'A Night of Shame': A Quantitative Content Analysis of Newspaper

Journal of International Women's Studies Journal of International Women's Studies

Volume 22 Issue 9 Article 23

September 2021

‘A Night of Shame’: A Quantitative Content Analysis of Newspaper ‘A Night of Shame’: A Quantitative Content Analysis of Newspaper

Narratives of the Mass Molestation Event in Bangalore, India Narratives of the Mass Molestation Event in Bangalore, India

Vaibhav Shwetangbhai Diwanji

Awais Saleem

Jaejin Lee

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Recommended Citation Recommended Citation

Diwanji, Vaibhav Shwetangbhai; Saleem, Awais; and Lee, Jaejin (2021). ‘A Night of Shame’: A Quantitative

Content Analysis of Newspaper Narratives of the Mass Molestation Event in Bangalore, India.

Journal of

International Women's Studies

, 22(9), 343-360.

Available at: https://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol22/iss9/23

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Journal of International Women’s Studies Vol. 22, No. 9 September 2021

‘A Night of Shame’: A Quantitative Content Analysis of Newspaper Narratives of the Mass

Molestation Event in Bangalore, India

By Vaibhav Shwetangbhai Diwanji

, Awais Saleem

, Jaejin Lee

Abstract

On December 31, 2016 amidst New Year’s Eve revelry in Bangalore, India, about 700

young women faced a mass molestation. This research analyzed and compared 299 news articles

(N=299) between January 1, 2017 and February 1, 2017 from three leading English language

newspapers in India through a quantitative content analysis. Results indicated that there were

differences in how the regional and national newspapers framed their stories. While national

newspapers deployed the episodic frame in their news stories, the local newspaper used both

thematic and episodic frames. The episodic frame focuses on individual events, whereas the

thematic frame focuses on trends over time. Local newspapers discussed causes and attributions

of responsibility more than national newspapers. National newspapers mostly used celebrity and

official sources in their coverage, whereas local newspapers covered the testimonies of the victims

and eyewitnesses more. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed in this paper.

Keywords: Sexual crimes against women, Gender-based violence, Gender and communication,

Representation, Framing, Quantitative content analysis, Newspapers narratives, Responsible

journalism

The ‘Night of Shame’ in Bangalore

Drawing on a quantitative content analysis of 299 newspaper articles, this research

systematically examines the frames in print news coverage of the mass molestation event in

Bangalore, India. On December 31, 2016, the revelers gathered at MG Road and Brigade Road in

Bangalore, the two major streets located in the heart of the city, to celebrate New Year’s Eve of

Vaibhav Diwanji is an Assistant Professor in the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass

Communications at the University of Kansas. He received his Ph.D. from Florida State University. He has an MS in

Integrated Marketing Communications from Florida State University and an MBA in International Business and

Marketing from Auckland University of Technology. His research interests include new media technologies,

persuasion, media analysis, gender and communication, health communication, cross-cultural communication, and

media framing and effects.

Awais Saleem is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication and Media at Lamar University. He

worked as a print and broadcast journalist for more than a decade. During this time, he remained associated with

mainstream media organizations in Pakistan, India, and the United States. His research interests are political

communication, social media and emerging technologies, political economy of media, and agenda-setting. He

teaches broadcasting writing and production courses.

Jaejin Lee is an Associate Professor in the School of Communication in the College of Communication and

Information at Florida State University. She received her PhD from the University of Florida. She has an MAdv in

Advertising from the University of Florida and a BA from Kyungpook National University. Her research interests

include consumer behavior, strategic marketing communications, cause-related marketing, new media, and health

communication. Her teaching interests include media consumer behavior, creative strategy, and foundations of

integrated marketing communication.

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2017. Roughly 60,000 people were present at these locations and 1,500 policemen were deployed

to take care of their security (Swamy, 2017). Despite all the security arrangements, 700 young

women faced a mass molestation on that night, which was the first incident of its kind anywhere

in India.

Bangalore Mirror, a regional newspaper in the state of Karnataka where Bangalore is

situated, was the first to cover this incident, as one of their journalists was present at the crime

scene (Swamy, 2017). The newspaper called this incidence “Bangalore’s night of shame (Swamy,

2017).” Other newspapers, especially the leading national English-language dailies, were very

quick to react and cover the incident as well. The news about this event spread throughout the

country, resulting in protests against the current treatment of women and laws against sexual

crimes against women in India. A state minister in Karnataka issued a comment wherein he blamed

the women victims for dressing and acting like westerners (Safi, 2017). His comments received

wide coverage across several regional and national English language newspapers and on social

media websites.

