Poisoned by jealousy or driven by hatred? : A qualitative study of female and male perpetrators in Swedish news journalism

The aim of this study was to examine how female and male murder perpetrators are represented in Swedish news journalism. We examined four specific murder cases, with two female and two male perpetrators, and the questions examined were: How are female and male perpetrators represented in news journalism, and what differences and similarities can be found in these representations? We made a critical discourse analysis of 21 news articles, published between the day of the crime and the day of the verdict, from the tabloids Aftonbladet and Expressen. The result shows that female perpetrators are represented as driven by their emotions, either as victims for unrequited love or as evil, jealous women. Male perpetrators, on the contrary, are represented with attributes that are associated with masculinity. The reporting of female perpetrators is also more intense and dramatically structured. Our study also shows similarities between perpetrators regardless of gender. They are represented as cold hearted and deviant, and the news articles are constructed almost as fiction, with sensational writing and dramatic storytelling