From Reader to Mediated Witness : The Engaging Effects of Journalistic Crime Narratives
The Engaging Effects of Journalistic Crime Narratives

<jats:p>This study tests the claim that news narratives about shocking criminal acts enable readers to become mediated witnesses, which implies that readers identify with actual eyewitnesses to a crime and vicariously experience the crime from up close. In an experiment ( n = 128), participants read an original narrative newspaper article about a mass shooting or an original non-narrative article about the same event. Results provided evidence for a mediated witness experience: Readers of the narrative identified more strongly with eyewitnesses of the crime and had a stronger sense of being present at the shooting than readers of the non-narrative article.</jats:p>