Media Coverage of Reeva Steenkamp’s Death

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Recommended: Violence in media and real violence

Introduction
In this modern day and times, many issues involving violence occur in the society we live. These issues are extremely publicized by the media. In this respect, the media places its keen interests in how the issue should be represented as opposed to what should be represented. Logically, the media is tasked with every opportunity and choices possible to determine how issues of violence should be represented, or the outcomes that may result from a violent crime. It is also important to note the manner in which violence is represented could have a positive or negative effect to the person it is addressed to; thus, responsibility ought to be considered before reporting is done.
Notably, violent crimes could be represented in a way that justifiable, easy, glamorous or cool. In this context, a victim of violence can be depicted in a way that propagates stereotyping. In the case of Reeva Stenkamp’s murder, it is evident that the media reflects Reeva as an object of intimate partner violence; hence, the case has been highly publicized in way that favours women. Additionally, it has been viewed that in the event of violence; if the whites murder or rape each other, the story is usually marred with unrealistic explanations towards their behavior. On the contrary, if a black commits such violence, they are thought to possess some intrinsic flaws in terms of nature. Hence, such violence is considered by the media as exceptional, and portrayed as being abberational as opposed to viewing it from a broader societal point.1 As a result of the highly publicized violent crime between Oscar Pistorius and her girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day, this paper focuses on demonstrating how media coverage has reflected and refracte...

... middle of paper ...

...y and masculinity, are now largely responsible not only for managing domestic violence but are also instrumental in the way that domestic violence is constructed and consequently the way that domestic violence victims are constructed and represented. This clearly represents the murder case between Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steekamp.

Works Cited

Msimang, S., 2013, Crime knows no race, City Press, viewed on 9th Dec, 2013
Dobash, R. E and Dobash, R. P., 1992, Women, Violence and Social Change. Routledge: London
Dobash, R. E and Dobash, R. P, 1979, Violence Against Wives. The Free Press, London: Macmillan
McRobie, Heather, 2013, Gender violence in the media: elusive reality. Open Democracy, viewed on 9th Dec, 2013
Damean, D, 2006, Media and gender: Constructing feminine Identities in a postmodern culture. Journal for the Studies of Religions and Ideologies, Vol. 14

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