
that the knowledge allegedly stolen by China has been used directly against the United
States. (Reuters, 1999). References to China as a “sensitive country” routinely pepper
relevant coverage. By arousing reader concerns about the security and prestige of their
country, this coverage solidifies readers’ perceptions of China as the enemy. This, in
combination with the presence of the competition element discussed earlier, condenses
individuals of Chinese descent into a stigmatized category, which in turn poses a
collective threat to the readers’ majority in-group, the United States citizens.
But media exploitation of the story’s sensationalist elements came at a price to
Asian minorities throughout the United States. Asian Americans civil rights activists
protested the lack of evidence against Lee, accusing investigators of racial profiling and
prosecution without due process. (Locke, 1999). On his 60
th
birthday, which he spent in
jail, Lee’s supporters congregated for a fundraiser to assist with his legal fees. And
scientists gathered at the University of California at Berkeley to initiate an Asian-
46
American boycott of government labs among those searching for jobs. In this way, the
Asian-American community also joined forces in the face of threat, whether real or
perceived, to their identity as American citizens of Asian descent.
The polarization resulting from this coverage is not limited to a pro-American
versus pro-China sentiment. The media have, overall, been quick to publish controversial
statements made by authorities. In the Lee case, Republican senators seized the
opportunity to cast doubt on the effectiveness of the Democratic administration. An AP
article, for example, quoted Republican Senator Don Nickles: “‘An individual is
suspected of being a spy with access to all of our warhead information ... and we did not
get into his computer. This is total incompetence.’” (Hebert, 1999). In other articles, such
as one headed “Spy Suspect Should Have Been Moved Earlier, Energy Boss Says,”
authorities also criticize the performance of the Justice Department, Energy Department,
and Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Groups are categorized on the basis of their most notorious actions, their members
often stripped of their individuality, their essence, their personal stories. In the context of
a news story, audiences are not troubled by the gray matter that obscures the main facts.
Instead, they take the few generalizations that are repeatedly emphasized by their news
sources and formulate a judgment on this basis. This loose manner of categorization
facilitates polarization between in-groups and out-groups on multiple levels. It is easy to
side with a man because he is of the same race as oneself, with a group because they are
God-fearing, or with the government because it has the law on its side. It is more
difficult, however, to attribute full humanness to every individual involved in a story, to
investigate the grassroots perspectives of both sides, or to decide between two human
47
beings which person should suffer more.
48
Chapter 5: Ramifications and Recommendations
The foregoing discourse demonstrates that sensationalism is capable of producing
devastating effects that belie the innocuous intentions of infusing excitement or
attractiveness into a story. Through objectification and infrahumanization, the
exploitation of pathos elements can negate the readers’ perceived need to extend
compassion and assistance to victims of such coverage. This effect is partially the result
of a media propensity for loose characterizations and black-and-white categorizations,
which in turn translate into in-group-versus-out-group designations.
Most people do align with their own view of “good,” whether defined in a
conventional altruistic sense, in the interests of self-preservation, or in the name of a
greater cause (the value of which may be subject to debate). With this range of definitions
in mind, it becomes apparent that the view of “good” cannot be the same for everyone,
and people will adopt differing perspectives and form independent concepts of what
defines the constituency of their in-group. Subsequently, this discrepancy is exacerbated
by coverage that capitalizes on the difference among the groups, giving rise to
polarization, followed by hostility against the out-group, and, finally, infrahumanization
of the out-group.
As we have seen, infrahumanization is not limited to occurring within strict in-
group-versus-out-group situations. It can also take place when no concrete antagonist or
out-group exists, such as when a media subject is idolatrized or characterized exclusively
by its context (e.g. disaster victim). It should, of course, be noted that this process almost
always occurs inadvertently. These instances, in particular, appear to be subconsciously
motivated by a need for retribution, confirmation of a reader’s own humanity, or
49
validation of his own existence.
That the objectification of media subjects can occur similarly, yet via a range of
methods – whether by overemphasizing the pathos elements of a story, exercising a
confirmation bias to seek validation of a preformed schema (e.g. “angel-victim”), or
unduly highlighting the villainy of a subject or group – carries cautionary implications for
journalists, public relations professionals, community activists, and media audiences as a
whole. It is not the intent of this analysis to fault any particular party for a process that
occurs subconsciously. Rather, it is to call attention to the inadvertently damaging effects
of a seemingly harmless convention. The boundaries of newsworthiness are easily blurred
