Semester
Spring
Date of Graduation
2025
Document Type
Thesis (Campus Access)
Degree Type
MS
College
Not Listed
Department
Not Listed
Committee Chair
Julia Fraustino
Committee Co-Chair
Diana Martinelli
Committee Member
Diana Martinelli
Committee Member
Daniel Totzkay
Abstract
This thesis examined articles from the white majoritarian and counter-storytelling Black press editorials, which were informed by and located based on prior research found in The First Waco Horror: The Lynching of Jesse Washington and the Rise of the NAACP, an extensive 2008 publication by author Patricia Bernstein. Building on that publication, this research applied lenses of critical race theory, narrative theory, and framing theory to examine the event central to media coverage mentioned in the 2008 publication. Analysis was guided by a rhetorical, textual, and historical approach with hermeneutical interpretation from the critical cultural role of the researcher, as this study sought to inform today’s journalism practices of the constant memory work that can produce more culturally aware journalists. Ultimately this work aimed to magnify critical cultural and race-related theories alongside the context of historical analysis, providing a platform and call to alter the reporting and framing practices of the present-day journalist.
Recommended Citation
Clarke, Kaiyah, "Counter Framing the Majoritarian Narrative: A Hermeneutical Analysis of the Media Coverage of the Lynching of Jesse Washington" (2025). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 12847.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/12847