Not So Black and White: Media Coverage of the Ed Gein Homicides

Abstract

This work looks at how news media covers a specific crime from varying levels of concentration. The homicides of Ed Gein had caught the attention of a variety of newspapers from across the nation, and this work looks at how the news coverage varies depending on location. This work breaks the news coverage down into two spheres of influence, the local and non-local and focus only on newspaper coverage during the time after the homicides. The research shows that local and non-local newspapers portrayed the case in different ways not only with Gein but also the community where he was from. The result is that local newspapers are more sensitive the people of the town where Gein is from and to the people involved in the case. The non-local papers were far more of the case and the community.