by its dependency on reader demand for the information, a pull that is rarely, if ever,
negated by compassion for the subject of coverage. Is it necessary to detail the sexual
assault of a long-sought missing child? The psychological breakdown of a lauded
celebrity? Information that implicates, but does not necessarily incriminate, a man who
has not yet been charged with a crime? In determining whether a piece of information is
suitable for publication, perhaps it is also necessary to take into account yet another
criterion: Does the information seek to exploit or prematurely categorize an individual in
a way that might detract from perceptions of his humanity?
Furthermore, it should be remembered that sensationalist coverage, regardless of
valence, can elicit infrahumanizing results. In other words, even stories that are
predisposed to favor their subjects are capable of producing unintended
infrahumanization. Among other things, this item is particularly relevant to media stories
involving sensitive topics, or to causes such as charities, disaster victims, or celebrity
representation. It must be noted that while subjects can be infrahumanized as the result of
50
well-intentioned coverage or promotion, this does not mean that the infrahumanization
itself will occur in a positive context. It is, for example, entirely possible for a subject to
be objectified as a victim, a protagonist role in the eyes of many people, but, as a result,
to be infrahumanized by those who do not view the subject in a positive or charitable
light.
It may be concluded, then, that the use of pathos to solicit action or assistance can
potentially backfire. Media professionals (public relations professionals as well as news
journalists) can attempt to circumvent these detrimental effects by guarding against the
exploitation of pathos, perhaps by focusing on the needs of victims, rather than on their
losses. A call for food and medical supplies for disaster victims, for example, does not in
itself forcibly brand an individual subject in the same way as does yet another heart-
wrenching story about the complete destruction of his home and possessions. Ironically,
in some cases, sacrificing a degree of detail and perceived “depth” in a story may actually
allow for greater human empathy. Using less-explicit wording (as in the aforementioned
example of the assaults on Smart) and omitting excessive details may, on the surface,
appear to distance readers by denying them of their “right to know.” However, these
tactics may actually produce an opposite, more desirable, effect. If certain elements, such
as victimization, cease to be continuously reemphasized, the individual subject also
ceases to be defined strictly by stereotypes and bias-confirming characteristics. As a
result, there is more room for human ambiguities, and consequently, greater opportunity
for other, unrelated and unanticipated, commonalities to be identified between reader and
subject. Ultimately, if media coverage follows a path leading away from sensationalist
exploitation, there always exists the possibility that voyeuristic reader appetites might
51
gradually dissociate themselves from news sources, looking elsewhere to satisfy their
self-affirming, vicarious desires. Preferably, audiences would seek this satiation in a
fictional realm, where other human beings are not objectified by the exploitation of their
reality.
There is no easy solution to the predicament of appropriately involving readers in
a story while maintaining the individual humanity of the story’s subjects. It would be
impossible to capture the entire human essence of an individual within the limits of print
space, and foolish to omit the attempts entirely. Perhaps there is no ideal solution, and the
process of improvement is really the best goal. Through incorporating considerations of
infrahumanizing repercussions into decisions of content inclusion and subject depiction,
individuals in these key positions will be better equipped to influence the impressions and
generalizations inflicted upon and begotten by their audiences.
52
Bibliography
Amarasinghe, G., O. Farooq, A. Tang, C. Brummitt, and S. Yoong. “Snapshots of a Day
of Terror, Tragedy in Asian Quake, Floods.” Associated Press Newswires (December 26,
2004).
“Asian American Journalists Release Guidelines for Coverage of Spying.” PR Newswire
(May 24, 1999).
Benke, R. “Prosecutors Say Nuclear Scientist Stole ‘Centuries of Work.’” Associated
Press Newswires (December 13, 1999).
__________. “Wen Ho Lee to Plead Guilty to Lesser Charge, Go Home a Free Man.”
Associated Press Newswires (September 10, 2000).
Bingham, J. “Mother’s Tears for Missing Madeleine.” Press Association National
Newswire (May 6, 2007).
“Bodies Keep Arriving at Morgue as Survivors Search for Loved Ones.” Agence France-
Presse (December 26, 2004).
“Britney Snubs Her Mom.” Press Association National Newswire (May 17, 2007).
“Britney’s Mom ‘Brokenhearted.’” Press Association National Newswire (July 2, 2007).
Castano, E., and R. Giner-Sorolla. “Not Quite Human: Infrahumanization in Response to
Collective Responsibility for Intergroup Killing.” Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology 90, No. 5 (2006): 804-818.
Chen, F., and D. Kenrick. “Repulsion or Attraction? Group Membership and Assumed
Attitude Similarity.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 83, No. 1 (2002):
111-125.
“China Dismisses U.S. Nuclear Theft Charges.” Reuters News (May 20, 1999).
“China Spying Chronology.” Associated Press Newswires (May 25, 1999).
Detert, J., L. Treviño, and V. Sweitzer. “Moral Disengagement in Ethical Decision
