Advisory Committee Chair
Cynthia Ryan
Advisory Committee Members
Allison Chapman
Lois Christensen
Bruce McComiskey
Document Type
Thesis
Date of Award
2013
Degree Name by School
Master of Arts (MA) College of Arts and Sciences
Abstract
Reactions to current events from across the political spectrum highlight a journalistic retributive narrative framework that is ubiquitous in the American media. News articles from the childhood obesity debate support claims that journalists on both left and right interpret this story - and by implication, all stories - through a retributive cultural lens. Burke's rhetorical analysis tool, dramatism, is used to examine the rhetoric on all sides of the issue and demonstrate the common retributive aspects of the narratives, regardless of the social or political orientations of the writers and their affiliations. The retributive narrative is connected to American justice ideals and to the linear, combative traditions of Western argument. Restorative approaches to conflict are examined for possibilities to re-focus debates on improvements and solutions rather than continued finger pointing. This paper synthesizes dramatism, journalism, and the emerging field of restorative practices to point to a habit of limited perception of justice in American media narratives, examining the unconscious biases which underpin current American media dialogues, and offering restorative practices as a model for a full realization of justice.
Recommended Citation
Mwenja, Cynthia Duggan, "Making Room for a Restorative Response to Conflict: Challenging the Retributive Paradigm in American Journalism" (2013). All ETDs from UAB. 2546.
https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/etd-collection/2546