Recent media representation of the Rotherham Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE): methodological and content issues

This presentation is part of the proposed symposium on Media Representation of Social Work: Lessons from a comparative transnational research, co-ordinated by Dr. Elena Allegri. The recent Rotherham CSE has erupted... [ view full abstract ]

This presentation is part of the proposed symposium on Media Representation of Social Work: Lessons from a comparative transnational research, co-ordinated by Dr. Elena Allegri.
The recent Rotherham CSE has erupted dramatically at the end of August 2014. Its scale, the level of sexual exploitation, the systematic cover up, the racial issue and the views attributed to social workers require attention to by social workers and researchers.
This paper focuses on the very early media representation of this case by several Sunday newspapers and one television programme, following the publication of an official invited inquiry report by a professor of social work.
Methodologically, a thematic analysis was applied to include the representation of the victims, parents, assumed perpetrators, responses by the police, social services, health services, voluntary sector organisations, and politicians. Comparison of the perspectives of different media and of intersectional factors follows.
Although the newspapers and the television differ in their ideological preferences and are aimed at different population groups, on this occasion the similarities in the content of the coverage were considerable, while their styles remain different. Yet some distinctly divergent foci emerged in some media, such as the impact of growing up in a culture of shame as perceived by a survivor of such an abuse.
Several questions will be raised in the presentation: Does the media representation of this case amount to another instance of moral panic in the making? What lies behind the lack of appropriate action by the council, the police and social services? What are the lessons from the inquiry report vs. the media coverage?