Media representation and news coverage of female victims of domestic violence in Chile: The nabila rifo case

Abstract

Nabila Rifo was attacked on the street in 2016, she was beaten in the skull and her eyeballs were removed. It was determined that the author of these acts was her partner and the father of two of her children. Her case was exposed by the media for more than two years, including the transmission of the trial. This article develops a case study from the perspective of the criminological theories related to the media and victimology in order to explain how and why the image of Nabila was transformed as a victim and how the news value was changing in order to maintain its newsworthiness. To do so, the case was divided into three key stages: 1. Research, where it is associated with the concepts of the ideal victim, blaming the victim and personalization. 2. Trial, related to the trial by the media and the news value. 3. Post-trial developing theories about the scandal and institutional failure.