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Littleton After Columbine UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations 1-1-2004 Local newspapers and the restoration of order: Littleton after Columbine Michelle Laura Bouwkamp University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/rtds Repository Citation Bouwkamp, Michelle Laura, "Local newspapers and the restoration of order: Littleton after Columbine" (2004). UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. 1660. http://dx.doi.org/10.25669/scso-a7v8 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. LOCAL NEWSPAPERS AND THE RESTORATION OF ORDER: LITTLETON AFTER COLLHVIBINE by Michelle Laura Bouwkamp Bachelor of Arts Fort Lewis College 2001 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts Degree in Communication Studies Hank Greenspun Department of Communication Greenspun College of Urban Affairs Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas May 2004 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 1422793 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indioate the deletion. UMI UMI Microform 1422793 Copyright 2004 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Thesis Approval The Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas April 19 .20 04 The Thesis prepared by Michelle Laura Bouwkamp Entitled Local Newspapers and the Restoration of Order: Littleton After Columbine is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Communication Studies Examination Committee Chair Dean of the Graduate Gollege Exgmpdtion C om ptée Member Examination Committee Member Graduate College Faculty Representative 11 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT Local Newspapers and the Restoration of Order: Littleton After Columbine By Michelle Laura Bouwkamp Dr. Thomas Burkholder, Examination Committee Chair Associate Professor of Communication University of Nevada, Las Vegas On the morning of April, 20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold walked into the cafeteria of Columbine High School and began a rampage that would leave twelve students and one teacher dead and twenty three other students wounded. This project examined the role local newspapers played in the recovery of the Littleton, Colorado, community in the wake of this tragedy. A rhetorical analysis of all material concerning the shootings contained theThe Denver Post andThe Denver Rocky Mountain Newsfrom the first day of coverage (4/21/99) and continuing for five days (4/25/99) was performed. This analysis employed Kenneth Burke's dramatism, specifically the concept of mortification, to explain the symbolic cleansing of guilt that occurred in the community after the shootings. The study concluded that the local newspapers helped the community identify with the sin that had occurred, labeled the source of the disorder and eradicated it from the community, and detailed renewed community covenants and memorialized the victims to reflect the formation of a new order. Ill Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................ni ACKNOWLEDGMENTS..................................................................................................v CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION......................................................................................1 CHAPTER 2 COMMUNITY AND CONTEXT; THE SETTING AND ACTORS IN THE COLUMBINE HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTINGS ....................................................... 6 Littleton, Colorado................................................................................................ 10 Columbine High School .......................................................................................12 Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold..............................................................................16 Rural and Suburban School Violence...................................................................20 Summary................................................................................................................24 CHAPTER 3 FRAMEWORK FOR ANALYSIS: REVIEW OF RELEVANT LITERATURE, METHOD AND DRAMATISM............................................................26 Literature Review .................................................................................................27 A New Study: Scope and Justification................................................................. 45 Theoretical Framework: Burke’s Dramatism ...................................................... 49 Summary...............................................................................................................81 CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS: STAGES OF COVERAGE AND RESTORATION OF ORDER.......................................................................................................................54 A Focus on Act: Disorder in the Community...................................................... 55 A Focus on Scene: Killers Hiding in the Suburbs................................................64 Mortification: Order is Restored.......................................................................... 72 Summary...............................................................................................................81 CHAPTER 5 AFTER COLUMBINE: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................................83 Summary of Findings............................................................................................84 Significance and Contributions............................................................................ 86 Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research................................................ 88 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 90 WORKS CITED ...............................................................................................................91 VITA ...............................................................................................................................102 IV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This project could not have been completed without the constructive criticism, assistance, and encouragement provided by my committee chair. Dr. Burkholder. I am also grateful to the other members of my committee. Dr. Larson, Dr. Traudt, and Dr. Miethe, for each providing their own unique and useful perspective on the study. I am thankful that I have had such an amazing group of graduate students with which to share the trials and rewards of completing the program. And, of course, thank you to Anthony and to my whole family for lending support when I spent hours on a sentence, and celebrating enthusiastically with me when I got the words right. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Patricia Neilsen, an art teacher, had already been shot in the shoulder when she made this frantic 911 call from the Columbine High School library on April 20, 1999: Patricia: Yes, I’m a teacher at Columbine High School and there is a student here with a gun. He just shot out a window. I believe, um. I’m at Columbine High School, I don’t know what’s in my shoulder. It, it was just some glass. I don’t know what’s going on. Dispatcher: Has anyone been injured ma’am? Patricia: I am, yes! And the school is in a panic and I’m in the library. I’ve got students down. Kids under the table! My kids are screaming, under the table, kids, and my teachers are trying to take control of things. We need police here. Dispatcher: OK, OK, we’re getting them. Who is the student, ma’am? Patricia: I don’t know who the student is. I saw a student outside. [. ..] He turned the gun straight at us and shot and my God the window went out and the
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