Making: A Study of Antecedents and Outcomes.” Journal of Applied Psychology 93, No.
2 (2008): 374-391.
“Dismissed U.S. Nuclear Scientist Visited China, Report Says.” Associated Press
Newswires (March 14, 1999).
53
“Donors Rush to Replenish Stolen Tsunami Victims Fund.” Associated Press Newswires
(January 14, 2005).
“Energy Boss: Spy Stayed Too Long.” Associated Press Newswires (April 30, 1999).
“Espionage Suspect Given New Job While Under Investigation.” Associated Press
Newswires (March 24, 1999).
“European Tourists Tell of Death and Devastation from Killer Waves.” Agence France-
Presse (December 26, 2004).
“Foreign Ministry: No Slovaks in Areas Affected by Deadly Tsunami.” Tlacova
Agentura Slovenskej Republiky (December 26, 2004).
Foy, P. “Drifter found with Elizabeth Smart a self-proclaimed prophet for the homeless.”
Associated Press Newswires (March 13, 2003).
“Frantic Search for Missing Holiday Girl, 3.” Press Association National Newswire (May
4, 2007).
“From K-Fed to Fed-Ex: Gleeful Media Welcome Britney’s Divorce.” Agence France
Presse (November 8, 2006).
Ganguly, D. “Asia Quake’s Tsunamis Kill Over 11,000.” Associated Press Newswires
(December 26, 2004).
_________. “Grieving Parents in Sri Lanka Still Waiting for Ocean To Return Children.”
The Canadian Press (January 2, 2005).
“Giant Wall of Water Washes Away Thousands of Lives, Homes in India.” Agence
France-Presse (December 26, 2004).
Goff, P., J. Eberhardt, M. Williams, and M. Jackson. “Not Yet Human: Implicit
Knowledge, Historical Dehumanization, and Contemporary Consequences.” Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology 94, No. 2 (2008): 292-306.
Goodman, D. “Oops! Britney Bombs in MTV ‘Comeback.’” Reuters News (September 9.
2007).
Haslam, N., P. Bain, L. Douge, M. Lee, and B. Bastian. “More Human Than You:
Attributing Humanness to Self and Others.” Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology 89, No. 6 (2005): 937-950.
Hebert, H. “Government Scientist Involved in Probe is Fired.” Associated Press
Newswires (March 8, 1999).
54
__________. “House Report Says China Can Build Better Weapons Because of U.S.
Thefts.” Associated Press Newswires (May 25, 1999).
__________. “Officials Thwarted Search of Suspected Spy's Computer, Senate Told.”
Associated Press Newswires (May 5, 1999).
__________. “Scientist Denies Leaking Secrets.” Associated Press Newswires (May 7,
1999).
Henetz, P. “A Family’s Faith Tested – Girl’s Abduction Comes Two Nights After
Grandfather’s Funeral.” Associated Press Newswires (June 6, 2002).
__________. “Self-proclaimed prophet, wife charged with kidnapping, sexual assault in
Smart disappearance.” Associated Press Newswires (March 18, 2003).
“Key China Spying Developments.” Associated Press Newswires (May 25, 1999).
Kim, I., and E. Spelke. “Infants’ Sensitivity to Effects of Gravity on Visible Object
Motion.” Journal of Experimental Psychology 18, No. 2 (1992): 385-393.
Leach, C., R. Spears, N. Branscombe, and B. Doosje. “Malicious Pleasure:
Schadenfreude at the Suffering of Another Group.” Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology 84, No. 5 (2003): 932-943.
Locke, M. “Asian-Americans Defend Wen Ho Lee.” Associated Press Newswires
(December 17, 1999).
López, W., and J. Sabucedo. “Culture of Peace and Mass Media.” European Psychologist
12, No. 2 (2007): 147-155.
Marsden, S. “Missing Toddler’s Parents ‘Checked Her Every Half Hour.’” Press
Association National Newswire (May 4, 2007).
Massey, B. “FBI Raids Home of Scientist Fired in China Investigation.” Associated Press
Newswires (April 10, 1999).
Mendes, W., J. Blascovich, S. Hunter, and B. Lickel. “Threatened by the Unexpected:
Physiological Responses During Social Interactions with Expectancy-Violating Partners.”
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 92, No. 4 (2007): 698-716.
Moody, N. “MTV Awards Flourish Despite Britney Bomb.” Associated Press Newswires
(September 10, 2007).
Mott, Frank. American Journalism, 3
rd
ed. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1962.
55
“Now, Britney Spears Pulled Over for Speeding.” Asian News International (August 27,
2007).
Roberts, C. “Neighbors Don’t Know Man Accused of Security Violations at Nuclear
Lab.” Associated Press Newswires (March 10, 1999).
“Search Intensifies for Missing 7-Year-Old Girl.” Associated Press Newswires (May 6,
2002).
Soetjipto, T. “Disease Big Fear as Indonesia Wakes to Devastation.” Reuters News
(December 26, 2004).
Solntsev, V., and S. Mingazhev. “Tsunami Entails Casualties Among Russian Tourists in
Thailand.” ITAR-TASS World Service (December 26, 2004).
“Spears is Subject of Unflattering Photos.” Associated Press Newswires (June 5, 2007).
“Spy Suspect Should Have Been Moved Earlier, Energy Boss Says.” Associated Press
Newswires (April 30, 1999).
Stevens, J. Sensationalism and the New York Press. New York: Columbia University
Press, 1991.
Swinyard, K. “Classmates Praise Missing Girl for Friendliness, Intelligence.” Associated
Press Newswires (June 5, 2002).
“Top US Official Will Not Resign Over Chinese Spying Scandal.” Agence France-Presse
(March 11, 1999).
“Tsunami Survivors Include Some with Minnesota Ties.” Associated Press Newswires
(December 26, 2004).
Turner, J. C., Hogg, M. A., Oakes, P. J., Reicher, S. D., & Wetherell, M. S.
Rediscovering the Social Group: A Self-Categorization Theory. Oxford: Basil Blackwell,
1987.
“U.S. To Be "Very Responsive" To Quake, Tsunami.” Reuters News (December 26,
2004).
Vosepka, R. “Police Search for Missing Girl After Alleged Kidnapping.” Associated
Press Newswires (June 5, 2002).
Zakaria, T. “U.S. Discloses ‘Egregious’ Nuclear Security Breach.” Reuters News (April
28, 1999).

