A decade of maternal filicide in Canadian news: An ethnographic content analysis

Abstract

No research to date explores how Canadian journalists disseminate information to the public regarding maternal filicide. Using ethnographic content analysis (ECA), our research team analyzed 10 years of newsprint articles from three major Canadian newspapers including: The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, and National Post on the topic of maternal filicide. The aim of this study was to understand what journalists were publishing about maternal filicide which has implications for how the public may form opinions and attitudes about these mothers and this crime. In this thesis, I present findings from our research which highlight that Canadian reporters use neutral, fact-based language in 81% of articles (n=77) and 179 different instances. Two over-arching frames of Criminal Justice and Descriptive Narrative were revealed. Each frame consists of three themes further elucidating the narratives and discourse presented to the Canadian public via news articles. Our research also highlights a lack of contextual reporting on mental health issues related to the perpetuation of maternal filicide.