Media and the Discussion of High-Profile Sex Crime Accusations

Abstract

The following research paper explores media handling of high profile sex crime accusations. The researchers examined the New York Times coverage of the Anita Hill testimony in 1991 and the Dr. Blasey-Ford testimony in 2018 for twenty-four hours following each testimony to compare the amount of coverage, the vocabulary used to describe the accused and the accusers, and whether or not recent social movements such as #metoo have had an effect on the way media reports on sexual crime.