Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2007

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Tracy, James F.

Abstract

Theresa Marie Schiavo died March 31, 2005. The 41-year-old's human and communicative faculties were so deficient that a feeding tube was necessary to nourish her and she had been silent for 15 years. In her final month, Ms. Schiavo's health, the dispute between her husband and parents concerning the removal of her feeding tube, and her subsequent death were covered extensively by American broadcast, online and print media. As she lay silent in a Florida hospice, the U.S. Congress, the president and the courts intervened, and those who spoke about her matter and the news media propelled her human tragedy toward the top of the public agenda. News stories, reports and analyses of the case from Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, The Washington Post and St. Petersburg Times are analyzed using a critical-qualitative approach to framing.

Extent

93 p.

Comments

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2007.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

Identifier

FA00000954

Format

pdf

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