A Scientific Analysis of the Media Coverage of Intimate Partner Homicide-Suicide: The Role of Media in Depicting Life-Ending Events, Along with an Analysis of the Prevalence and Geographic Distribution of these Events

Homicide followed by suicide is a relatively rare event in which one individual kills another and subsequently dies by suicide, usually shortly after the homicide (Barraclough & Harris, 2002). Intimate Partner Homicide-Suicide (also IPH-S and Murder-Suicide) occurs when a person kills an intimate partner defined as a current or former romantic partner or family member -- and then kills him or herself. The major goals of this research was to determine the quality and accuracy of the media coverage of intimate partner homicide-suicide, along with identify the geographic distribution of dyads or linked cases of intimate partner homicide-suicide. intimate partner homicide-suicide. Relying on data collected from the Internet through digitized media reports on intimate partner homicide-suicide, data was gathered from over 500 cases throughout 2012; the major goal was to conduct scientific analyses of these paired cases or dyads in order to examine the quality and quantity of coverage. These analyses explored how accurately and comprehensively the media portrayed the intimate, violent relationships. In addition, geographic site data was analyzed using ESRI software to establish the geographic distribution of dyads across the United States.