2021/03/23 by Afrooz Rafiee, Wilbert Spooren, José Sanders · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Computational and Text Analysis Methods #Crime, Deviance, and Social Control #Media Studies and Communication
paper · pdf · doi:10.1080/10350330.2021.1900719
openalex publication_date 2021/03/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Few studies have focused on visual representation of crime-related events in news images across national contexts. In this study, eighty-three news images from two hundred Iranian and Dutch news articles published in national newspapers were qualitatively analyzed. These images were scrutinized for their use of semiotic strategies as well as the overall visual pattern. The findings showed few similarities and notable differences between news images in the two cultural contexts. The Visual Pattern Analysis led to identification of six visual framing patterns. While Iranian images focus on non-identifiable arrested criminals, Dutch images frame crime in terms of identifiable victims and crime location. Remarkably, crime is rarely framed in terms of social causes and solutions in either corpus. The discussion links the findings to the socio-cultural contexts in which images are produced and received. The visual discourse analysis raised questions about the production and reception of crime news images to be investigated in future studies.