Moral Panic, Moral Breach: Bernhard Goetz, George Zimmerman, and Racialized News Reporting in Contested Cases of Self-Defense

@article{Carlson2016MoralPM,
  title={Moral Panic, Moral Breach: Bernhard Goetz, George Zimmerman, and Racialized News Reporting in Contested Cases of Self-Defense},
  author={Jennifer Carlson},
  journal={Social Problems},
  year={2016},
  volume={63},
  pages={1-20}
}
  • Jennifer Carlson
  • Published 2016
  • Sociology
  • Social Problems
    • This article examines local news coverage of two landmark self-defense shooting cases—the 1984 Bernhard Goetz case and the 2012 George Zimmerman case—to interrogate the racialized construction of crime and, specifically, extend moral panic theory to the contemporary context of racial colorblindness. Analyzing 542 local news stories, I find the Goetz case was framed as a moral panic, while Zimmerman coverage exhibited a moral breach. The Zimmercan case: (1) is characterized by competing, rather… CONTINUE READING
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