Critical Analysis of News Items

Niamh O’Shaughnessy & Simone Kilduff

Our Article… Susan Dunne (51) is a mother of one who lived in

Lixnaw Co.Kerry. She lived with her 19 year old son. She was murdered in her home on the 27 of

November with severe head injuries inflicted with a hatchet.

The Herald“Mum Killed in hatchet attack”

On the front page it says “Mother of one killed in her bedroom with a hatchet” and it states that she was found in a bed at her house in Lixnaw, Co Kerry, by her neighbours.

a 19 year old man was later arrested on suspicion of her murder about 12 km away.

The article then continues on page 2 with another headline “Shock as devoted mum dead in hatchet attack” they kept referring back to the fact she was a mother of one, maybe to sympathise with the fact that she’s a devoted mother and that her son has now lost his mother.

They broke the article into investigation and support

The hearld showed other peoples reflections of the events, the parish priest stated that the neighbours were “huddled” together trying to make sense of what had happened.

They mentioned how close Ms.Dunne was to her son “Soul mate & minder”. Her son was autistic and she was his full time minder as well as mother.

Under the support section they went back to talking about the neighbours and how tragic the incident was, they stated that the parish priest held prayers for there loss.

Irish Examiner“Man 19 quizzed over death of

woman” The headline of this paper is a much more non emotional

approach, it just gets straight to the point about the 19 year old man being questioned rather then focusing on the “devoted mum”.

They said that she had severe head injuries and believed to have been inflicted with a hatchet.

They went into detail about the relationship she had with her son, she was described to be his “soul mate and minder”.

They went into detail about the events of what happened.

Irish Daily Mirror“Mum battered to death in her

bedroom” The article gives information on Susan and her 19 year old son

Patrick, who is autistic. They talk about the emotional bond that the mother and son had, and portray Susan and Patricks relationship in a very positive way.

The article gives more background information on Susan then the other articles. It also says that Susan is a mother of three, when the other articles refer to Susan as a mother of one.

The local parish priest was quoted saying “Susan was Patricks soul mate, his minder and his carer.”.

They state that a man was arrested in relation to the murder, the only details they give is that he was arrested in the area and is 19 years old.

Irish Daily Star“Mum axed to death”

Unlike in the other papers, under the headline says “Tragic son, 19, is arrested”

They use very graphic images compared to the other newspapers as they describe the mother being found in her bed “bludgeoned with the back of an axe”.

On page 4 of the paper where the article continues, its says “Mum found beaten beyond recognition”.

They are using much stronger imagery to get across the act of violence

This article mainly focuses on the son being arrested and taken in for questioning for the murder of his mother, where the other news papers failed to mention it.

They appear less sympathetic towards the son then the other articles were. They mention that he was diagnosed with severe autisim.

The local priest was quoted again, saying “a wonderful mother who was always with Patrick”.

Conclusion… The Herald, the Irish Daily Star and the Irish Daily Mirror

are the tabloids we analysed they focus more on the relationship between Susan Dunne and her son, rather then the events of the murder.

The Irish Examiner is the broadsheet we analysed it used a more non-emotional approach and focused more on the story unlike the tabloids which tended to over exaggerate.

Only one of the news papers mentioned that the 19 year old man was Ms. Dunne’s autistic son, their sources were stronger then the others.