"Sexual Hyenas" and Programs for At-risk Youth: Structural Opportunities for Abuse

Publication Date

5-17-2012

Document Type

Article

Abstract

This essay evaluates the relationship between commercial media representations and structural inequality through the lens of the recent Penn State scandal involving child abuse allegations against former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. Specifically, the research provides two central lines of inquiry: first, detailing the power structures in a profit-driven corporate culture that make systematic child predation possible in large institutions like Penn State; and second, encouraging recognition that the routines and rules adopted by the U.S. commercial media system-including episodic coverage of isolated, sensational stories-often preclude meaningful coverage of corrupt institutions or systems. In concert, the two approaches provide a two-pronged call for commercial media: to stop presenting crimes like the one at Penn State as isolated events, and instead to provide crucial connections that permit media audiences to understand how power structures shape society and foster inequality.

Publication Title

Cultural Studies - Critical Methodologies

Issue

4

First Page

361

Last Page

364

DOI

10.1177/1532708612446439

Publisher Policy

pre-print, post-print

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