University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Papers in Communication Studies Communication Studies, Department of 2009 Commemorating the Kent State Tragedy through Victims’ Trauma in Television News Coverage, 1990–2000 Kristen Hoerl Auburn University,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/commstudiespapers Part of the Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons, and the Other Communication Commons Hoerl, Kristen, "Commemorating the Kent State Tragedy through Victims’ Trauma in Television News Coverage, 1990–2000" (2009). Papers in Communication Studies. 191. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/commstudiespapers/191 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Communication Studies, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Papers in Communication Studies by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Published in The Communication Review 12:2 (2009), pp. 107–131; doi: 10.1080/10714420902921101 Copyright © 2009 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. Used by permission. Published online May 27, 2009. Commemorating the Kent State Tragedy through Victims’ Trauma in Television News Coverage, 1990–2000 Kristen Hoerl Department of Communication and Journalism, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA Corresponding author – Kristen Hoerl, Department of Communication and Journalism, Auburn University, 0336 Haley, Auburn, AL 36849, USA, email
[email protected] Abstract On May 4, 1970, the Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd at Kent State University and killed four students. This essay critically interprets mainstream television journalism that commemorated the shootings in the past 18 years. Throughout this coverage, predominant framing devices depoliticized the Kent State tragedy by characterizing both former students and guard members as trauma victims.