News stories covered not only the narrations of the event, but also commentaries from

different celebrities in the Indian Hindi movie industry, Bollywood, sports celebrities, politicians,

and the public at large. People held protests in Bangalore and across India to pay respects to the

victims and bring attention to the issue of mistreatment of women in Bangalore and other parts of

the country. The news spread globally, and many major global newspapers covered the story of

the Bangalore mass molestation (Dewan, 2018; Jolly, 2017; Safi, 2017). This research includes a

systematic quantitative content analysis of the Bangalore mass molestation related articles in the

Indian regional newspaper, Bangalore Mirror, and compares it with the news stories covered in

two leading national English newspapers of India: The Times of India and Hindustan Times.

This research presents a feminist critical analysis of newspaper narratives of the Bangalore

mass molestation event. The feminist critical analysis helps to shed light on and acknowledge that

violence perpetrated against women is gendered and steeped within a patriarchal culture that views

women as subordinate and as less worthy of rights and freedoms than men (Russell, 2001).

Newspapers are a major source of information, facts, statistics, ideas, and opinions for people

(Johnson & Milani, 2011). Newspapers are a tool of mass information dissemination when an

event like this takes place (Ambirajan, 2000). Newspapers’ presentation of such events of sexual

violence against women can influence people at a very large scale (Phillips et al., 2015). A critical

analysis and understanding of newspapers’ role in spreading the information about such crimes

against women can prove to be valuable in aiding present and future social, political, and legal

movements and policies against such crimes. This research contributes to the literature of news

framing on sexual violence against women and discusses implications of ethical journalism or

otherwise in covering such an issue.

Newspaper Reporting of Sexual Violence against Women in India

This research is not about the significance of investigative journalism and the capabilities

of journalists in India, but instead focuses on the newspaper coverage patterns of the Bangalore

mass molestation and incident-driven journalism tendencies practiced by the newspapers. Sexual

violence against women, according to Brownmiller (1975) and Hooks (1990), is not just about a

‘crime of passion’, but more crucially, it showcases a social dimension to maintain structures of

male dominance and hegemony over females.

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Prior to the ‘Delhi gang-rape’ in 2012, sexual crimes against women in India barely

received any extensive national coverage in print newspapers (Bradley, Sahariah, & Siddiqui,

2017). Literature suggests that cases of sexual violence against women in India were not reported

sufficiently in print newspapers (Bradley & Pallikadavath, 2013; Chacko, 2003; Gilbertson &

Pandit, 2019; Nieder, Muck & Kartner, 2019; Radha, 2019; Srinivasan, 2005). Women, in a

patriarchal society like India, have been neglected in terms of coverage by print media of the sexual

crimes against them (Spivak, 1988). Bradley et al. (2017) discussed how women and young girls

in India have been systematically oppressed and silenced by the media, especially print

newspapers. This was because print news outlets barely covered their experiences and chose to

focus on a select few ‘'hyped" cases of sexual violence in the country. Such a selective coverage

tends to marginalize the plight of women in the print newspapers. The narratives of rape and sexual

crimes against women in India have often included inaccurate portrayals of the victims as well as

the incidents (Gilbertson & Pandit, 2019; Ray, 1998). To this end, this research aimed at

understanding how the three newspapers covered stories related to the Bangalore mass molestation

and analyzed whether and how the print news provided a corridor to discuss crimes against women

in the country.

Theoretical Perspectives and Development of Hypotheses

Newspapers in India

Newspapers are an important tool of mass communication and information dissemination

to the local as well as national audiences when sexual violence against women occurs at such a

large scale as the mass molestation in Bangalore (Ambirajan, 2000). Therefore, newspaper

journalists must understand their responsibility for appropriate coverage of such an incidence

(Phillips et al., 2015). The previous literature that studied sexual crimes against women in India

and their coverage in the English newspapers in the country did not focus on any ‘mass

molestation’ case as such (Bradley & Pallikadavath, 2013; Chacko, 2003; Srinivasan, 2005).

Newspapers’ presentation of such controversial events can provide tools through which their

readers are drawn towards a certain social movement, which makes the newspapers an essential

tool in the development of social movements against such crimes against women in India.

Therefore, it is important to understand how the information provided by newspapers influences

social movements in terms of formation of protests at local and national levels. It is important to

analyze and understand how newspapers portray such events, with the potential of influencing

social awareness (Von Aelst & Walgrave, 2002). There is also a counter argument that print

newspapers, both local and national, are interested in publishing voyeuristic details of such

incidents to attract more readers and sell more papers (Bradley et al., 2017). This research discusses

the need and implications of responsible coverage of sexual violence against women in the Indian

newspapers.

The primary purpose of this systematic content analysis of the three leading English

language newspapers in India was to analyze the print news media’s role in the dissemination of

information from a local to national scale, using the Bangalore mass molestation event as a case

example. The next section presents the theoretical framework guiding this research and

development of hypotheses. This is followed by a detailed discussion of the method deployed in

this study. Results and analysis are presented after that, followed by discussion of theoretical and

practical implications.

