Wayne Mellinger's Newz from the 'Hood: The Stephanie Kuken Murder in the Los Angeles Times

-
Newz from the hood:
The stephanie Kuhen murder
 in the los angeles times


(Editor's Note: 

There were 805 gang murders in Los Angeles County in 1995. In spite of this fact, few of these tragic events became newsworthy. When Stephanie Kuhen, an angelic three-year old was killed in September of that year, over 40 articles on her death appeared in the Los Angeles Times. Supposedly, her family took a wrong turn down a deadend street after returning from a barbeque and was ambushed by gangsters. This paper seeks to understand why this story was newsworthy by examining the nature of "innocent victim" stories. It also provides a textual analysis of the story of Kuhen death, highlighting the inherent racism throughout. Finally, it questions whether the event as portrayed in the Times actually occurred.

If you click on these photographs of the pages and zoom you should be able to read the text.  Sorry at this point this was the best I could do.  If you know a better way contact me.  I have the article as a pdf.  Thanks.


Some Related Articles:

"How Ideologies Work: A critical Interactionist Approach to Ideologies-as-Texts"

http://doingmodernity.blogspot.com/2012/04/how-ideologies-work-critical.html

1997. "Reading the News in the Age of Postmodern Mass Media: Gang Murder in the Los Angeles Times." Cultural Studies: A Research Annual, pp. 217-236.

1995. "The Anatomy of An Obituary:

'Rock Hudson Dies at 59 After Fighting AIDS'". Perspectives on Social Problems Volume 7: 53: 84


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Understanding the Structure and Agency Debate in the Social Sciences by Sherman Tan (2011)

-
Image
UNDERSTANDING THE “STRUCTURE” AND THE “AGENCY” DEBATE IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES (This originally appeared in Habitus [Department of Sociology, Yale University] 2011, 1) Sherman Tan Introduction How should we, as social scientists, best comprehend the nature of social life and orga- nization? Are individuals in control of their own actions and destinies, or are they merely (and unconsciously) subject to particular social circumstances which determine their behavior? In other words, do human beings possess some degree of autonomy over their actions, or are they com- pelled to obey powerful “social forces” which exert control over them? All in all, these conten- tious questions form the basis for what has come to be known as the “structure-agency” debate in the social sciences. These sociological discussions are especially important, given that they are representative of certain (more fundamental) philosophical concerns, for instance, that of free-will, choice, an...
Read more

George Herbert Mead and the Making of Symbolic Interactionism (Revised)

-
George Herbert Mead and the Making of Symbolic Interactionism: Expanding the Analysis and Contrasting with Critical Interactionism/EMCA Wayne Martin Mellinger, Ph.D. Part I: Why Mead Still Matters George Herbert Mead (1863–1931) was a foundational figure in American sociology and philosophy whose ideas laid the groundwork for the school of thought known today as symbolic interactionism. Though Mead never published a book in his lifetime, his posthumously compiled lectures, most notably Mind, Self, and Society (1934), shaped the intellectual trajectory of social psychology, microsociology, and interactionist theory. Rooted in the pragmatist tradition and deeply influenced by developments in psychology, philosophy of mind, and evolutionary theory, Mead's work continues to animate contemporary discussions about the social construction of self, meaning, and society. Why This Text Matters for Critical Interactionism For scholars working within Critical Interactionism, Mead repres...
Read more

The Many Interaction Orders: Goffman, Rawls, Smith and the Plural Moral Terrains of Everyday Life (Revised)

-
Image
THE MANY INTERACTION ORDERS:   Goffman, Rawls, Smith and the Plural Moral Terrains of Everyday Life Wayne Martin Mellinger, Ph.D.   Editor’s Note (Updated Version Available): This essay has been substantially revised and expanded. A new, fully developed version— “Many Interaction Orders: Recognition, Inequality, and the Re-specification of Symbolic Interactionism (v.9)” —is now available on this site. The current version remains archived as an earlier draft in the development of this argument. Wayne Martin Mellinger, Ph.D. December 2025 I. WALKING THROUGH MULTIPLE WORLDS The idea came to me not in a library or seminar room but on an ordinary Tuesday afternoon, walking through Ventura after a morning court appearance. Inside the courthouse I had been questioned sharply by a prosecutor and reprimanded by a judge—a ritual drama of authority and submission where every muscle in one's face must be managed with exquisite care. The courtroom is its own dense moral universe:...
Read more