Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Department of Sociology
Document Type
Dissertation
Abstract
While much is known about how the media covers mass shootings within the United States and how this coverage impacts the public, much remains unknown about the media and international mass shootings. To address this gap this dissertation examines the relationship between the media coverage of ideological and non-ideological mass shootings that have occurred around the world. It then examines the relationship between media consumption and perceptions of mass shootings. To this end, newspaper coverage on a sample of ten mass shootings from 2011-2021 are examined temporally using the Social Coping Model. Results show that media coverage varies across time for both ideological and non-ideological mass shootings with coverage of ideological mass shootings having a longer life span. Lastly, using an online survey the relationship between media consumption and perceptions of mass shootings as a United States problem and/or a global problem are explored. Ordinal logistic regressions show that social media consumption is not found to influence the perception of mass shootings. Overall, this dissertation contributes to the discourse surrounding media and mass shootings.
Date
7-9-2023
Recommended Citation
LaRose, Jennifer L., "Media Coverage of Non-Ideologically Motivated Mass Shootings versus Ideologically Motivated Mass Shootings and How the Media Affects College Students' Perceptions of Mass Shootings" (2023). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 6231.
https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/6231
Committee Chair
Slack, Tim