An analysis of the Australian News Coverage of the Hannah Clarke and Family Suicide-Murder in February 2020

There is a considerable amount of literature on domestic violence and news framing. Domestic violence in Australia is a widespread issue, with some severe cases resulting in homicide. The current study focuses on the media’s newspaper reporting of a recent murder-suicide of Hannah Clarke and her three children in February 2020. The data collection spanned over a three-week period from 19 th February 2020 to 9 th March 2020. The keyword “Hannah Clarke” was entered into the Factiva database and newspaper samples were randomly selected from various publications. The analysis shows that the reporting during this timeframe often omits social context, sensationalises and shifts the blame to the victim. The perpetrator was viewed as a glorified persona. The findings of the paper show that the role of the media when it comes to domestic violence reporting is amplified for a certain period and then ignored once the news cycle changes as shown in the Hannah Clarke murder-suicide case. It is crucial for the news media to rely on the appropriate stakeholders to push for reform and change in Australia.