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Wednesday 23 May 2012

JOUR1111 Annotated Bibliography


My Annotated Bibliography

My Annotated Bibliography will analyse three contemporary news items surrounding the disappearance and death of mother-of-three Allison Baden-Clay and one academic article about the representation of crime stories by the media. The three news items that are being analysed are a television broadcast by “Ten News at Five”, a newspaper article in “The Courier Mail” and an online article by the “Brisbane Times”. The academic article is titled Crime in the News: How Crimes, Offenders and Victims are Portrayed in the Media and its authors are Jessica Pollak and Charis Kubrin.

Kubrin, C.E. & Pollak J.M. (2007, January 1). Crime in the News: How Crimes, Offenders and Victims are Portrayed in the Media. The Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture, 14, p 1070-8286.

The authors, Jessica Pollak, a research associate at the Milton S. Eisenhower Foundation and Charis Kubrin, the co-editor of Crime and Society: Crime, 3rd Edition and co-author of Privileged Places: Race, Residence and the Structure of Opportunity (George Washington University Online Community, n.d), conducted a study that examined how crime stories are represented in the media. In the study, Pollak and Kubrin examined and compared 71 crime stories across two old media platforms, the newspaper and television and documented the similarities and differences (Pollak & Kubrin, 2007. p. 59).

Pollak and Kubrin found that for a crime story to be portrayed in the media it had to be rather violent, which infers the statement “If it bleeds it leads” (Pollak & Kubrin, 2007. p. 78). They also found that, across the two mediums, objective facts (type of crime, location and time of crime, and sex and age of the victim or offender) were equally mentioned and that subjective or unnecessary facts (race of the offender or victim and the offender and victim relationship) varied immensely (Pollak & Kubrin, 2007. p. 65). Across the mediums, the offences caused by juvenile offenders were portrayed as “senseless and irrational”, and juvenile victims were portrayed as “innocent” (Pollak & Kubrin, 2007. p. 78).

Bellow are three news items surrounding the disappearance and death of Allison Baden-Clay and all of which have been a prominent news story across contemporary local media platforms, inferring the statement “If it’s local it leads” (Redman, 2012). The primary audiences of the three news stories are people who knew Allison and her friends and family, and members of the community, state and country who are interested in Allison’s story.

Henry, R. (Reporter). (2012, May 11th). Ten News at Five. [Television Broadcast]. Brisbane, QLD: Network Ten.

Renae Henry, winner of the 2012 Young Australian Journalist of the Year award by the Walkley Foundation, conducted the “Ten News at Five” television broadcast surrounding the funeral of the deceased Allison Baden-Clay (The Walkley Foundation, 2012). “Ten News at Five” is a news program that is produced by “Network Ten” and is presented on the free-to-air television channel, “Ten”. “Network Ten” is a platform for commercial media, which means that it generates a large majority of its profits through advertising, promotions and commercials. The television broadcast began with live coverage of Renae Henry standing out front of St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Ipswich, where Allison’s funeral had commenced earlier that day.

Renae Henry briefly outlined the events of the funeral and the people that were there to mourn and pay their respects to Allison, which included her family, friends and husband, Gerard Baden-Clay and their three daughters. Recorded footage of the funeral and Allison’s friends and family were also displayed throughout the television broadcast along with Renae Henry’s voiceover. The television broadcast also featured the recorded voices of Allison’s sister, Vanessa Fowler, and best friend, Kerry-Anne Walker, as they said a final goodbye and pledged justice for Allison. In Renae Henry’s television broadcast, the imagery and video footage depicted an accurate representation of Allison’s funeral, reflecting the emotions and the undertone of the event to the audience. The coverage of Allison’s funeral was respectful, compassionate, nonintrusive and of good taste, and it allowed the audience to form a perception of who Allison was; a loving, caring, unselfish women and model mum (Henry, 2012).

Kyriacou, K (2012, May 12th). Only Talent Missing was Self-Confidence. The Courier Mail, p. 4-5.


Kate Kyriacou’s newspaper article in “The Courier Mail”, Only Talent Missing was Self-Confidence, described Allison Baden-Clay’s youth as a ballerina up until her corporate success at Flight Centre and marriage to husband, Gerard Baden-Clay. “The Courier Mail” is owned and produced by “News Limited”, which is predominately owned by Rupert Murdoch, and like “Network Ten” it is a platform for commercial media. The newspaper article featured interviews from various people who were involved in Allison’s life. These people included Australia Youth Ballet director Inara Svalbe, fellow ballerina Krista Reeves, old school friend Kirsten Willow, Flight Centre founder Graham Turner, and friend and work colleague Sue Rennick and they all described Allison’s personality or a moment they shared with her.

Like Renae Henry’s television broadcast, Kate Kyriacou’s newspaper article expressed the kind, grieving words from the people who loved and cared about Allison, her friends. Kirsten Willow stated that she and her old classmates were devastated about the death of Allison, stating that they haven’t been able to sleep (Kyriacou, 2012). Alternatively, the people that were interviewed in the newspaper article were people that knew Allison in the past and not in contemporary times like Allison’s best friend, Kerry-Anne Walker and Allison’s sister, Vanessa Fowler who were depicted in the television broadcast. In the newspaper article, the large amount of descriptive content and photographs enabled its readers to form a perception of what Allison was like as a child and what she was like as an adult.

Callinan, R & Jabour, B. (2012). The Reclusive Side of a Grieving Husband. The Brisbane Times. Retrieved May 12th, 2012, from http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/the-reclusive-side-of-a-grieving-husband-20120512-1yj5w.html

The “Brisbane Times” online article published by Rory Callinan and Bridie Jabour, claimed to depict the withdrawn behavior of Allison Baden-Clay’s husband, Gerard Baden-Clay. The “Brisbane Times” is owned and run by “Fairfax Media” and like “Ten News at Five” and “The Courier Mail” it is a platform for commercial media. The online article described Gerard’s behavior and actions since the disappearance of his wife, Allison, as “reclusive” and stated that he has a “low profile stance”(Callinan & Jabour, 2012). The online article also claimed that Gerard’s behaviour had “prompted an online frenzy of conspiracy theories”(Callinan & Jabour, 2012).

In comparison to the “Ten News at Five” television broadcast and “The Courier Mail” newspaper article, the “Brisbane Times” online article had a slanted view and was somewhat biased. The online article contained many subjective facts and Pollak and Kubrin describe these facts as unnecessary to the telling of the story and “more often than not, add a layer of bias”(Pollak & Kubrin, 2007. p 65). It could be perceived by the audience that both Rory Callinan and Bridie Jabour infer that Gerard is hiding something and perhaps has something to do with the murder of his wife, Allison. The article ceased to mention that Gerard is a grieving husband and father, who has to protect his three children from the trauma of losing their mother. The article proceeded to explore Gerard’s past and home life with Allison and his three children. Rory Callinan and Bridie Jabour revealed this information by reposting direct statements from Gerard’s blog.


APA Style Reference List

  • Kubrin, C.E. & Pollak J.M. (2007, January 1). Crime in the News: How Crimes, Offenders and Victims are Portrayed in the Media. The Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture, 14, p 1070-8286. 



  •   Redman, B. (2012). Week Nine: News Values [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from JOUR1111, University of Queensland Blackboard Online: http://www.elearning.uq.edu.au/

  • Henry, R. (Reporter). (2012, May 11th). Ten News at Five. [Television Broadcast]. Brisbane, QLD: Network Ten.



  • Kyriacou, K (2012, May 12th). Only Talent Missing was Self-Confidence. The Courier Mail, p. 4-5.


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