Abstract (if available)

Abstract This thesis addresses the dehumanizing effects of journalistic sensationalism on audience perceptions of the human subjects involved. Through the examination of case studies, my analysis identifies three primary forms of sensationalism that are differentiated according to their roots in pseudo-altruism, celebrity exploitation, or polarizing potential. I argue that, even when used in an attempt to portray media subjects in a positive light, the exploitation of sensationalist material is liable to invoke undesirable, and potentially dangerous, consequences for subjects and those who share their exploited characteristics. The analysis concludes with a discussion of practical ramifications and recommendations for alternative courses of action.

Linked assets

University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Conceptually similar

PDF

A study of social media practices and trends in the field of investor relations

PDF

Facebook and the ideal social marketplace: a study of the marketing benefits of social media practices

PDF

A comparative analysis of the advertising and public relations disciplines in an era of digitally fueled audience control

PDF

The rise and fall of Howard Dean: the media's role in the Iowa caucus "scream" debacle

PDF

Social media best practices for communication professionals through the lens of the fashion industry

PDF

"This time for Africa": South Africa's rise onto the global fashion stage

PDF

The evolution of the internal communications practice and its importance to the survival of organizations

PDF

The influence of new media marketing public relations on the South Korean film industry -- in relation to the U.S. film industry

PDF

Uses of news narratives to enhance health knowledge of the audience: an analysis of the 2009 H1N1 flu vaccination coverage

PDF

The women’s rights movement of today: how social media is fueling the resurgence of feminism

PDF

It's not you, it's me: Generation me and the public relations stategies to reach it

PDF

An analysis of influence strategies within the competitive sports marketplace: how the discipline of "playmaking" can be applied to the competitive sports marketplace

PDF

Digital storytelling as participatory media practice for empowerment: the case of the Chinese immigrants in the San Gabriel Valley

PDF

Anything for love: out-of-the-box approaches to dating [letter]

PDF

Comparative analysis of peer-to-peer lending in China and the United Kingdom: an assessment of the Lending Plaza’s market entry prospects

PDF

Return of the MAC: a strategic communication plan to resonate with Gen Z consumers

PDF

Are U.S. colleges being “oversold” to today’s students? A look at the realities of public relations in undergraduate higher education

PDF

Adversary for a strange hero: depictions of journalists in Showtime's Dexter with comparisons to Jeff Lindsay's novel Darkly dreaming Dexter

Asset Metadata

Creator Mak, Siu-Yin (author)

Core Title For the love of sensationalism: denying humanity to victims of media coverage

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Strategic Public Relations

Publication Date 10/14/2008

Defense Date 08/01/2008

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag infrahumanization,OAI-PMH Harvest,sensationalism

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Swerling, Gerald (committee chair), Floto, Jennifer (committee member), Ongaro, Giulio M. (committee member)

Creator Email jasiuma@aol.com,siuyinmak@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-m1666

Unique identifier UC1281516

Identifier etd-Mak-2427 (filename),usctheses-m40 (legacy collection record id),usctheses-c127-116502 (legacy record id),usctheses-m1666 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-Mak-2427.pdf

Dmrecord 116502

Document Type Thesis

Rights Mak, Siu-Yin

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Repository Name Libraries, University of Southern California

Repository Location Los Angeles, California

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu