A Critical Look at How Child Murder News is Shown in the Media: Case Study of Sabah and Sol Newspapers

In today’s world, the way child murder cases are represented in the media goes beyond simple reporting, becoming a site where ideologies and cultural values are reproduced. This study examines how the murder of Narin Güran (2025) was represented in two Turkish newspapers with opposing political orientations: Sabah and Sol. The aim is to explore how the language, visuals, and discourse strategies used in these reports shape public understanding of child murders and gender-based violence. The study employs Teun A. van Dijk’s Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to analyze news texts on both the micro level (word choice, headlines, representation of the victim and perpetrator) and macro level (ideological context, power relations, and social structure). The theoretical framework integrates Stuart Hall’s theory of representation, the Frankfurt School’s culture industry theory, and Yılmaz’s (2019, 2025) studies on media ideology and representation. Findings reveal that Sabah framed the event through dramatized, individualized, and perpetrator-focused discourse, while Sol contextualized the case within gender inequality and child abuse. This contrast demonstrates how media, depending on its ideological stance, can frame violence either as a personal tragedy or as a social problem. Overall, the study offers a critical perspective on how child murder cases are represented in the media, emphasizing the role of ideology in the discursive construction of violence. The results suggest that media functions not merely as an information channel, but as an ideological mechanism that produces social meaning and identity.