The over-representation of crime is a prevalent occurrence in the media; so too is the under-representation of certain types of victims of crime. The purpose of the current study is to explore the role that characteristics of homicide victims play in the presentation and prominence of a news story. The study uses a sample of 3,998 newspaper articles on homicide from the Vancouver Sun to assess the relationship between victims who are cumulatively portrayed as more ‘sympathetic’ and structural measures of prominence in newspapers (placement on the front page, inclusion of a photograph, length of article). The findings reflect a statistically significant relationship between victim characteristics and prominent placement of a news article. Practical implications are discussed in relation to how disproportionate reporting of marginalized victims contributes to, reinforces and reproduces further marginalization in society and by law enforcement.

中文翻译：

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媒体对“同情”凶杀案受害者的不同描述

媒体对犯罪的过度报道是普遍现象；某些类型的犯罪受害者人数不足也是如此。当前研究的目的是探索凶杀案受害者的特征在新闻报道的呈现和突出中所起的作用。该研究使用来自温哥华太阳报的 3,998 篇关于凶杀案的报纸文章样本来评估被累积描绘为更“有同情心”的受害者与报纸上突出的结构性措施（置于头版、包含照片、长度）之间的关系文章）。调查结果反映了受害者特征与新闻文章的显着位置之间的统计显着关系。