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You're Dead—So What?: Media, Police, and the Invisibility of Black Women as Victims of Homicide
Though numerous studies have been conducted regarding perceived racial bias in newspaper reporting of violent crimes, few studies have focused on the intersections of race and gender in determining the extent and prominence of this coverage, and more specifically how the lack of attention to violence against women of color reinforces their invisibility in the social structure. This book provides an empirical study of media and law enforcement bias in reporting and investigating homicides of African American women compared with their white counterparts. The author discusses the symbiotic relationship between media coverage and the response from law enforcement to victims of color, particularly when these victims are reported missing and presumed to be in danger by their loved ones. Just as the media are effective in helping to increase police response, law enforcement officials reach out to news outlets to solicit help from the public in locating a missing person or solving a murder. However, a deeply troubling disparity in reporting the disappearance and homicides of female victims reflects racial inequality and institutionalized racism in the social structure that need to be addressed. It is this disparity this important study seeks to solve.
- GenresTrue CrimeNonfiction
126 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2015
About the author
Cheryl L. Neely
3 books29 followersCheryl L. Neely is Professor of Sociology at Oakland Community College where she teaches courses in Sociology and Criminology.
(from http://msupress.org/books/contributor...)
(from http://msupress.org/books/contributor...)
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 28, 2025
Neely (2015) provides a concise, intersectional analysis of Black female homicide. The main argument of the book is to draw attention to the neglect and reluctance of police officers to thoroughly and vigorously investigate the homicides of Black women and girls as well as the failures of mainstream media to report on such cases, while invisibilizing Black women’s homicide cases and lives.
One of the primary tropes found in her research is deserving and undeserving victims of homicide. Deserving victims in some way brought about their own victimization (e.g., the victim wore a sexy dress to a party and deserved to be raped). The gaslighting and negative conclusions of the public do not garner, or limit, empathy for the victim. This is true of both how the media report on a story and how the police decide to handle the crime. Undeserving victims are those people who garner immediate media attention and where their victimization is rigorously and thoroughly investigated by authorities immediately. In these cases, the victim is undeserving of the crime that occurred against her. Her findings indicate that white women and girls were the most undeserving victims whereas Black women and girls were the most deserving victims. In her research, Neely examined the literature on secondary victimization; these are people who are directly victimized and victimized again but, in the press. This effect could be reduced by journalists including positive language in their reporting in describing the victim. Adding personal details and photos of the victim further increased public empathy toward the victim. Neely uses this trope throughout her work to analyze the differences in treatment between Black women and girls and white women and girls. She makes a compelling argument.
Neely uses a content analysis of three newspapers and around 125 articles to address her research questions. Cases were included in the analysis if articles were about single-victim homicides of women, from 2005-2007 that were 14 years old or older. She used a coding scheme and analyzed the data in two phases. Phase one entailed counting instances of media effects in articles. Media effects essentially are indicators of how the editors and journalists frame the story to influence readers` perceptions of the victims. Phase two entailed noting and coding additional characteristics about the victim: background, life experiences, employment at the time of death, their level of education, and interviews or comments from individuals who knew the victim and described their personality or popularity (p. 58). She focuses on Black and white victims because accessing racial data on other homicide victims within her criteria was difficult. One gets the sense from reading her book that as a Black woman herself, she picks up on these racial disparities in society on a fairly regular basis. Her experiences drive her research.
Her findings from the content analysis revealed that Black women were the majority of homicides but were a fraction of newspaper coverage. Compared to articles covering the homicides of Black women, 87% more articles covering white women homicide victims included photographs of the victim. White female victims were also featured much more on the front page or in sections near the front of the paper compared to Black female victims.
This book was fairly straightforward with a clear structure and argument. I suppose my one critique is her understanding of the relationship between media and police. In some of my work, it becomes very clear that police retain the vast majority of power in the relationship. Police are the primary source for information on crime scenes and will craft narratives surrounding homicides and other crimes that fit police-as-hero tropes. The book itself does not explore this relationship as much and I think it hurts her analysis and her broad (and correct) understanding of police as indifferent, reluctant, and in some cases, negligent when it comes to solving the homicides of Black women.