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Female Victims in Newspapers

Incidents like the mass molestation in Bangalore are gender-based crimes whereby women

and young girls are sexually attacked, with the intention of humiliating and controlling them (Gill,

2007). Kelly et al. (2006) argued that many myths prevailed among the people based on

‘appropriate versus inappropriate’ behavior standards of women who were victims of such sexual

crimes. Many portrayed women as ‘undeserving’ ones, influencing the public’s understanding of

such crimes through information they receive from newspapers. The newspapers feed their readers

with sexualized, soft-pornographic versions of such sexual crimes against women daily (Kelly et

al., 2006). Bradley and colleagues (2017) argued that newspapers should avoid the stereotypical

ways of representing women as sexual objects who exist for the gratification of men.

Previous studies on representation of sexual violence against women in newspapers were

found to be deeply biased and problematic (Benedict, 1992; Carter, 1998; Clark, 1992; Korn &

Efrat, 2004; Soothill & Walby, 1991). It was evident from these studies that the print newspapers

offered a distorted portrayal of the sexual crimes against women. Benedict (1992) observed that

the victims of such sexual crimes were required to meet certain conditions, such as specific skin

color, social class, virgin/not married with children, from a respectable background, non-alcoholic,

raped/harassed by economically and socially backward man/men, in order to attain a status among

the print news media as a ‘deserving’ victim. This was also evident in Kelly and Radform’s (2005)

study that stated, “…that victims are to blame for ‘risk-taking” (p. 80). The press would

deliberately exaggerate gratuitous details of such sexual violence against women to titillate the

readers (Soothil & Walby, 1991). Both local and national newspapers normalized such crimes

against women by framing them as inevitable and even acceptable facts of everyday life (Carter,

1998). This research used an integrated theoretical framework to analyze the coverage of the mass

molestation event in the three newspapers.

Cultivation Theory

Gerbner’s (1998) cultivation theory provides an overarching theoretical framework for this

research. It serves as a lens to understand the findings of this study, rather than as a predictive tool.

Cultivation theory suggests that mass media tools like television and newspapers are primary

contributors to the general public’s conceptions of social reality (Gerbner, 1998). According to the

theory, it is assumed that the more people read newspaper stories, the more their reality estimates

would correspond to the most recurrent, stable, and overarching patterns of the newspaper’s

content (Arendt, 2010). Accordingly, those who spend more time reading newspaper articles

related to sexual crimes against women are more likely to perceive the real world in ways that

reflect the most common patterns of the newspaper stories related to such events (Morgan &

Shanahan, 2010; Morgan, Shanahan, & Signorielli, 2009).

Feminist Poststructuralism

Weedon’s (1997) feminist poststructuralism provides a theoretical framework to examine

news representations of lethal gendered violence against women by addressing the relationship

between language, social institution, and individual consciousness. The theory focuses on how

power is exercised in such situations (Weedon, 1997). It theorizes the relationship between

subjectivity, meaning, and social value (Weedon, 1997). This research applied feminist

poststructuralism with various framing theories to examine the coverage of the Bangalore mass

molestation in the three leading English daily newspapers in India (Goffman, 1986). According to

Goffman (1986), framing analysis helps in the investigation of experiences. Narratives and events

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are interpreted according to different frames. Different frames facilitate the selection, portrayal,

and examination of news information, thus allowing narratives into specific categories (Dowler,

2006). Han (2007) suggested that news frames offer templates that journalists use for collecting

information and converting them into narratives.

Bradley and colleagues (2016) argued that almost any issue related to violence against

women in India is framed in terms of gender violence. Drache and Velagic (2014) also deployed

framing analysis to identify the importance of language used by four different English newspapers

in India in developing people’s understanding of the Delhi gang rape case. They found that the

press failed in maintaining a balance between a holistic coverage and incident-based reporting of

the violence against women.

Justice Frame

The notion of justice can be applied in communication research and holds ‘significant

promise’ in this field of research (Besley & McComas, 2005). Justice research demonstrates that

media coverage of justice cases such as the mass molestation in Bangalore may have a significant

impact on public sentiments and attitudes toward the event, victims, and the authorities (Besley &

McComas, 2005; Korsgaard & Roberson, 1995). This research also used Moriearty’s (2010) study

which used the justice frame to understand the print news media’s representation of justice with

regard to sexual violence against women. In addition, this research was also influenced by Thacker

and Day’s (2017) study that used the media’s framing of justice as problematic in terms of the

practice of ‘victim blaming,’ which refers to news coverage in which the women who were victims

of sexual violence are accused of playing a role in their own victimization. Therefore, the first

hypothesis is proposed as below.

H1: The coverage of the Bangalore mass molestation in three English newspapers

(Bangalore Mirror, The Times of India, and Hindustan Times) will highlight a

justice frame.

Adversarial Frame

The present research also provides a comparative analysis of adversarial framing in the

context of its presence or absence in the newspaper narratives about the Bangalore mass

molestation. Adversarial framing has been employed extensively in both print and television

journalism (Karlberg, 1997). The main feature of an adversarial frame is its representation of issues

in terms of two distinct, mutually exclusive aspects such as good versus evil (Karlberg, 1999).

Adversarial framing comes from adversarial perspectivism to imply not simply different

perspectives, but rather deliberately constructed apex perspectives, based on the theoretical

concept of ‘perspective realism’ (Karlberg, 1997; McGilvary, 1933). This research used an

adversarial frame to examine whether these news stories from three newspapers delineated

boundaries between good and evil by identifying people responsible for the incident or accused

victims of being themselves responsible for the incident. This research was influenced by Knight

and Greenberg’s (2011) study in which they used the adversarial framing in the context of social

movement and counter-movement discursive relationships. Therefore:

H2: The coverage of the Bangalore mass molestation in three English

newspapers (Bangalore Mirror, The Times of India, and Hindustan Times)

will highlight an adversarial frame.

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Rights-based Frame

The current study also looked at the prevailing conflict of interests through rights-based

framing, in terms of the positions held by the primary people involved in the narratives about the

Bangalore mass molestation in the three newspapers such as the victims, the accused, the law-

enforcement agencies, the politicians, the celebrities, the eyewitnesses, or others. The rights-based

framing helps in understanding the underlying power-based hegemony, which in turn can influence

how print media framed sexual violence against women (Miller, 2010). Rights-based frames refer

to moral principles and universal rights that can be claimed by anyone regardless of their interests

or identity (Helbling, Hoeglinger, & Wuest, 2010). In view of evidence that journalists employ

issue dualism, in which two sides of an issue are treated as equally valid (Terkildson, Schnell, &

Ling, 1998), this research examines the rights-based framing in the newspaper articles. Therefore:

H3: The coverage of the Bangalore mass molestation in three English newspapers

(Bangalore Mirror, The Times of India, and Hindustan Times) will highlight a

rights-based frame.

Another goal of this study was to identify whether the tone of the newspaper articles

covering the mass molestation was primarily positive or negative. The present research was

influenced by Nitz and West (2004) and Iyengar (1991), who had found that the tone of a

newspaper story could have a significant effect on the public’s opinion of an incident. Therefore:

H4: When Bangalore Mirror, The Times of India, and Hindustan Times covered

the Bangalore mass molestation, the tone of that coverage will be primarily

negative.

Thematic Frame

The present study also investigated whether the coverage of the mass molestation in these

newspapers was thematic or episodic. According to Iyengar (1991), thematic framing refers to

placing a specific event in a wider context and discussing the possible implications of its outcome.

Whereas episodic framing refers to presenting public discourse in terms of a specific event or

occurrence in isolation. Therefore:

H5: When Bangalore Mirror, The Times of India, and Hindustan Times covered

the Bangalore mass molestation, their coverage will be primarily thematic.

Causal Frame

This study also used the causal frame analysis to identify whether the newspapers

emphasized specific aspects of the incident and made them more salient so as to promote a

particular causal interpretation (Entman, 1993). Causal frames in news articles influence people’s

assessment of an issue, which in turn could become salient considerations in their evaluations of

the event (Entman, 1993; Gamson & Modigliani, 1989; Nelson, Clawson, & Oxley, 1997).

Journalists often select frames in their depictions of issues to make certain aspects of an issue more

salient, often aspects related to causal attribution (Entman, 1993). Therefore:

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H6: The coverage of the Bangalore mass molestation in three English newspapers

(Bangalore Mirror, The Times of India, and Hindustan Times) will highlight a

causal frame.

Responsibility Frame

In line with the previous literature, this research used the attribution of responsibility frame

to understand how the newspapers attributed responsibility for the mass molestation, pointing

towards either the accused or the politicians or the local law enforcement agency (Hannah &

Cafferty, 2006; Kim, 2015; Semetko & Valkenburg, 2000). Attribution of responsibility frame is

defined as a way of attributing responsibility for a cause to either the government or to an

individual or group (Semetko & Valkenburg, 2000). Semetko and Valkenburg (2000) found that

the attribution of responsibility frame was most used in serious newspapers. Based on Semetko

and Valkenburg’s (2000) argument, the mainstream newspapers such as The Times of India and

Hindustan Times can be considered serious newspapers as they are equivalent to newspapers in

other countries such as The New York Times. Therefore:

H7: The coverage of the Bangalore mass molestation in three English newspapers

(Bangalore Mirror, The Times of India, and Hindustan Times) will highlight an

attribution of responsibility frame.

Solution Frame

Borrowing from Nitz and West’s (2004) study, a solution frame was deployed in this

research to identify whether a newspaper article offered a solution to the problem that was being

covered at length. Solution frame deals with treatment recommendation and makes prognoses

about possible outcomes of the process (Nitz and West, 2004). Therefore:

H8: The coverage of the Bangalore mass molestation in three English newspapers

(Bangalore Mirror, The Times of India, and Hindustan Times) will highlight a

solution frame.

Borrowing from the previous literature (Phillips, et al., 2015), it was also important to

analyze how the newspapers presented the consequences of the mass molestation event. Therefore:

H9: When three English newspapers (Bangalore Mirror, The Times of India, and

Hindustan Times) covered the Bangalore mass molestation, they will highlight the

consequences of the incident.

The examination of these hypotheses in the framing used by the newspapers in covering

the mass molestation event would help in answering the following overarching research question:

RQ: How does the coverage of the Bangalore mass molestation differ in the local

English newspaper from the two national English newspapers?

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Method

The present research used a quantitative content analysis to examine the newspapers’

coverage of the mass molestation event. Using this method, this research aimed to investigate the

underlying themes in the news stories related to the Bangalore mass molestation in the three

English newspapers: Bangalore Mirror, The Times of India, and Hindustan Times.

Sample

The researchers used two comprehensive online databases (LexisNexis Academic and

Factivia) to collect the news articles from the three newspapers. The search strategy was adopted

from the previously established methods (Cheung et al., 2011; Phillips et al., 2015). Bangalore

Mirror is one of the most read English daily newspapers in Bangalore in terms of circulation

(Kumar, 2009). Also, Bangalore Mirror was the first newspaper to break the Bangalore mass

molestation story (Wang, 2017). The Times of India and Hindustan Times rank as the top two

English language newspapers in India both in terms of circulation of physical copies and online

readership (Audit Bureau of Circulations-India, 2019; Government of India: Ministry of Statistics

and Programme Implementation, 2019). The coverage period for the present research was January

1, 2017 to February 1, 2017.

Only English language newspapers were selected because of the researchers’ inability to

interpret or translate sources in other language newspapers. However, English is a very commonly

used language in India and is the co-official language of the Government of India, along with

Hindi, as designated by the Constitution of India (Annamalai, 2006). Aula (2014) suggested that

the English language in India is a “new caste system,” wherein a person’s socioeconomic status is

based in line with his or her fluency in the language. Therefore, the insertion of only English

language newspapers for the purposes of the present research was sufficient. The primary

keywords used to find the articles from the database included: Bangalore mass molestation,

Bengaluru molestation, New Year’s Eve, night of shame, Karnataka home minister, New Year

assault, and New Year horror. These keyword searches generated a total of 299 newspaper articles

(N=299) from the three newspapers-Bangalore Mirror (n=109), The Times of India (n=98), and

Hindustan Times (n=92).

Unit of Analysis and Coding Procedure

The unit of analysis of this research were articles covering the Bangalore mass molestation

event in the three English daily newspapers. For each newspaper story, the basic identifying details

were listed, in terms of date of publication, newspaper name, length of the story, author, type of

story, and its relationship with the Bangalore mass molestation event. The newspaper article

inclusion criteria were: i) description of the Bangalore mass molestation event, ii) victim’s

conditions, iii) protests as consequences of the event, and iv) testimonies from victims,

eyewitnesses, celebrities, politicians, and police officials. On the contrary, the exclusion criteria

were: i) articles not from the three mentioned English language newspapers in India, ii) articles

not focused specifically on the Bangalore mass molestation event, iii) social media sources

reported by non-professional journalists, and iv) official police statements. The police records were

not included in this research because they relate to the dimension of criminal justice which was

beyond the scope of this research. The justice frame was examined in terms of presence or absence

of a call for justice/solidarity in the story. This variable examined the presence or absence of calls

to action in the news story for justice or solidarity. The adversarial frame looked at the ‘good

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versus evil’ in the story. Each story was studied to check whether it included human rights or civil

rights related information. The rights-based frame was examined in terms of positions held by

primary people involved in newspaper narratives. The tone of the story was examined in terms of

negative, positive, and neutral. The researchers investigated the primary theme of each story in the

context of thematic or episodic frames. Whether or not the story included possible cause/-s behind

the incident was also analyzed. The attribution of responsibility frame helped in understanding

who was being held responsible for the incident in each story. Whether the story provided a

solution to the present scenario or not as well as consequences was also examined. And finally,

the primary source/-es of information were identified for each newspaper story related to

Bangalore mass molestation.

After retrieving the content, it was processed through filtration and coding. The present

study deployed the framing categories and sub-categories from the literature for coding purposes

(Iyengar, 1991; Nitz & West, 2000; Semetko & Valkenburg, 2000). The categories for framing

were identified inductively. A coding manual defined and operationalized all categories and sub-

categories. The framing categories consisted of justice, adversarial, rights-based, tone, thematic-

episodic, causal, attribution of responsibility, and solution (See Table 1).

Table 1: Framing Categories and Subcategories for Coding

Primary categories

Subcategories/Framing elements

Identification frames

ID Number:

Date of story publication:

Name of the English newspaper: Bangalore Mirror, The Times of

India, Hindustan Times

Length of the story:

Author of the story: (Staff, News agency, Freelance/guest authors,

Others, Not mentioned)

Story type: 1) Personal commentary, 2) Mainstream news

article/column/editorial, 3) Information from NGO or other

nonprofit website, 4) Celebrity opinion, 5) Announcement (press

conference, event, protest/march), 6) Other

Number of photos included:

Is the story directly or specifically related or relevant to the

Bangalore mass molestation? __ No, __ Yes

Justice frame

Is the story calling for justice or solidarity? __ No, __ Yes

Adversarial frame

(delineates boundaries between ‘good’ and ‘evil’) __ No, __ Yes

Rights-based frame

(human rights, civil rights) __ No, __ Yes

Tone of story

__ Negative

__ Neutral

__ Positive

Dominant framing approach

__ Thematic

__ Episodic

Causal frame

(Hinting at possible causes behind the incident) __ No, __ Yes

Consequences of the incident

(Economic/Political) __ No, __ Yes

Attribution of responsibility frame

The accused

The politicians

The law enforcement agency

The victim

If responsibility attributed, then

Government blamed

Political personality blamed

Solution offered

Solution frame

(Indicated how the existing situation could be improved) __ No, __

Yes.

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Source of information

__ None

__ Police

__ Politician

__ Victims

__ Accused

__ Eyewitness/-es

__ Common people

__ Administrative official

__ Celebrities

__ More than one source __Other

Coder Training

Three coders were used in this research. The coders were undergraduate students proficient

in quantitative content analysis. In the first phase of content analysis, a pre-test was conducted

with 89 news articles (n=89) from the three newspapers, not included in the sample, to test for

inter-coder reliability. The coders were given a comprehensive coding training and coding was

carried out to examine the coders’ understanding of the codes as well as ascertain the inter-coder

reliability. Inter-coder reliability was evaluated using Krippendorf’s alpha (Krippendorff, 1980,

2004). The researchers determined the alpha by the scale order (nominal, ordinal, interval) of the

coding scheme. All the variables included in this research achieved an inter-coder reliability alpha

of .70 or above. All three coders achieved an agreement in their coding of the sample articles from

the three English newspapers based on the pre-defined categories and sub-categories.

Upon the successful completion of the pre-test, the full investigation was carried out in the

second phase involving the remaining stories from the three English newspapers (N = 299). After

all articles were coded by the coders, quantitative analyses were conducted to examine the data.

To assess the association between the variables and the significance of the association, Chi-square

tests of independence were conducted.

Results

The first hypothesis predicted that a justice frame would be present in the articles analyzed

from the three English newspapers about the Bangalore mass molestation. This hypothesis was

supported as all three English newspapers used the justice frame in the stories, χ

(2, N=299) =

10.26, p < .05. The local newspaper, i.e., Bangalore Mirror (48%) was found to use the justice

frame more than the other two national newspapers, i.e., The Times of India (38%) and Hindustan

Times (32%).

The second hypothesis was about the inclusion of an adversarial frame in the stories by the

three newspapers. This hypothesis was statistically supported indicating the distinction made

between the ‘good’ and the ‘evil’ sides of the incident, χ

(2, N=299) = 16.62%, p < .05. Overall,

about 59% of news articles that were analyzed showed the use of an adversarial frame.

The third hypothesis posited that all three newspapers would highlight a rights-based

frame. This hypothesis was also supported as all three newspapers were seen to use the rights-

based frame, χ

(2, N=299) = 12.78%, p < .05. Roughly 45% of the news stories used the rights-

based frame in presenting the Bangalore mass molestation event related information.

The fourth hypothesis predicting an association between the newspaper source and a

negative tone of the story was not supported as it was not statistically significant, p = .87. For the

most part, the tone of the story was found to be neutral (70%), more than negative or positive.

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Some articles in the local newspapers (12%) used a negative tone, whereas the tone of the articles

in the two national English dailies was mostly neutral.

H5 predicted that three newspapers would use thematic frame in covering the Bangalore

mass molestation. This hypothesis did not find support, p = .15. The local newspaper used both

thematic and episodic frames, whereas the other two national dailies primarily used the episodic

frame more than the thematic frame.

The sixth hypothesis was regarding the presence of a causal frame in the stories from the

three newspapers and it was significantly supported, χ

(2, N=299) = 14.61%, p < .05. The local

newspaper used the causal frame more (42%) than the other two national English dailies.

The seventh hypothesis was concerning the presence of the attribution of responsibility

frame in the articles by all three newspapers. This hypothesis was supported, χ

(2, N=299) =

15.16%, p < .05. It was found that Bangalore Mirror (45%) used the attribution of responsibility

frame more than The Times of India (39%) and Hindustan Times (32%).

The eighth hypothesis regarding the presence of a solution frame in the stories about the

Bangalore mass molestation by three newspapers was not supported, meaning there was not a

statistically significant relationship between the news source and the use of a solution frame, p =

.10.

The final hypothesis was supported, meaning that all three newspapers discussed the

consequences of the mass molestation incident in Bangalore at varying degrees, χ

(2, N=299) =

13.97%, p < .05.

Discussion

The findings of this research helped in answering proposed hypotheses and a research

question, which compared the coverage of the Bangalore mass molestation event in the local

newspaper with that of the other two national newspapers. Cultivation theory (Gerbner, 1998) and

feminist poststructuralism (Weedon, 1997) serve as a lens to understand the findings. The results

were mostly in line with the existing literature, with some variations.

Moriearty (2010) and Thacker and Day (2017) in their respective studies established that

newspapers would use the justice frame. This frame did not mean that stories directly referred to

the crime or the criminals, in this case the frame rather described that the authors of the news

stories either sought or described justification for the victims. It was also found that the local

newspaper Bangalore Mirror used the justice frame more in the coverage of the mass molestation.

It could be because they were covering more on-the-ground material, meaning they were in direct

touch with the people involved in the incident, which might not necessarily be the case for the

other two national English dailies. Feminist poststructuralism supports such transformative rather

than emancipatory agenda in media representation of marginalized gender (Baxter, 2008; Weedon,

1997).

The current study provides further evidence in line with Miller’s (2010) research that had

established that newspapers would use a rights-based frame when reporting crimes against women.

It was evident in the news stories related to the comments of the state’s Home Minister who blamed

the victims of the mass molestation for wearing the ‘western’ clothes and thus self-inviting the

violence. Victim-blaming was quite present in such stories. Victim-blaming further evidences

deep-rooted stereotypes against women. When such incidences happen, the newspaper narratives

are used by those in power to warn the women that irresponsible behavior such as wearing western

clothes or drinking could render them vulnerable to such incidents. Marhia (2008) reported that

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the newspaper narratives have been used in the past in favor of men wherein they are shown to be

under the influence of alcohol which could then lead to their misconduct, but they are seldom

warned not to get drunk or misbehave with women. Feminist poststructuralism (Helliwell, 2000;

Wooden, 1997) also argues that such newspaper coverage creates cultural constructions of gender

differences, particularly in pre-assigned victimhood to gendered categories.

The presence of the adversarial frame further strengthens the claim about the power-

differences and hegemony as was also evident in the previous literature (Knight & Greenberg,

2011). The three newspapers, regardless of whether local or national, strongly condemned the

incidence in most of their articles by clearly differentiating between the ‘good,’ i.e., the victims,

and the ‘evil,’ the accused, sides. The results find support in the feminist poststructuralism

framework, which argues that processes used by mainstream journalists to consult communities

have tended to be based on adversarial models of human relations, such as good versus evil

(Wooden, 1997). The results of the present study extended Entman’s (1993) findings that

newspapers would use causal frames when reporting sexual violence against females. Again, the

reason for the use of the causal frame more by the local newspaper than the two national

newspapers could be that the former was more focused on resolving the issue at the local level as

against the mainstream newspapers. This was reflected in Zhang, Jin and Tang’s (2015) research

as well who also used the causal framing in the interpretation of the media's representation of the

public health threat. From the feminist poststructuralism perspective, the use of causal frames in

newspaper coverage of gender-based violence are often used by the mainstream journalists to make

certain aspects of the issue more salient (Nelson et al., 1997, Wooden, 1997).

In terms of the usage of the responsibility-attribution frame in the coverage of the mass

molestation by the three newspapers, the findings of this research were in line with Hannah and

Cafferty (2006), Kim (2015), and Semetko and Valkenburg (2000). The hypothesis regarding the

application of the solution frame was not supported upon the analysis of the articles from the three

English newspapers. This was a departure from the prior research which had posited that the

newspapers would use a solution frame when covering a social issue such as the Bangalore mass

molestation at a greater length (Nitz & West, 2004). As per the feminist poststructuralism

framework, one explanation of this finding could be that the journalists covering violence against

women in patriarchal societies like India are focused more on the incident itself, rather than trying

to discuss the implications of such violent occurrences (Wooden, 1997).

Interestingly, the findings of the present study were contrary to the literature which

postulated that newspapers would portray the accused involved in such major incidents in a

negative light (Esser, 2008; Iyengar, 1991; Nitz & West, 2004). Bangalore Mirror was seen to use

a more positive tone than The Times of India and Hindustan Times, however, the general tone

found in most of the articles was neutral. This signified that the three newspapers focused on

representing the incident as it happened and reported the commentary of the people about the mass

molestation.

The present research found support in the literature in terms of the usage of a thematic

frame by newspapers in covering sexual crimes against women like the mass molestation in

Bangalore (Entman, 1991; Iyenger, 1991). While the local newspaper was seen to use the mass

molestation incident to refer to the bigger issues such as safety of women in the Metro cities, the

increasing crime rate against women, gender inequality, etc., the national newspapers focused

more on the specific incident in their coverage. While all three newspapers were seen to discuss

the consequences of the mass molestation, Bangalore Mirror covered it in a broader context,

including details such as the cancellation of the David Guetta concert in the city due to the incident

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and the announcement of different rallies and protests against the government for not being very

active in this matter. This finds support in the feminist poststructuralism framework, which argues

for the principle of meaning construction within localized or context-specific settings or

communities (Wooden, 1997). The national dailies, on the other hand, covered how the Bollywood

and sports celebrities across the country condemned this incident along with the reactions from

different political leaders.

All three newspapers used multiple sources of information in their respective stories. Local

newspapers relied more on information from police (42%), government/politicians (25%) and

common people (23%), i.e., victims and witnesses. The Times of India used celebrity comments

(54%) more than the other two newspapers. Hindustan Times mostly replicated the information

sources from these two other newspapers. It was also found that the local newspaper focused more

on personal commentary from police, victims, and witnesses, etc., whereas the national dailies

focused on mainstream news articles, announcements from NGOs, and celebrity

comments/opinions. Given the detailed coverage of the event and the fact that it was the first

newspaper to break the story, Bangalore Mirror, despite being a local English daily, appeared to

have a direct and stronger contact with the victims, the government, and the police. This direct

connection seemed to have helped it, and as a result it had access to greater and more reliable

information to report. The framing analysis helped to identify differing priorities by the local and

national dailies in terms of the perspectives.

In terms of cultivation theory, the consistent and neutral focus on the fact-based

information related to the mass molestation event in Bangalore might lead the newspapers readers

to have neutral conceptions toward the victimized women. Rather than being pursued by specific

opinions and thoughts of those in systemic power, such as the State Union Minister who blamed

the victim girls for the mass-molestation event, the readers might feel the need to investigate

further by finding more event related information in the newspapers. The three newspapers also

provided their readers with information about protests that were being held in Bangalore and in

other cities of India for supporting the victims of the mass molestation in Bangalore. This way, the

newspapers would lead the readers toward social movements against sexual crimes against women

in Bangalore and across the country.

Feminist poststructuralism aided in attaining a comprehensive understanding of the

incident through a merged analysis of newspaper discourses and gender. In line with the theory,

the result of this research shows that reality is governed by newspaper discourses that are

controlled by people’s temporally and spatially specific versions of ‘hegemonic masculinity’

prevalent in patriarchal societies like India. Gender-based violence thus can be perceived as a

process legitimized and normalized within society through its core connection with gender

hierarchies. When used in conjunction, cultivation theory and feminist poststructuralism help

reveal the gendered nature of our current intelligible reality through newspaper narratives.

Limitations and Future Directions

The present study had some limitations. The three English language newspapers were

selected based on their circulation figures. While readership could be a good indicator of their

popularity, it does not mean that they were the only newspapers that extensively covered the mass

molestation in Bangalore. Therefore, the future research should include more newspaper sources

for a more comprehensive content analysis of such a serious social issue. Similarly, another

limitation of this research is that it only includes the English language newspapers in India.

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However, there are more non-English language newspapers in India than the English language

newspapers. Therefore, it is important to analyze the contents from the non-English newspapers

too when it comes to the coverage of sexual violence against women in India.

The current study includes only some framing categories for the analysis of the newspaper

articles. Future research could consider including more framing categories based on the literature.

The fact that the present study focuses on the newspaper coverages of the Bangalore mass

molestation could also be a potential limitation. With the increasing usage of smartphones and

social media websites by people, online information dissemination occurs at a much faster rate

than through traditional media (i.e., newspapers). Hashtags like #nightofshame and

#Bangalorehorror started trending, which fueled the social media discourse about the incident even

more. Therefore, future researchers should look at the non-traditional and emerging media

channels as well when carrying out the framing analysis of the coverage of sexual violence against

women. The present study uses a quantitative content analysis approach, but future studies could

also look to deploy a qualitative descriptive content analysis to gain a better understanding of the

media’s portrayal of such incidences.

The findings of the present research help identify different priorities of perspectives in the

local and national newspapers when covering sexual violence against women. There are certain

implications of such coverage that need to be considered as well. Newspapers are the primary

vehicles through which people learn about these sorts of crimes. People’s opinions are shaped by

the dominant discourse as presented in the newspapers. An attitude toward such crimes against

women, in turn can affect the outcome of trials against criminals and the treatment of victims. The

massive differences in how different newspapers cover the same crime can have extremely

significant implications for the country’s legal and political systems. It is important, therefore, that

the press, at both local and national levels, provides an honest and true representation of such

crimes and does not try to commercialize their content through titillating presentation. The

newspapers should not just stop at creating a social script of such a traumatic incident, but more

importantly need to guide the community effectively in the recovery process and the authorities in

coping strategies to avoid yet another ‘Night of Shame’ in the future.

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