My criticism aside, I thought this was worth the read.
One of the primary tropes found in her research is deserving and undeserving victims of homicide. Deserving victims in some way brought about their own victimization (e.g., the victim wore a sexy dress to a party and deserved to be raped). The gaslighting and negative conclusions of the public do not garner, or limit, empathy for the victim. This is true of both how the media report on a story and how the police decide to handle the crime. Undeserving victims are those people who garner immediate media attention and where their victimization is rigorously and thoroughly investigated by authorities immediately. In these cases, the victim is undeserving of the crime that occurred against her. Her findings indicate that white women and girls were the most undeserving victims whereas Black women and girls were the most deserving victims. In her research, Neely examined the literature on secondary victimization; these are people who are directly victimized and victimized again but, in the press. This effect could be reduced by journalists including positive language in their reporting in describing the victim. Adding personal details and photos of the victim further increased public empathy toward the victim. Neely uses this trope throughout her work to analyze the differences in treatment between Black women and girls and white women and girls. She makes a compelling argument.
Neely uses a content analysis of three newspapers and around 125 articles to address her research questions. Cases were included in the analysis if articles were about single-victim homicides of women, from 2005-2007 that were 14 years old or older. She used a coding scheme and analyzed the data in two phases. Phase one entailed counting instances of media effects in articles. Media effects essentially are indicators of how the editors and journalists frame the story to influence readers` perceptions of the victims. Phase two entailed noting and coding additional characteristics about the victim: background, life experiences, employment at the time of death, their level of education, and interviews or comments from individuals who knew the victim and described their personality or popularity (p. 58). She focuses on Black and white victims because accessing racial data on other homicide victims within her criteria was difficult. One gets the sense from reading her book that as a Black woman herself, she picks up on these racial disparities in society on a fairly regular basis. Her experiences drive her research.
Her findings from the content analysis revealed that Black women were the majority of homicides but were a fraction of newspaper coverage. Compared to articles covering the homicides of Black women, 87% more articles covering white women homicide victims included photographs of the victim. White female victims were also featured much more on the front page or in sections near the front of the paper compared to Black female victims.
This book was fairly straightforward with a clear structure and argument. I suppose my one critique is her understanding of the relationship between media and police. In some of my work, it becomes very clear that police retain the vast majority of power in the relationship. Police are the primary source for information on crime scenes and will craft narratives surrounding homicides and other crimes that fit police-as-hero tropes. The book itself does not explore this relationship as much and I think it hurts her analysis and her broad (and correct) understanding of police as indifferent, reluctant, and in some cases, negligent when it comes to solving the homicides of Black women.
My criticism aside, I thought this was worth the read.
November 26, 2024
Overall, this is incredibly insightful and can provide a fresh perspective on how the media portrays victims. This book suggests that deeply rooted race and class can profoundly influence how society portrays a person as a victim.
May 9, 2019
Rivoting.
June 2, 2020
Such an eyeopener! I referenced it in an assignment I did for uni. Fantastic read.
May 1, 2016
Irrelevant Victims
If you ever wonder how new reporters choose victims to highlight for the daily news, this book will provide an answer. Author Neely’s extensive notes support the hypothesis that black homicide victims who are black, receive superficial attention from the media and police investigators. As she points out repeatedly through example after example, the color of one’s skin, their gender, and lack of social, political and financial status continues to victimize women of color even after death.
If you ever wonder how new reporters choose victims to highlight for the daily news, this book will provide an answer. Author Neely’s extensive notes support the hypothesis that black homicide victims who are black, receive superficial attention from the media and police investigators. As she points out repeatedly through example after example, the color of one’s skin, their gender, and lack of social, political and financial status continues to victimize women of color even after death.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews